Apple Fritter Pull Apart Bread
Okay, this one is FUN.
I love an apple fritter. I love cinnamon bread. And obviously, I’m always looking for another excuse to use sourdough discard.
So naturally, all three needed to become one loaf.
This Sourdough Discard Apple Fritter Pull-Apart Bread was inspired by that famous Dolly Parton-style cinnamon bread, but I wanted to give it a fall twist. Instead of just cinnamon and sugar, we're adding buttery cinnamon apples between every layer and then pouring a simple vanilla glaze over the whole thing while it's still a little warm.
The result is somewhere between an apple fritter, cinnamon roll, and pull-apart bread. And it might be one of my favorite fall bakes yet.
Why Use Sourdough Discard?
The discard isn't being used as the primary leavening agent here—that's what our yeast is for. Instead, it brings a subtle tang and deeper fermented flavor that works SO well against the sweet cinnamon sugar.
It also makes this the perfect recipe for those days when your discard jar is getting dangerously close to becoming a permanent refrigerator resident.
Your discard can be active or unfed for this recipe.
What Apples Should I Use?
You want an apple that can handle being cooked twice—once on the stovetop and again in the oven.
My favorites are:
Honeycrisp — sweet, crisp, and holds its shape beautifully.
Granny Smith — tart and especially good if you like a little contrast with the sweet cinnamon filling and glaze.
Pink Lady — a nice balance between sweet and tart.
Fuji or Gala — sweeter and easy to find.
You can also mix two varieties. One sweet + one tart is never a bad idea. You'll also notice I left the skin on mine, you absolutely can peel your apples, but you don't have to. I actually love seeing those little pops of red apple skin tucked throughout the bread.
Tips for the Best Apple Fritter Bread
Dice the apples pretty small. Big apple chunks make stacking the dough much more difficult.
Don't add all of the apple liquid. You want those buttery cinnamon apples, but too much liquid can make the center of your loaf gummy.
Embrace the mess. Once you start stacking apple-covered dough, apples are going to fall out. Put them right back in the pan. This bread isn't supposed to look perfect.
Give it room in the pan. Loosely stack the pieces rather than pressing them tightly together.
Watch the center, not just the top. With all those buttery layers, this bread needs enough time for the center to bake completely.
Glaze while it's still a little warm. Some glaze will melt into the cracks while the rest stays on top. That's exactly what you want.
How Do I Know It's Done?
This is probably the trickiest part of the entire recipe.
Because we're layering dough with butter, brown sugar, and apples, there's a lot of moisture happening inside that loaf.
If you pull it too early, you can end up with doughy layers in the center.
Give it the full baking time and tent the top with foil if it's browning too quickly.
An instant-read thermometer is your best friend here. Aim for approximately 190°F in the center of the actual bread, rather than sticking the thermometer directly into a pocket of apple filling.
Can I Make This Ahead?
You can make the dough and apple filling ahead of time, but I think this bread is at its absolute best when baked and eaten the same day.
If you're serving it for breakfast or brunch, you could prepare the dough the night before and let it complete its first rise in the refrigerator.
The next morning, let it warm slightly, then roll, fill, shape, complete the second rise, and bake.
How to Store Leftovers
Assuming you have leftovers...
Keep the bread tightly covered at room temperature for about 2 days, or refrigerate it for up to 4 days. And do yourself a favor: Warm it back up.
About 10–15 seconds in the microwave brings that soft texture right back and makes the cinnamon-apple filling gooey again.
Apple Fritter Pull Apart Bread
Courtney Moody
6
20 minutes
30 minutes
350
American
Dessert
Imagine an apple fritter and warm cinnamon pull-apart bread had a baby, and then we added sourdough discard. This Pull-apart apple fritter bread is made with a soft, buttery dough layered with cinnamon brown sugar and little bites of tender apples. Everything gets stacked into a loaf pan, baked until golden, and finished with a simple vanilla glaze that drips into all those warm apple-cinnamon layers!
Ingredients
Yeast Mixture
- ¾ cup (180g) warm whole milk
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
- ¼ cup (50g) honey
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup (100g) sourdough discard
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons (56g) melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
- 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Apple filling
- 2 medium apples, diced small
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons (50g) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Cinnamon sugar coating
- ½ stick of melted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Vanilla glaze
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
Directions
For the dough
Add the warm milk, yeast, and honey to the bowl of a stand mixer. If using active dry yeast, let it sit for about 5 minutes until foamy. Instant yeast can move right along.
Add the sourdough discard, egg, melted butter, and vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the flour and salt. Using the dough hook, knead on low to medium speed for about 5–7 minutes, until you have a smooth, soft dough. (If you determine you need more flour or milk while it’s kneading, add 1 tablespoon at a time until your dough comes together)
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1–1½ hours, or until roughly doubled in size.
Apple filling
While the dough is rising, prepare the apple filling! In a small saucepan melt your butter and add the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg making sure everything is coated.
Cook for about 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the apples slightly softened and coated in that buttery cinnamon-sugar mixture but not cooked down into applesauce.
Shaping/ cinnamon sugar
While the dough rises, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt in a shallow pie pan. Melt your butter in a pan. And yes, we are using a lot of butter ;)
TIP: Grease a 8x4-inch loaf pans generously with butter or oil, this is important because the sugar coating will melt and this will keep the bread from sticking.
Punch down your dough to release the air, turn it over onto a clean workspace and gently stretch or roll the dough into a rough rectangle
Roll one side of the dough up and all the way to the other, making a log shape the size of your loaf pan.
Use a sharp knife or kitchen scissors to make 4 - 5 deep cuts across the top of the dough, being careful not to cut completely through the bottom. Think thick pull-apart sections rather than slices.
Roll the loaf in the pan of butter and then transfer it to the sugar pan and roll it in cinnamon sugar, making sure the entire dough is coated, including the inside of the cuts.
Transfer your dough to your loaf pan and spoon the apple mixture deep into the cuts made in the dough and spreading all over the surface and cracks. This will cook into the dough as it rises in the oven.
Cover and let rise another 45 minutes - 1 hour until noticeably puffy.
Baking
Preheat your oven to 390 degrees and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
For the most reliable result, check the center with an instant-read thermometer. An enriched yeast bread is generally done around 190°F internally.
Vanilla glaze
While the bread cools, prepare the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, milk or cream, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
Drizzle the glaze over the warm pull apart bread before serving and enjoy warm with a glass of milk or hot coffee (trust me).
