Sourdough Maple Pecan Bread With Cinnamon Swirl
This easy sourdough maple pecan bread drips with the delicious flavors of fall. Maple, pecans, vanilla, and an optional cinnamon swirl burst from a chewy crumb, making this fall sourdough bread simply irresistible.
Though this sourdough maple bread looks impressive, it is very easy to make. It’s quickly become my husband’s favorite fall loaf, so we keep it in the rotation all season!
Jamie’s Recipe Summary: Sourdough Maple Pecan Bread With Cinnamon Swirl
- Taste: Strong maple flavor with a slight sourdough tang, hints of vanilla + cinnamon.
- Texture: Soft yet chewy, with tender bits of pecan.
- Total Time: 7-10 hours
- Skill level: Beginner-advanced sourdough bakers
- Tools needed: Banneton, Dutch oven
- Why is this the best? A festive maple crumb is studded with tender bits of pecan, making this loaf perfect for Thanksgiving! This is a simple sourdough recipe perfect for novice bakers.
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Fall is my favorite season, and I spent a lot of time creating recipes in theme with autumn flavors. If you enjoy this maple loaf, consider adding savory sourdough herb bread, sourdough pumpkin scones, or a pumpkin shaped bread loaf to your fall baking lineup.
Why You’ll Love It
- Fall flavors: A delightful combination of maple, vanilla and pecan make this loaf perfect for fall- it smells delicious while baking, too!
- Same day loaf: I designed this bread loaf to be a same day ferment. You can adapt this recipe to an overnight ferment if you’d like, as well. See different sourdough bread baking options.
- Festive: This bread is perfect for holiday parties or Thanksgiving brunch, just like my sourdough gingerbread loaf.
- Easy: Like my easy sourdough Dutch oven recipe, I’ve made this recipe to be simple and easy to follow, cutting out unnecessary steps while keeping.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for full ingredients and amounts.
- Maple syrup: Use only high quality, real maple syrup for this recipe. Make sure it is at room temperature before adding it to the dough.
- Maple extract: Maple extract is optional, but it really enhances the maple flavor in the bread. I bought mine through Amazon.
- Chopped Pecans: I have found that chopping up the pecans even more than they arrive helps the dough to rise more quickly.
- Sourdough starter: You’ll want to use an active, bubbly starter, preferably at it’s peak in activity. You can learn how to make a sourdough starter here.
- Brown sugar + cinnamon: A brown cinnamon sugar filling is an optional way to upgrade this recipe to a sweeter loaf!
Recipe Variations
- Both the vanilla and maple extract in this recipe can be omitted- but it will effect the flavor!
- A delicious cinnamon swirl can be added after the first bulk ferment. This will sweeten the bread and give a beautiful swirl to the dough- as pictured below. The swirl can be challenging, so if you want a quick and easy loaf just leave it out! 🙂
- If you don’t like pecans, you can substitute chopped walnuts- use the same amount.
- Bread flour is my preferred flour for this sourdough bread, but in a pinch you can substitute all-purpose flour.
Jamie’s Recipe Tips
I have made this bread dozens of times over the last few months. Here are my best tips.
- This bread converts well to a loaf pan. Just follow the steps for shaping here- how to make sourdough in a loaf pan.
- My maple pecan bread loaf was tested in a kitchen with an ambient temperature of 75-78 degrees F. In cooler temperatures, it will take longer for the bread to bulk ferment.
- Some bakers like to use a bread proofer to achieve consist bulk ferment times.
- I like to chop the pecans finely, in about 1/4 inch pieces for this bread. I found that pre-chopped pecans were still a bit too big and weighed down the bread loaf as it fermented and baked.
- To change this loaf to an overnight ferment, reduce the temperature to 72 degrees F or less. You can also reduce the amount of sourdough starter to 60 grams for a slower ferment time. See these easy sourdough bread baking schedules for ideas.
- You do not have to preheat your Dutch oven for this recipe if you prefer not to. A preheated Dutch oven just adds more height to the final loaf.
- For best results, use a scale to weigh the flour, water, maple syrup, and sourdough starter for this recipe.
- To turn this loaf into a long-ferment, just leave it in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. The longer fermentation time will break down the gluten and make the bread easier to digest.
How To Make Sourdough Maple Pecan Bread
Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together the water and sourdough starter. Then add the maple syrup, flour, salt, vanilla and maple extract and mix with a spatula or dough whisk. The dough will be sticky. Cover the dough with a damp tea towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Chop the pecans so they are about 1/4 inch, and pour them onto the dough (they will spread throughout the dough in the next step). Stretch and fold the dough: Grab one quarter of the dough, stretch it up, then fold it over itself. Work your way around the ball of dough until it forms a tight ball. (This is one set of stretch and folds).
Step 3: Cover the dough and let it rest, then perform 2-3 sets of stretch and folds spaced every 20-30 minutes apart.
Step 4: Ferment the dough for 4-6 hours or until it is nearly doubled in size. The first ferment is done when the dough is jiggly, slightly domed, and pulls away easily from the sides of the bowl.
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Step 5: It’s time to add the cinnamon swirl (optional). Shape the dough into a rough rectangle, taking care not to stretch it too thin. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar inside the center 3rd of the square, leaving a 1/2 inch gap at the edges.
Step 6: Fold 1/3 of the dough in on itself, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the middle 3rd that is now showing. Then fold the other side of the dough in, and sprinkle that portion of the dough with cinnamon as well. Roll the dough up into a ball.
Step 7: If you added the cinnamon sugar, pinch the sides of the dough to prevent the mixture from leaking out. If not, dump the dough out and form it into a loose ball. To add tension to the dough, gently push it in a circular direction 5-10 times. Place in a banneton, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Step 8: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, placing a Dutch oven in as it warms up. Remove the dough from the fridge, place on parchment paper, and score. (See bread scoring ideas here). Bake for 25 minutes in the hot Dutch oven, then remove the lid of the Dutch oven and bake for an additional 22-25 minutes.
Let your bread cool for at least one hour before slicing, and enjoy!
Easy Timeline
This is an easy same-day timeline for making this yummy fall loaf, based on temperatures of 75-78 degrees F for bulk fermentation and assuming you have an active starter ready to go.
- 9 am: Mix ingredients for sourdough bread.
- 9:30 am: Add pecans to dough and start stretch and folds
- 10:00-11:30 am: Stretch and folds every 20-30 minutes
- 11:30 am: Bulk ferment dough
- 2:00 pm: Shape dough and place in fridge for cold ferment
- 3:30: Score dough + bake
Sourdough Maple Pecan Loaf Faq’s
Yes, maple syrup can be added to sourdough bread to sweeten it and add a maple flavor. Since maple syrup is a liquid, you will need to reduce the amount of water in the bread recipe.
Yes, pecans are an excellent addition to sourdough bread during the stretch and fold process. Chop them up into 1/4 inch pieces- larger pieces can weigh down the bread as it rises.
Before storing maple pecan bread make sure to cool it completely, then store in a loose, breathable container like a paper bag for 3-5 days. To freeze, slice the bread and wrap it in aluminum foil, then place in ziploc bag.
If you tried this maple pecan sourdough bread recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Sourdough Maple Pecan Bread (With Optional Cinnamon Swirl)
Equipment
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 Banneton
- 1 Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 300 grams water 1 and 1/4 cups
- 100 grams active sourdough starter 1/2 cup
- 500 grams bread flour about 4.5 cups
- 12 grams salt 2 tsp
- 105 grams pure maple syrup 1/3 cup
- 4 grams vanilla extract 1 tsp
- 4 gams maple extract 1 tsp
- 115 grams chopped pecans a cup
Cinnamon Swirl Filling (Optional)
- 55 grams Brown sugar 1/4 cup
- 6 grams Cinnamon 2 tsp
- 8 grams Flour 1 tbsp
Instructions
Prepare Dough + Stretch and Folds
- Whisk together the sourdough starter and water in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup, flour, salt, vanilla and maple extract and mix with a spatula or dough whisk. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Chop the pecans so they are about 1/4 inch, and pour them into the dough. Stretch and fold the dough by grabbing one quarter of the dough, stretching it up, and folding it over itself.Work your way around the ball of dough until it forms a tight ball. (This is one set of stretch and folds). Repeat 3-4 more sets of stretch and folds, spaced about 20-30 minutes apart.
Bulk Ferment
- Ferment the dough for an additional 2-3 hours or until it is nearly doubled in size. The first ferment is done when the dough is jiggly, slightly domed, and pulls away easily from the sides of the bowl.
Cinnamon Swirl (Optional)
- Turn the bowl upside down so the dough slowly releases, being gentle with it. Stretch the dough into a rough rectangle, careful not to spread it to thin.In a small bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar inside of the center third of the dough.
- Fold 1/3 of the dough over to the center of the dough, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on that part of the dough. Pat down the cinnamon sugar mixture. Then fold the other side of the dough in, and sprinkle that side of the dough with cinnamon sugar.
Shaping + Second Ferment
- Roll the dough up into a ball. If you added the cinnamon sugar, pinch the sides of the dough to prevent the mixture from leaking out (see photos for reference). To add tension to the dough, gently push it in a circular direction 3-5 times, forming a boule shape. Dust flour into a banneton, then place the dough upside down within it. Pinch the dough together at the top, creating more tension and a seam. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, placing a Dutch oven in the oven as it warms up. Remove the dough from the fridge, place on parchment paper, and score the dough.
- Bake for 25 minutes in the hot Dutch oven, then remove the lid of the Dutch oven and bake for an additional 22-25 minutes. Let the bread cool for one hour and enjoy!
Notes
- This maple pecan bread loaf was tested in a kitchen with an ambient temperature of 75-78 degrees F. In cooler temperatures, it will take longer for the bread to bulk ferment.
- Do not stuff the bread with the cinnamon sugar mixture, or it will leak out.
- I like to chop the pecans finely, in about 1/4 inch pieces for this bread. I found that pre-chopped pecans were still a bit too big and weighed down the bread loaf as it fermented and baked.
- To change this loaf to an overnight ferment, reduce the temperature to 72 degrees F or less. You can also reduce the amount of sourdough starter to 60 grams for a slower ferment time.
- You do not have to preheat your Dutch oven for this recipe if you prefer not to. A preheated Dutch oven just adds more height to the final loaf.
- For best results, use a scale to weigh the flour, water, maple syrup, and sourdough starter for this recipe.
- When refrigerating your dough, make sure the temperature of your fridge is 38 degrees or less.
This sourdough maple pecan bread loaf is my husband, Yoonwa’s, favorite loaf! It’s brimming with fall flavors like cinnamon and maple syrup and studded with pecans, all loaded into an easy recipe.