Sourdough Apple Bread
Every bite of this sourdough apple bread tastes like apple pie. It's soft, fluffy, and swirled with a sweet cinnamon-apple mixture. There's no better bread to enjoy during the fall!
Ingredients
Bread
- 1/2 cup fed sourdough starter (fed 4-12 hours before using)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup avocado oil (or 4 Tbsp melted butter)
- 2 Tbsp raw honey
Filling
- 3 small apples
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar (lightly packed into measuring cup)
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp melted butter
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In a mixing bowl, combine the fed starter, water, honey, avocado oil, and salt until combined.
- Add in the flour and mix until combined. It will be shaggy, so use your hands to finish combining it into a dough ball until all the flour is incorporated. (If your dough isn't coming together, add in 1-3 tablespoons of water to help).
- Turn the dough out on the counter and knead for 5 minutes by hand or with a bread hook on an electric mixer. If you need, add a little flour if the dough is sticky.
- Place dough back in the bowl and cover loosely with a towel or lid.
- Let dough bulk ferment on the counter for 10–12 hours.
Make the Filling
- Peel and fine dice all three apples. You'll want very small apple chunks.
- Add cut-up apple into a mixing bowl and add cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, and flour. Mix to combine until all flour and brown sugar is coated on the apples.
- Cover and place in the fridge until your bread is done bulk fermenting.
Shape the Loaf
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- When the bulk fermentation is finished, turn the dough out on the counter (no flour needed), and stretch out into a rectangle (about 8x10") with your hands.
- Brush the rectangle of dough with melted butter.
- Get the apple mixture out of the fridge and stir it. Spoon it out onto the buttered rectangle of dough and spread it evenly so it's covering the entire slab of dough.
- Use your hands to press down the apples into the dough.
- Starting at the smaller 8" end, TIGHTLY roll the dough into a log. Pinch the seam together with your hands and fold under the ends so the filling doesn't fall out.
- Place the shaped loaf in a lightly greased 9×5″ loaf pan and cover with a tea towel.
- Let it rise for 2-3 hours on the counter.
- (Optional: if you don’t have time, place the loaf pan in the fridge after the 2–3 hours are finished until you’re ready to bake. It can sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours.)
Bake the Bread
- Brush the top of the loaf with melted butter right before you bake it.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.
- Immediately after baking, place the bread pan on a wire rack and brush with butter to ensure a soft crust. After 10–15 minutes, remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool the rest of the way.