In northern Virginia we have a wonderful bread store called "Great Harvest" that makes a moist apple bread with a crunchy brown sugar topping. Great Harvest calls its bread "apple scrapple." I decided to try to recreate the bread in sourdough form. The sourdough version keeps better than the regular version, has more taste, and is loaded with apples and raisins. The bread is sweet from the apples and raisins and from the topping, but it's not a "sweet bread," meaning the bread is nice and yeasty and perfectly suited for slathering with butter if you like. Frankly, though, I don't bother. The bread is tasty enough "as is," and it also is sufficiently moist that it doesn't require butter. You can vary the types of apples you use in the bread. Granny Smith apples are great and have a nice tang to them. Nonetheless, I use whichever apples I have on hand that most need to be used. So far, that's worked out just fine. You can add the topping to the bread or leave it plain, but I suggest trying the topping at least once. It really adds a nice flavor as well as sweetness to the bread. The topping is somewhat like the stuff you find in the middle of a cinnamon bun only thicker. It's good! As is the bread. So save your discard and try it soon--you'll have a very happy tummy!
Sourdough Apple Raisin Bread -- Makes 1 Large Loaf
1 cup of starter/discard
1/4 cup of canola oil
2 tablespoons of non-fat dried milk powder
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
3/4 cup of whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup of raisins
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients--except the raisins--and mix them well. Let the mixture sit, loosely covered, for at least an hour. Longer is just fine. I mix my dough in the morning and add the remainder of the ingredients around lunch time. While the dough is sitting, cover the raisins with 1/2 cup of boiling or very hot tap water and let them sit. When you're ready, add to the dough mixture:
The 1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of the water/juice the raisins were soaking in (discard the remainder)
1/2 teaspoon of grated orange zest
2 - 2 1/2 cups of peeled, chopped apples (2-3 apples, depending on their size)
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
Stir the dough/batter well. The dough will be quite stiff but you need to stir it. The dough will be too wet to knead. Spritz a 9-inch spring-form pan with non-stick cooking spray (and line it with parchment paper, too, if you like, for easier removal). With damp hands, form the dough into a ball and put it into the prepared pan. Spritz the dough with non-stick cooking spray, cover it loosely with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise for at least two hours. It should expand to just under the rim of the spring-form pan. If your kitchen is cool, this may take a little longer. Bake the bread at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Pull the bread from the oven and quickly spread the topping over the top of the loaf. Return the bread to the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of about 200 degrees. Let the bread cool completely before eating it for easier slicing and to prevent a "gummy texture." Or just eat it warm and be happy, because warm bread is about as good as it gets.
Topping
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of brown sugar (I use dark brown)
2 teaspoons of canola oil
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
3 teaspoons of water
In a small bowl or measuring cup mix together the flour, brown sugar, oil, and cinnamon. Mix in the water gradually until the mixture forms a paste.
