Sourdough Apple Muffins with Brown Butter and Streusel
These sourdough apple muffins are tender and buttery, with little pockets of soft apple, brown butter and spices running through the crumb, and a crisp brown sugar streusel on top. The batter can be baked straight away or fermented overnight in the fridge, to bake fresh muffins in the morning.
About these sourdough apple muffins
These apple muffins use sourdough discard in the batter. The starter isn’t here for the rise (that’s what the baking powder and baking soda are for), but the acid in the discard does two important things. It reacts with the baking soda to help with leavening, and it creates a softer, more tender crumb. I use the same method in my sourdough peach muffins, sourdough strawberry muffins, sourdough chocolate chip muffins, and sourdough banana muffins.
I brown the butter in this recipe because the toffee like flavour that comes from caramalising the milk solids goes so well with apple. There’s also a small amount of vegetable oil in the batter, which keeps the muffins soft for days after baking, since oil stays liquid at room temperature where butter would firm up. The apples are chopped into small cubes and folded in raw. A combination of cinnamon, ginger, and a touch of fresh ground cardamom goes into the batter for warmth, and the streusel on top gets its own cinnamon hit.
I like to ferment the batter overnight in the fridge. This step is optional, but the cold fermentation allows the flour to absorb more moisture from the batter and the slow ferment helps break down the proteins and starches in the flour, which can also improve digestibility. If you want to bake them right away, you absolutely can.
Don’t have your own sourdough starter yet? Learn to make a homemade sourdough starter.
Key ingredients and why
- Brown butter. This is the flavour upgrade that makes these muffins. Browning the butter drives off some of its water and toasts the milk solids into nutty, caramel-coloured flecks. It pairs beautifully with apple and warm spice. You’ll need to start with the full amount of raw butter and end up with around 95g of brown butter.
- Vegetable oil. Oil stays liquid at room temperature, which keeps the muffins soft and moist for days. Butter alone makes them firm up more as they cool.
- Sourdough discard. Unfed discard works best as it’s more acidic, which reacts with the baking soda and gives a tender, slightly tangy crumb. An active starter will work too, the texture will just be a touch different.
- Buttermilk. Adds tenderness and tang. If you don’t have it, stir a tablespoon of lemon juice into 180g of whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar. A 50/50 split between brown and white sugar gives you the right balance of caramel depth from the brown sugar and clean sweetness from the granulated.
- Apples. A firm, slightly tart variety holds up best through baking. Braeburn, Granny Smith, or Royal Gala all work well. Chop them into small cubes, around 1cm, so they soften nicely in the oven but keep some bite.
- Cinnamon, ginger, and fresh ground cardamom. Cinnamon is the classic apple pairing and goes into both the batter and the streusel. A touch of ginger adds warmth and bite. The cardamom is a small addition that brings a lovely floral note and stops the muffins from tasting like every other apple muffin. Freshly ground from the pods makes a real difference, but a good quality pre-ground works too.
A note on the brown butter
You want to brown the butter, then let it cool back down to a melted-but-not-hot state before whisking it into the batter. If it’s too hot, it’ll start cooking the eggs.
Place the butter in a light-coloured pan over medium heat. It’ll melt, then foam, then start to smell nutty. Keep swirling the pan and watch the milk solids at the bottom turn from pale gold to deep amber. Pull it off the heat the moment they hit that toasty caramel colour and pour it into a heatproof bowl, scraping in all the brown bits. Let it cool until it’s just warm to the touch.
For a full step-by-step guide with photos, see how to brown butter.
If you want to skip the brown butter, you can. Just use regular melted butter instead, I’ve put notes for it in the recipe card. The muffins will still be lovely, just without that extra layer of flavour.
Method
- Brown the butter in a small saucepan.
- Scrape all the brown bits into a heatproof large mixing bowl. Let it cool to lukewarm.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom in a bowl. Set aside.
- To the bowl of brown butter, add oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, sourdough discard, vanilla and buttermilk. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until almost all the flour is combined, then fold in the apples.
Cold-fermenting (optional)
Cover the bowl tightly and place it in the refrigerator for 8 to 20 hours. Cold fermenting allows the flour to absorb more moisture from the batter, which can lead to a more tender and moist crumb. Additionally, slow fermentation helps break down the proteins in the flour. Note that this step will make the batter extra thick.
- To make the streusel, add the melted butter, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a small bowl. Use a fork to combine into a coarse crumb.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until almost all the flour is combined, then fold in the apples.
Tips
- Extra apple. If you want to add more apple, split the batter over a couple of extra muffins.
- Start with a high oven temperature. The initial blast at 425°F (220°C) for the first 5 minutes helps the muffins get a good rise before the lower temperature sets the crumb. This is what gives them those lovely domed tops.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Once the flour goes in, fold gently until it’s just combined. Overmixing develops the gluten and can make the muffins tough.
- Pick a firm apple. Braeburn, Granny Smith, or Royal Gala hold their shape best. Softer varieties like Fuji can go a bit mushy through the long ferment and bake.
Related recipes
Sourdough Apple Muffins with Brown Butter and Streusel
Ingredients
Muffin batter
- 113 g butter around 95g after browning
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground cardamom
- 25 g vegetable oil
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 100 g sourdough discard room temperature
- 180 g buttermilk room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 200 g apples chopped into 1cm (1/2 inch) cubes, weighed after chopping
Streusel topping
- 45 g butter melted
- 63 g all-purpose flour
- 65 g brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place 113g of butter in a small light-coloured saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan as it melts, foams, and begins to smell nutty. When the milk solids at the bottom turn deep amber, pull it off the heat and pour into a large heatproof mixing bowl, scraping in all the brown bits. You should have around 95g of brown butter. Let cool to lukewarm.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- To the cooled brown butter, add the oil, eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, sourdough discard, vanilla, and buttermilk. Whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until almost all the flour is combined. Don't overmix. Fold through the apples.
- The batter can be baked right away, or cold-fermented overnight (see notes).
Streusel topping
- Add the melted butter, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a small bowl. Use a fork to combine into a coarse crumb. Pop it in the fridge for a few minutes if it's too soft to crumble.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Use an ice cream scoop to divide the muffin batter evenly between the liners. The batter makes 14 standard size muffins, or 12 very full larger muffins.
- Generously pile the streusel on top of each muffin and gently press it on.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F (220°C), then reduce the oven to 350°F (180°C) and bake a further 16 to 18 minutes until golden brown and the muffin tops spring back when pressed, or a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let the baked muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them and placing them on a wire rack to cool further.
