The colorful fall leaves have all but disappeared and Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Now is the time we think of pumpkins and preparing special holiday meals.

By now you all know of my love for experimenting with sourdough. I used a sweet sourdough pastry to make this braid. The pumpkin and cream cheese filling take this to a new level. This may look like it is too difficult to do but I have broken down each step and it is not as difficult as it looks.

Do you need a sourdough starter? You can make one following these directions Making a Sourdough Starter or you can purchase one from my blog store.

You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook and the hard cover spiral bound It’s all About Sourdough. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link.  We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now. Follow my blog, Facebook, and Instagram pages.

I cook all the pumpkin I use in my desserts. We harvested enough of Butternut squash and Jarradale pumpkins to keep me baking all winter!

I process quite a few of the pumpkins we grow. I have found that they can get a bit watery and not as thick as Libby’s canned pumpkin. I will allow my cooked pumpkin to drain in a colander lined with a coffee filter. That works great. I often allow it to drain for at least an hour or more before I use.

I will mix this dough one day and put it in the fridge to bake another day, especially if I’m pushed for time on the day I mix it. THM guidelines for fermenting are as follows….7 hours fermenting at room temperature or 24 hours fridge fermenting. I will combine the two kinds of fermenting using this guideline…1 hour room temperature fermenting is equal to 3.5 hours of fridge fermenting.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sourdough Braid, THM XO, Sugar-free

• 1 cup active sourdough starter
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons SAF Instant Yeast
• 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• sprouted or oat flour for dusting your surface when assembling the braids
• Pumpkin Filling
• 1 3/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar Sweetener Substitute or Gentle Sweet
• Cream Cheese Filling
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 small egg
• 1 tablespoon Gentle Sweet
• Glaze:
• 1 ounce cream cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons Half and Half or Cream
• 1/2 cup Lakanto Powdered Sweetener
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Mixing Dough: In mixer bowl combine starter, water, egg,, butter, honey, vanilla, wheat gluten, salt, yeast, and 1 cup of flour. Mix well. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough. Place dough in a covered dish to rise for 4 hours. After 4 hours place into the refrigerator for 11 hours. Pumpkin Filling: Blend pumpkin filling ingredients together unit well combined. Set aside. Cream Cheese Filling: Blend cream cheese ingredients together until smooth. Set aside. To assemble: Divide chilled dough in half. Lightly dust the surface you are working on with sprouted or oat flour. Working with 1/2 of the dough at a time….roll the dough out into a 10 inch by 16 inch rectangle. Spread one half of the pumpkin mixture down the center of the dough. Drop one half of the cream cheese mixture down the center of the pumpkin layer. Spread cream cheese layer with a spoon. With A pizza cutter cut strips as shown below. Fold in strips starting with the right side first. After first braid is completed repeat using remaining ingredients to complete the second bread. Allow the breads to set at room temperature for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake braids for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When totally cooled, blend glaze ingredient’s together until smooth. Adding more Half and Half if needed. Drizzle over braids. 2 braids that will serve 12-14 people.

I cut the strips on the slant as you can see by the above photo. Start on the right side, right, left, right, left until you have all the strips folded in.

When the strips are all laid n your loaf should look like this. As you can see, a few of my strips dont looks so nice as they wanted to stick to my board.

Your braids should look similar to this after they are finished baking. I will allow these braids to cool completely before adding the glaze.

Wouldn’t this braid make a delightful brunch of Thanksgiving morning? You may wonder why I make crossovers that contain carbs and fats. I do this for my family .. and I eat just a small piece. This is one way I can feed them on-plan items that they love.

You may wonder what is Brown Sugar Sweetener? Did you know you can easily make it. I will use either my food processors or my mixer. I always keep some on hand….it is just so good!

Brown Sugar Sweetener is my favorite sweetener. It tastes just like Brown Sugar. I love to use it to sweeten my coffee. The key to this great tasting sweetener is Olive Nations Brown Sugar Extract. This extract gives your sweetener the real taste you need. try it, you will not be disappointed.

This post has affiliated links, if you purchase items through these links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn’t change. Your purchase help support this blog, keeps new recipes coming, and assist with our move to a mission outreach of our church. Your consideration of this is a blessing to us!

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Himalayan Pink Salt is one of the best salts to use. We use it on our salt shaker on our kitchen table.

Vital Wheat Gluten is the additive that makes your 100% whole grin bread rise and have a better texture.

SAF Instant Yeast in my favorite yeast to use. I add it dry in with the flour.

Prairie Gold Flour is made from hard white spring wheat. It is 100% whole grain and is little in color and taste than regular whole grain flour. If your family is on the line about whole grain, try this flour.

Baking Sheets

I love my Kitchen Aid Mixer to mix this dough. It does a wonderful job!

I use my hand blender every day…they are just so useful. This Kitchen Aid Immersion is my favorite. But do be careful as the blades a very sharp.

The Trim Healthy Mama Store has wonderful products. Here is my affiliate link if you wish to use it. Trim Healthy Mama Store.

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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Sourdough Braid, THM XO, Sugar-free

Servings 12

Author Glenda Groff

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup active sourdough starter
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• sprouted or oat flour for dusting your surface when assembling the braids

Pumpkin Filling

• 1 3/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Brown Sugar Sweetener Substitute

Cream Cheese Filling

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 small egg
• 1 tablespoon Gentle Sweet

Glaze:

• 1 ounce cream cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons Half and Half or Cream
• 1/2 cup Lakanto Powdered Sweetener
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Mixing Dough: In mixer bowl combine starter, water, egg,, butter, honey, vanilla, wheat gluten, salt, yeast, and 1 cup of flour. Mix well. Add remaining flour to make a soft dough. Place dough in a covered dish to rise for 4 hours. After 4 hours place into the refrigerator for 11 hours. Pumpkin Filling: Blend pumpkin filling ingredients together unit well combined. Set aside. Cream Cheese Filling: Blend cream cheese ingredients together until smooth. Set aside. To assemble: Divide chilled dough in half. Lightly dust the surface you are working on with sprouted or oat flour. Working with 1/2 of the dough at a time….roll the dough out into a 10 inch by 16 inch rectangle. Spread one half of the pumpkin mixture down the center of the dough. Drop one half of the cream cheese mixture down the center of the pumpkin layer. Spread cream cheese layer with a spoon. With A pizza cutter cut strips as shown below. Fold in strips starting with the right side first. After first braid is completed repeat using remaining ingredients to complete the second bread. Allow the breads to set at room temperature for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake braids for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When totally cooled, blend glaze ingredient’s together until smooth. Adding more Half and Half if needed. Drizzle over braids. 2 braids that will serve 12-14 people.

You will find many more recipes in the spiral bound 600+ page Around the Family Table Cookbook and the hard cover spiral bound It’s all About Sourdough. All recipes are sugar-free and label with the correct fuel. Books can be purchased using this link.  We have now added additional items to our store… Sourdough Starter Kits and more. Buy It Now. Follow my blog, Facebook, and Instagram pages.