Easy Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Muffins
No matter the season, spiced apple treats are always a welcome delight! These apple cinnamon sourdough muffins are a must-have snack that brings the cozy essence of autumn right into your kitchen. They are moist, full of spice, and utterly delicious, offering the perfect combination of tart apples and warming fall spices. Made with just a few simple ingredients, these muffins capture the heart of the season, making them the ideal treat to enjoy at any time of year, whether you’re warming up on a chilly day or craving a comforting snack.
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I’m all about apple spice everything and sourdough everything, so naturally, we had to combine the two in these irresistible apple cinnamon sourdough muffins!
Using my trusty base muffin recipe, these muffins are not only incredibly easy to make, but they’re also super adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand. Loved by both kiddos and adults alike, these muffins are the perfect fall treat for any occasion! With the comforting warmth of cinnamon, the sweetness of apples, and the tangy flavour of sourdough, these muffins are sure to become a new favourite in your kitchen.
Why You’ll Love This Muffin Recipe
This muffin recipe is incredibly adaptable, using simple ingredients to create any flavour of muffin you desire!
Long-Lasting Freshness: These muffins store well! They taste just as good when thawed from frozen and stay fresh for a couple of days when covered on the counter. Perfect for meal prep or as a make-ahead snack!
Moist & Flavourful: These muffins are moist, with a deep, rich flavor that’s perfect for any occasion.
Soft & Tender: They’re wonderfully soft, with a texture that makes every bite a delight.
Whole Grains in Every Batch: These muffins are always made with whole grain flours, adding a nutritious boost of fibre and essential nutrients, making them a healthier choice without sacrificing flavour or texture.
Where To Get Whole-Grain Flour
If you’re living in a city, you can mostly likely find a bakery or fancy grocery store that sells fresh-milled whole-grain flour. If you’re living in the country and you can source whole-grains, you may want to consider milling your own flour. You can start without making a large investment by using a powerful coffee grinder or blender that you already own. A step up would be purchasing a KitchenAid grain mill attachment. If you’re really enjoying working with fresh-milled whole-grains and you have a reliable source of grain, you can also consider a Harvest NutriMill which is the one I use and love both for its beauty and practicality.
When you feel ready to invest in a NutriMill, use my discount code BRONSBREAD20 at checkout to get $20 off.
What Is Sourdough Discard?
You can use sourdough discard to make sourdough rhubarb walnut muffins, sourdough einkorn chocolate chip cookies, sourdough honey sweetened banana bread, sourdough rye brownies, rye discard crackers, and even sourdough tortilla shells! The possibilities are literally endless.
Health Benefits of Long-Fermenting Grain
Fermenting grains may seem like an unnecessary step, especially when you need to get food out for hungry kids. However, doing so offers a number of health benefits and is the traditional way grains were prepared for optimizing their nourishment potential.
Fermentation breaks down anti-nutrients like phytic acid, which can inhibit the absorption of essential minerals such as iron, zinc, and calcium. This process makes these nutrients more bioavailable. When you skip the fermentation step, phytic acid can bind to minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium. This reduces the bioavailability of these essential nutrients and can potentially lead to deficiencies, especially in diets that rely heavily on grains and legumes.
The fermentation process also pre-digests grains, breaking down complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into simpler compounds. This can make fermented grains easier to digest and reduce the likelihood of bloating and indigestion. And for those sensitive to gluten, fermentation can partially break down gluten proteins, potentially making fermented grains more tolerable.
Not to mention, fermentation can improve the taste and texture of grains, making them more enjoyable to eat. The natural sourness from lactic acid bacteria can add a pleasant tang to fermented flour products. Overall, fermenting flour is the way to go, in my opinion. The health benefits and flavour boost the process offers outweighs the convenience of skipping long fermentation.
How Does Cold Fermentation Work?
Long and cold fermenting the doughs and batters of your baked goods with sourdough discard has many advantages that don’t involve leavening.
The natural yeasts and bacteria in the sourdough discard ferment the dough and batter at a slow rate in the refrigerator. This slow fermentation enhances the dough’s flavour, nutrition profile and digestibility.
The bacteria produce compounds that add a mild tanginess to the dough and the slow fermentation process allows the dough to develop deeper, more complex flavours. The breakdown of starches and proteins by the yeast and bacteria also contributes to a richer taste. They also help break down phytic acid in the flour, which can improve the dough’s digestibility and increase the bioavailability of nutrients.
What You’ll Need
These apple cinnamon sourdough muffins are basic and require basic materials and ingredients you’ll likely already have on hand!
Materials
- Small Saucepan: For melting butter.
- Medium Sized Mixing Bowl: For mixing all ingredients.
- Whisk: For whipping wet ingredients.
- Spatula: For folding in dry ingredients.
- Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups: For measuring out ingredients. I prefer using a kitchen scale but work with what you have!
- Silicone Muffin Tray: These are the ones I use.
- Scoop: For scooping the muffin batter. You can also use regular spoons.
Ingredients
Freshly Milled Whole Grain Flour: Use any whole-grain that interests you! Because it’s only a small amount, the differences in grain characteristics won’t have much of an impact. You can also use regular whole wheat flour from the store if you have a hard time sourcing fresh-milled whole-grain flour.
White Flour: I use trusty ol’ all-purpose flour.
Sugar: In this recipe, I used brown sugar. You can also use a less refined sugar such as rapadura or sucanat.
Butter: Melted butter is what I use in this recipe. You can also use melted coconut oil or lard.
Eggs: Any good ol’ eggies.
Sourdough Discard: Of the batter-like, thinner consistency.
Milk: To get the right consistency.
Yogurt or Apple Sauce: Apple sauce in baked goods adds a depth of flavour you didn’t know was possible. But yogurt is good too.
Vanilla: I use homemade vanilla but any vanilla is delicious.
Apple Spice: A combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger! All the good stuff.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda: The dynamic duo.
Salt: I use pink Himalayan sea salt in this recipe but any salt is great.
Apples: Crispier the better. Granny Smith are ideal.
How To Make Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Muffins
Melt Butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
Mix Sugar: In a medium bowl, combine the sugar with the melted butter.
Add Flavours and Eggs: Stir in the vanilla extract, then add the eggs, mixing until fully incorporated.
Incorporate Remaining Wet Ingredients: Add the apple sauce, milk, and sourdough discard. Mix until smooth.
Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
Mix Dry and Wet: Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing gently until just combined.
Fold in the Apples: Gently fold in the chopped apples until incorporated.
Rest: Let the batter rest and hydrate for 15 minutes or overnight in the fridge for a long fermentation.
Preheat Oven: After rest, preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C).
Prepare Muffin Tins: Line muffin tins with muffin liners if need be.
After Rest: Scoop the batter into each cup to the top until there’s no batter left.
Bake: Place in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool: Let the muffins cool in the liners for a few minutes. If using silicone liners, allow them to cool completely before removing.
Enjoy: Enjoy your delicious apple cinnamon sourdough muffins!
Simple Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Muffins
Equipment
- Small Saucepan
- Medium-sized mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups
- Silicone Muffin Tray
- Scoop
Ingredients
- Whole Wheat Flour 150g
- White Flour 150g
- Sugar 150g
- Butter 120g
- 2 Eggs
- Sourdough Discard 100g
- Milk 75g
- Yogurt or Apple Sauce 200g
- 1 tbsp Vanilla
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Ginger
- 1/4 tsp Allspice
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Apple diced
Instructions
- Melt Butter: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
- Mix Sugar: In a medium bowl, combine the sugar with the melted butter.
- Add Flavours and Eggs: Stir in the vanilla extract, then add the eggs, mixing until fully incorporated.
- Incorporate Remaining Wet Ingredients: Add the apple sauce, milk, and sourdough discard. Mix until smooth.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
- Mix Dry and Wet: Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing gently until just combined.
- Fold in the Apples: Gently fold in the chopped apples until incorporated.
- Rest: Let the batter rest and hydrate for 15 minutes or overnight in the fridge for a long fermentation.
- Preheat Oven: After rest, preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C).
- Prepare Muffin Tins: Line muffin tins with muffin liners if need be.
- After Rest: Scoop the batter into each cup to the top until there's no batter left.
- Bake: Place in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool: Let the muffins cool in the liners for a few minutes. If using silicone liners, allow them to cool completely before removing.
- Enjoy: Enjoy your delicious sourdough apple spice muffins!
Storage
Store these muffins in an airtight container on the counter to eat in a couple days.
To keep longer, store in an airtight container in the fridge. Just note that the texture may change and be a bit denser.
Line the airtight container with a cotton dish towel or paper towel to retain moisture.
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