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Toasted pecan decorated and glazed sourdough discard apple bread on a wooden board with one slice cut.

Brown Butter Sourdough Apple Bread

A moist, spiced apple loaf made with sourdough discard, brown butter and tart Granny Smith apples, finished with a brown butter glaze and toasted pecans. Quick to make, with no waiting on the discard.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Cuisine American, British
Servings 10 slices
Calories 430 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

For the sourdough loaf

  • 75 g pecans or walnuts roughly chopped, optional
  • 125 g unsalted butter
  • 60 ml neutral oil, like sunflower or vegetable
  • 175 g light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 120 g sourdough discard 100% hydration
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • 250 g all-purpose flour (plain flour), plus 1 tablespoon for the apples
  • 1½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 medium Granny Smith apples about 300g once peeled and cored, diced

For the brown butter glaze

  • 15 g brown butter, taken from the batch above
  • 90 g powdered sugar
  • 1½-2 tablespoon milk plus extra to loosen if needed
  • pinch of fine salt
  • pinch of ground cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Prepare. Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease the loaf tin and line it with a strip of baking paper that hangs over the long sides.
  • Toast the nuts (optional). Put the pecans or walnuts in the dry saucepan over medium heat. Toast for 3–4 minutes, shaking the pan often, until they smell toasty and look a shade darker. Tip them onto a board, leave to cool slightly, then chop roughly. Set aside 25g for the topping. The rest goes in the batter.
  • Brown the butter. Put the butter in the same saucepan over medium heat. It will melt, then foam and crackle as the water cooks off. Keep swirling the pan. After 5–8 minutes the crackling goes quiet, the foam settles, and the specks on the bottom turn golden brown and smell nutty, like toffee. Take it off the heat straight away and pour it into a large heatproof mixing bowl. Scrape in all the brown specks, because that's where the flavour is.
  • Make the glaze now. Spoon 15g (1 tbsp) of the brown butter into a small bowl. Leave it for a minute or two, then whisk in the icing sugar, salt, cinnamon and 1½ tablespoon milk until smooth and about as thick as runny honey. Press cling film onto the surface and leave it at room temperature until the loaf is cool. Don't put it in the fridge.
  • Start the batter. Pour the oil into the bowl with the rest of the brown butter. This helps it cool faster. Add the brown sugar and whisk well. Leave for 5 minutes, until the mixture feels warm rather than hot.
  • Prepare the apples. While the butter cools, peel, core and dice the apples into roughly 1cm pieces. Toss them with 1 tablespoon flour. This helps stop them sinking.
  • Mix the dry ingredients. In a second bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
  • Add the eggs and discard. Whisk the eggs into the butter and sugar one at a time, then whisk in the sourdough discard and vanilla until smooth.
  • Bring it together. Tip the dry ingredients into the wet and fold gently with a spatula until you can only just see a few streaks of flour. Add the apples and the nuts for the batter and fold until everything is evenly mixed and there's no dry flour left. The batter will be thick. That's what you want.
  • Bake. Scrape the batter into the tin, level the top and spread the apple pieces evenly rather than leaving a pile in the middle. Bake for 55–70 minutes. After about 40 minutes, check the colour. If the top is browning quickly, cover it loosely with foil. The loaf is done when a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, or when the middle reads 95–98°C (203–208°F). If the skewer hits a piece of apple it will come out wet, so try another spot.
  • Cool. Leave the loaf in the tin for 15–20 minutes, then lift it out using the paper and cool it completely on a wire rack, about 1½–2 hours. On a warm loaf the glaze melts and the nuts slide off.
  • Glaze. Take the cling film off the glaze and give it a good stir. It will have thickened as the butter cooled, which is normal. Loosen it with milk, ½ teaspoon at a time, until it's back to runny-honey thickness. Spoon it along the top of the loaf and let it drip down the sides. Scatter over the reserved nuts straight away and press them in lightly. Leave for 20–30 minutes to set before slicing.

Notes

Brown butter weight: Butter loses some water as it browns, so the 125g will give roughly 100–105g of brown butter. Take 15g (1 tbsp) out for the glaze and use everything else in the batter. There's no need to weigh the rest.
Oven temperature: Some ovens run hot, and brown sugar colours quickly. If yours runs hot, the foil at 40 minutes matters.
No nuts: Leave them out completely. The glaze works fine on its own.
No glaze: Fold all 75g of nuts into the batter instead.
Storage: Keep it covered in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. The oil keeps it soft. Freeze unglazed slices, wrapped, for up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 430kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 5gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 255mgPotassium: 140mgFiber: 3gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 388IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 2mg
Keyword apple cinnamon bread, apple loaf cake, apple pecan bread, apple quick bread, apple walnut bread, brown butter apple bread, Granny Smith apple bread, sourdough apple bread, sourdough apple loaf, sourdough discard apple bread, Sourdough Discard Loaf Cake, Sourdough Discard Recipes
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