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This sourdough discard apple bread is a buttery, cake-like sweet bread filled and topped with juicy apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The sourdough discard and orange juice add a touch of tang, creating a perfectly tender bread that will satisfy all your fall flavor cravings.
The mornings here on the coast of North Carolina are finally cool and crisp. And this morning, when I walked my daughter into preschool, I noticed the crunch of a few leaves under our feet.
We are ready for all of the magic of fall and the delicious flavors of the season.
Though I love pumpkin treats like sourdough pumpkin cobbler, apples are the first fall harvest. And, in my opinion, they are the real stars of early fall baking.
Last year, on YouTube, I shared a fall homemaking video where I dehydrated bushels of apples that we picked at a local apple orchard in the North Carolina mountains.
But this year, we are devouring everything apple, like Instant Pot apple butter, sourdough apple cider donuts, and of course, this apple bread.
I made this while I had family in town, and the entire loaf was gone within minutes. It didn’t even have a chance to cool off before everyone devoured it.
In fact, the bread was still warm in the photos for this post because I was trying to snap some pics before everyone ate it, haha!
It only takes 15 minutes to prep, and while it bakes, your entire house will smell like warm apples and cinnamon.
This recipe is a great way for you and your family to welcome these long-awaited cool and crisp fall days.
Happy fall, friends!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Fall Flavors: Apple season welcomes the start of fall, so this is the perfect recipe for your fall baking kickoff. It’s basically fall wrapped up in an apple pie sourdough bread.
Easy: Sourdough apple cinnamon bread is a no-wait discard recipe. The batter only takes about 15 minutes to whip up. You don’t need any fancy techniques, and you don’t have to let the dough rise.
Sourdough: If you have a little stash of sourdough discard, don’t throw it away! Use it to make sourdough apple cinnamon bread.
Delicious: The bread is as decadent as sourdough strawberry cake and carrot cake, but it still has the texture of a slice of sweet bread.
Ingredients
Apples: Fresh apples are the star of this sourdough sweet bread. Tart Granny Smith apples are great for baking because they prevent the bread from being overly sweet. But any apple will work. You can even use rehydrated freeze-dried apples.
Lemon Juice: The lemon juice prevents the apples from browning and adds some brightness to the bread.
Brown Sugar: The brown sugar is mixed with the apples and cinnamon to create a syrup. It seeps to the sides of the pan, creating a delicious caramelized edge. I haven’t tested it, but I imagine a little maple syrup would work, too.
Cinnamon: The cinnamon adds warmth and coziness to this sourdough apple bread. You can also add other warming spices, such as nutmeg or pumpkin spice.
Orange juice – Orange juice adds a bright flavor and moisture.
Sourdough discard – Active sourdough starter or inactive will work
Flour – Good old all-purpose flour will do. Bread flour will also work, but you may need to adjust the hydration. For fresh-milled flour, use soft white wheat and check out my conversion guide.
Get the full list of ingredients and measurements on the printable recipe card below.
Tools You Will Need
Stand Mixer: Using a mixer cuts down on the prep time. I use a KitchenAid stand mixer, but a hand mixer will also work.
Peeler: I like to use a vegetable peeler to peel the apples.
Kitchen Scale: I also included the weight if weighing is more your baking style.
Loaf Pan: I love my stone loaf pan, but any regular-sized bread pan will do.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease and flour a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan (or line with parchment paper).
Add the apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Stir until combined. Set aside.
Step 2: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until it reaches a light and fluffy consistency, about 1-2 minutes. (A hand mixer will also work).
Step 3: Add the eggs, egg yolk, and sourdough starter. Mix on medium speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
Step 4: Add the flour, baking powder, and orange juice. Mix again on medium speed until just combined. Don’t overmix!
Step 5: Spoon half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Use a silicone spatula to smooth it over.
Step 6: Top the batter with half of the apple mixture. Use your fingertips to gently press the apples partially into the batter.
Step 7: Spoon the remaining batter on top. Again, smooth it over with a silicone spatula.
Step 8: Add the remaining apples on top and press them slightly into the batter.
Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown. The internal temperature should be 190°-200° F. If your sourdough apple bread is browning too quickly on the top, tent it with aluminum foil.
Cool on a wire rack in the pan.
For a gooey bread, allow it to cool slightly before serving. For a pound cake-like texture, allow the bread to cool completely before serving.
Tips for Success
- Although you can use any apples, I recommend selecting ones that retain their shape when baked. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Fugi, and Jonajold are good options.
- Be sure to butter and flour your loaf pan. Or line it with parchment paper if you prefer.
- Either active or inactive starter will work. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, making your own is easy. Grab my free sourdough starter guide to learn how to make your own.
- Sourdough apple bread is easier to remove from the pan and slice if you let it cool to room temperature. But we never make it that long.
Storing
- Before packing up any leftover bread, ensure it has cooled completely to room temperature.
- Store leftover sourdough apple bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- I love this bread chilled, so I store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
How To Long-Ferment
One of the perks of sourdough recipes is that they can be long-fermented to improve digestibility. Ongoing research suggests that this may be especially helpful for some folks who are gluten-intolerant (source).
The fermentation process pre-metabolizes the grains, which makes them more digestible.
Here is how to long-ferment sourdough apple cinnamon bread:
- Use active sourdough starter for long fermenting (inactive will work, but it takes longer).
- Skip preparing the apples until you are ready to bake in Step 4.
- Follow the recipe, but omit the baking powder and orange juice.
- Cover the bowl with a lid, beeswax wrap, or plastic wrap, and allow it to sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours. You can also long ferment in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- When you are ready to bake, prepare the apples.
- Then, mix the baking powder and orange juice into the fermented batter. A stand mixer can help combine the ingredients because the batter can be stiff after long fermenting, especially if it was in the fridge.
- Continue the remainder of the recipe.
FAQs
No, you can use either active or inactive sourdough starter discard. And if you store your starter in the fridge, you can use it cold. You don’t have to worry about letting it warm to room temperature or feeding it.
If you use active discard, I recommend weighing it for the recipe. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, measuring it in cups will definitely work. Just stir out the bubbles first.
Check out my active starter, inactive, and discard overview on YouTube
Either! Salted butter will highlight the other flavors. However, this bread is delicious either way. I used unsalted because it’s what I had on hand.
Yes! In fact, though my family eats it hot right out of the pan, I think it is best after it has chilled for a day in the fridge.
You can also freeze sourdough apple bread. You can freeze sourdough bread (even sweet bread like this) as a whole loaf or pre-sliced.
This recipe assumes you are using a 100% hydration starter. That simply means your starter’s flour and water content are equal.
So, for instance, if you feed your starter 50 g of flour and 50 g of water, it will be 100% hydrated.
Like many discard recipes, sourdough apple bread is forgiving. So don’t worry if your starter isn’t exactly 100% hydration.
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Sourdough Apple Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Mixture
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, about half of a medium lemon
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Bread Batter
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup sourdough starter discard
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease and flour a 9" x 5" loaf pan (or line with parchment paper).
- Add the apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Stir until combined. Set aside.2 Granny Smith apples, 1 1/2 tablespoon (22 g) fresh lemon juice, 1/3 cup (73 g) brown sugar, 1 teaspoon (3 g) ground cinnamon
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed until it reaches a light and fluffy consistency, about 1-2 minutes. (A hand mixer will also work).1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter, 2/3 cup (134 g) granulated sugar
- Add the eggs, egg yolk, and sourdough starter. Mix on medium speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.2 large eggs, 1 egg yolk, 1/4 cup (50 g) sourdough starter discard
- Add the flour, baking powder, and orange juice. Mix again on medium speed until just combined. Don't overmix!1 cup + 2 tablespoon (135 g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking powder, 1/3 cup (88 g) orange juice
- Spoon half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Use a silicone spatula to smooth it over.
- Top the batter with half of the apple mixture. Use your fingertips to gently press the apples partially into the batter.
- Spoon the remaining batter on top. Again, smooth it over with a silicone spatula.
- Add the remaining apples on top and press them slightly into the batter.
- Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown. The internal temperature should be 190°-200° F.
- Cool on a wire rack in the pan. For a gooey bread, allow it to cool slightly before serving. For a pound cake-like texture, allow the bread to cool completely before serving.
Video
Notes
- If your sourdough apple bread is browning too quickly on the top, tent it with aluminum foil.
- Although you can use any apples, I recommend selecting ones that retain their shape when baked. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Fugi, and Jonajold are good options.
- Be sure to butter and flour your loaf pan. Or line it with parchment paper if you prefer.
- Either active or inactive starter will work. If you don't have a sourdough starter, making your own is easy. Grab my free sourdough starter guide to learn how to make your own.
- Sourdough apple bread is easier to remove from the pan and slice if you let it cool to room temperature. But we never make it that long.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is auto-calculated and may not reflect your final product. Please verify independently if needed.
