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Talk about heavenly! This Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Babka is stuffed full of apple chunks, swirled with a brown sugar cinnamon filling, and topped with a buttery streusel. Not to mention, the super soft babka dough, based on my classic sourdough babka recipe , practically melts in your mouth.
My family and friends go crazy for this one! It’s the perfect bite of fall that tastes like apple pie but in soft, swirled babka form. It’s incredible and definitely needs to be on your list for apple season.
If you love baking with apples, don’t miss my favorite fall apple sourdough recipes roundup — it’s filled with cozy, tried-and-true recipes that celebrate the best of apple season.
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Why You’ll Love Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Babka
- Apple Pie Flavor: This apple cinnamon sourdough babka tastes like an apple pie, but rolled in a soft babka dough. Or make my 30-minute sourdough apple fritters if you’re short on time!
- 100% Sourdough: If you like my cinnamon sugar sourdough babka recipe, then you’ll love this apple flavored one made with 100% sourdough natural yeast.
- Show-Stopper: This babka is sure to impress at your next brunch or breakfast – it’s the perfect bake to share and show off!
- Complex: Babka is a more advanced recipe, BUT it’s easy to follow and I’ll guide you through everything you need to know to have a successful bake.
Sourdough Baker’s Timeline
A sample baking schedule helps me when baking with sourdough. Sourdough takes much longer to rise than traditional bread. This schedule helps me plan my bake.
A few notes: This schedule assumes the dough temperature will be maintained at around 78ºF throughout the process. This recipe also requires a long cold refrigeration, chilling the dough and making it easier to work with.
| Day 1 | Mix Stiff Sweet Levain |
| 8:00 PM-8:00 AM | Mix stiff, sweet levain. Let rise at 78ºF for 10-12 hours |
| Day 2 | Mix Babka Dough/Bulk Fermentation |
| 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Mix Babka Dough Bulk Fermentation at 78-80ºF |
| 12:00 PM– 9:00 PM | Cover dough and cold ferment in refrigerator for 8-9 hours or up to 24 hours. |
| 9:00 PM | Shape Babka |
| 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM | Proof/Rise Overnight at 76-78ºF |
| Day 3 | Bake |
| 8:00 AM | Bake Babka |
Important Ingredients
- Sourdough Starter – I use 100% hydration sourdough starter to mix the stiff sweet levain.
- Sugar – I use granulated sugar in the mix of the stiff sweet levain, and also in the babka dough to make this sweet bread.
- Flour – I use a bread flour for the babka dough and an all-purpose in the streusel and filling.
- Milk – Whole milk gives the babka dough enriched texture and flavor.
- Eggs – This sourdough babka recipe uses 2 eggs to enrich the dough.
- Salt – Salt helps balance the flavors. Don’t leave it out.
- Unsalted Butter – I always bake with unsalted butter because it helps me control the salt content of the recipes. It is best to use softened unsalted butter for this recipe. If you use salted, decrease the salt in the recipe by just a little bit.
- Cinnamon Sugar Filling – The cinnamon filling in this sourdough babka is made by combining unsalted butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and all purpose flour.
- Apple Filling – The apple filling combines warms diced apples, unsalted butter, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice in a saucepan.
- Cinnamon Streusel – This sourdough babka is topped and rolled up with cinnamon streusel made with unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
How to Make Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Babka
Mix a Stiff Sweet Levain
One of the unique aspects about this sourdough babka recipe is that you mix a stiff, sweet levain before actually making the bread. Read more about the relationship between levain and sourdough starter here. Typically with sourdough, the longer the bread rises, the more tang you will taste from sourdough. I love the little bit of tang in my traditional Sourdough Loaf but in a sweet babka, I don’t want to taste the tang. Making a stiff, sweet levain helps temper the tang and mellows the flavors, letting the fillings be the main flavor in this apple babka recipe.
A stiff levain is a levain that mixes up to a firm consistency and is anywhere from 50%-65% hydration. It adds elasticity to dough and helps temper the acid in the sourdough, which gives all the benefit of sourdough fermentation without the tang. The sugar in the levain helps counteract the acidity and creates a more mild flavor. My sometimes picky kids are especially grateful for this! To make a stiff sweet levain:
- Use 100% hydration sourdough starter at its peak
- Add 10 grams of ripe sourdough starter to 60 grams of all purpose flour, 30 grams of water and 10 grams of sugar. Mix together.
- A stiff levain will be a little more difficult to mix together, because it forms a dough ball instead of a batter. Knead the ball of dough a few times until smooth.
- Place the stiff sweet levain in a liquid measuring cup and set in a warm (78ºF) spot for 10-12 hours.
- Stiff sweet levain is ready to use when it has doubled in size and has a rounded top. Using it when it reaches its peak will help decrease the acidity in the dough.
Mix the Dough
Sourdough Babka dough is an enriched dough. Mix together ripe levain, milk, eggs, sugar, flour and salt until a stiff dough forms. Continue kneading for about 3-5 minutes until incorporated and smooth. THEN, add in the softened unsalted butter. This process of kneading the dough first takes a somewhat thick dough and turns it into a silky, smooth and a little bit sticky enriched dough.
To add the butter, cut the softened butter into chunks and add it to the center of the dough hook as the dough is mixing. Knead dough for about 10 minutes. I like to set a timer and let my dough get to work incorporating the butter. I highly recommend using a stand mixer for this process. The dough can get very sticky and is difficult to knead for the length of time required with cold hands to keep the butter from melting and leaking out of the dough.
Bulk Fermentation or First Rise
After the dough has been mixed together, the dough rests and rises just a little bit in the bulk fermentation stage. Cover the dough and let it rest at a warm temperature around 78ºF for about 4-5 hours. The dough will fill the bottom of the container but will not rise much during this time. It will feel more cohesive and strong. If you take a section of the dough and pull it up, the dough will not tear and you will see the light coming through – this is called the windowpane test. It lets you know that your dough is sufficiently strong and should rise well.
Cold Fermentation (Refrigeration)
Refrigerating the babka dough overnight or at a minimum of 3 hours chills the butter in the dough and makes it easy to work with when you go to shape it. Stick the covered dough in the refrigerator and let it chill for anywhere from 3-24 hours. You should not expect to see a rise in the refrigerator. Don’t worry! It will come – once the dough is shaped and given time to rise in a warm place before baking.
Prepare Fillings
Apples: Cut apples into chunks. Sauté diced apples in a pan over medium-low heat with butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for about five minutes until apple chunks begin to soften. Set cooked apples aside and allow to cool.
Cinnamon Filling: Mix together cinnamon sugar filling until a thick paste forms. Set aside.
Streusel: Mix together brown sugar streusel by mixing softened butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
Shape Babka
Prepare a 9 by 5 loaf pan with parchment paper. Remove the Babka dough from the refrigerator. It will be a little stiff and hard because it is cold. This chill makes the dough easier to work with. Add a little flour to the bottom of your work surface and on top of the Babka dough.
Spread the cinnamon filling over the dough, getting right up to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle on the sautéed apples, covering as much of the dough as possible. Then top with about 2/3 of the streusel mixture.
Roll the sourdough apple cinnamon babka dough up as you would a cinnamon roll, starting with the edge closest to you and rolling tightly, until a log is formed. Pinch the seams closed and turn the log of dough over. Use a sharp knife or bench knife to cut the roll in half; straight down the middle of the roll the long way. This will leave two long ropes of dough. Beginning on one end, squish the ends of the dough together and then twist the dough around each other forming the shape of the sourdough Babka loaf. Push the ends of the dough together and place the Babka in the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining streusel on top of the babka dough.
Proof Babka
After shaping your apple cinnamon sourdough babka, cover the loaf and let rise overnight at 76-78ªF. The time this takes will depend on the temperature of your environment. Let the dough rise until it has filled the loaf pan, doubled in size and gets light and puffy.
My word of caution: Make sure your Babka has risen before baking it. Sourdough takes longer or shorter depending on environment and temperature. If you bake it without the rise, it will turn out dense and flat. If it doesn’t feel light, airy and risen before baking, give it a warmer place or more time to rise. Remember, the times are a guideline – not a rule. Follow the cues of your dough.
Bake & Add Simple Syrup
Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Bake Babka for 60-70 minutes until baked all the way through and the internal temperature of the babka registers 195ºF. Pull Babka out of the oven and let rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes.This can take a little longer than a traditional babka because of the many delicious inclusions in the dough.
Note: Check the Babka about halfway through baking to make sure it’s not browning too much on the top. If it is, add a piece of foil lightly on top of the Babka to prevent the top from getting too brown.
While the Babka is baking, prepare the simple syrup for the top of the Babka. Mix together the granulated sugar and water in a microwave safe liquid measuring cup. Microwave on high a minute at a time until boiling and all the sugar is dissolved. Set aside. Alternatively, make the simple syrup on the stovetop. Boil the sugar and water together for about 1 minute until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Let your babka rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes after removing from the oven. Remove the loaf from the pans using the parchment paper and place on a cooling rack. Pour or brush the simple syrup onto the babka, letting it soak into the warm bread. Let Sourdough Babka cool and enjoy!
Amy’s Recipe Tip
Cutting the apples into chunks and softening them just a little bit in a pan gives this apple cinnamon babka the perfect texture. I prefer it over sliced apples. Leave the skins on or off depending on your preference.
Substitutions
- Stiff Sweet Levain: If you prefer to leave the sugar out of the levain, you can make a stiff levain instead of a stiff sweet one.
- Apples: Use any favorite apple that you enjoy the flavor of when baked. I like Honey Crisp, Pink Lady and Granny Smith.
- Whole Milk: If you don’t have whole milk, substitute 90 grams 2% milk and 10 grams heavy cream, whisked together.
- Simple Syrup: Technically, you don’t have to use the simple syrup, but I like the extra moistness and richness it gives the bread. Leave it off completely if you wish.
How to Store Leftovers
Let Babka cool completely. Store for up to 24 hours at room temperature. After that, slice and freeze babka bread in an air-tight bag or container to preserve freshness for up to 2-3 months.
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Frequently Asked Questions
This is a very sticky dough, because of all the enriched butter in it. You may think you should add more flour, but don’t. Use slightly damp hands to put the dough in a container and after it rises, chilling the dough makes it manageable to fill and cut before proofing.
I don’t recommend it for this bake as written. Technically, you can use a ripe starter in place of the stiff levain but you will need to make some adjustments with your timing and the ingredients (adding more flour to the dough, etc..).
Make sure you are using your levain at its peaked, rounded, domed height and that your dough is being kept in a warm enough place to rise. Do not bake this babka if it hasn’t doubled in size and feels light and airy to the touch.
You don’t have to, but I think it brings out more apple flavor and gives off apple pie vibes with just a quick 5 minutes softening.
Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Babka
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Equipment
Ingredients
Stiff Sweet Levain (ready in about 10-12 hours at 78ºF)
- 10 grams sourdough starter , about 1.5 teaspoons, ripe and active
- 10 grams granulated sugar, about 1 Tablespoon
- 60 grams all purpose flour, scant 1/2 cup
- 30 grams water, about 2 Tablespoons
Babka Dough
- 100 grams levain, ripe and active, all of it
- 100 grams whole milk , about 1/3 cup plus 1.5 Tablespoons, see recipe notes
- 2 large eggs , 100 grams
- 25 grams granulated sugar, about 2 Tablespoons
- 6 grams salt, about 1 teaspoon
- 310 grams bread flour, about 2 1/3 cups
- 100 grams unsalted butter, softened, about 7 Tablespoons
Apple Filling
- 250 grams apples, diced into 1-inch chunks, about 2 cups
- 15 grams unsalted butter, about 1 Tablespoon
- squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 100 grams brown sugar, about 1/2 cup
- 15 grams all-purpose flour, about 2 Tablespoons
- 8 grams ground cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon
- 2 grams salt, about 1/4 teaspoon
- 65 grams unsalted butter, softened, about 5 Tablespoons
Cinnamon Streusel
- 45 grams unsalted butter, softened, about 3 Tablespoons
- 60 grams all-purpose flour, about 1/2 cup
- 40 grams brown sugar, about 3 Tablespoons, packed
- 6 grams ground cinnamon, about 2 teaspoons
- 1 grams salt, about 1/8 teaspoon
Simple Syrup
- 50 grams granulated sugar, about 1/4 cup
- 50 grams water, about 3 Tablespoons
Instructions
Stiff Sweet Levain (ripe in 10-12 hours, overnight at 78ºF)
- Mix together ripe sourdough starter, all purpose or bread flour, granulated sugar and water. Knead the levain until it forms a cohesive ball. Set in a glass measuring cup and cover for 10-12 hours until the levain has doubled in size and the top is rounded.
Babka Dough Day 1
- Mix the Dough: Add all of the ripe, stiff sweet levain, whole milk, sugar, eggs, salt and bread flour to the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead together for about 5 minutes.
- Add Butter: Cut the softened butter into Tablespoon sized chunks. With the dough hook running, add the butter to the center of the dough. The butter will begin to incorporate into the dough. Continue adding chunks of butter until all the butter is added. Knead for a total of 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and still somewhat tacky.
- Bulk Fermentation: Turn the dough out into a shallow container. The dough will be sticky. It can help to wet your hands before turning the dough out if it sticks to your fingers. Cover the dough and set in a warm 78ºF place for the 4 hour bulk fermentation.
- Refrigerate: Place the covered dough in the refrigerator to chill for 8-9 hours (or at least up to 3 hours).
- Prepare Fillings and pan: Cut apples into chunks. Saute in a pan over medium-low heat with butter and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, until the apple chunks begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly. Mix together the cinnamon sugar filling until a thick paste forms. Set aside.Mix together brown sugar streusel by mixing softened butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Set aside.Prepare a 9 by 5 loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Shape Dough: Pull the dough out of the refrigerator. Lightly flour a pastry mat or kitchen countertop. Turn the dough out onto the mat and lightly flour the top of the dough. Roll the dough into a large 14 by 18 inch rectangle. Spread the cinnamon filling over the dough, getting right up to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle on the sautéed apples, covering as much of the dough as possible. Then top with about 2/3 of the streusel mixture.
- Roll the dough up as you would a cinnamon roll, starting with the edge closest to you and rolling tightly, until a log is formed. Pinch the seams closed and turn the log of dough over. Use a sharp knife or bench knife to cut the roll in half; straight down the middle of the roll the long way. This will leave two long ropes of dough. Beginning on one end, squish the ends of the dough together and then twist the dough around each other forming the Babka loaf. Push the ends of the dough together and place the Babka in the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining streusel on top of the babka dough.
- Proof: Cover the loaf and let rise overnight at 76-78ªF. The time this takes will depend on the temperature of your environment. Let the dough rise until it has mostly filled the loaf pan, doubled in size and gets light and puffy.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Bake Babka for 60-70 minutes until baked all the way through and the internal temperature of the babka registers 195ºF. Pull the Babka out of the oven and let rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. This can take a little longer than a traditional babka because of the many delicious inclusions in the dough.
- Simple Syrup: While the Babka is baking, prepare the simple syrup for the top of the Babka. Mix together the granulated sugar and water in a microwave safe liquid measuring cup. Microwave on high a minute at a time until boiling and all the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.Alternatively, make the simple syrup on the stovetop. Boil the sugar and water together for about 1 minute until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Pull Babka out of the oven and let rest in the pan for about 5-10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pans using the parchment paper and place on a cooling rack. Pour or brush the simple syrup onto the babka, letting it soak into the warm bread. Let Babka cool and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made your Sourdough Cinnamon bread and my husband and I loved it🙋🏻♀️🌹
Thanks for the review. I’m glad it turned out great!
I made this and it was absolutely delicious. I will definitely make this again and if my family has anything to say it will be a monthly request! I did have to leave it in the fridge overnight before baking because of timing and my fear of leaving the dough out all night at room temp with eggs in it.. BUT – it still came out perfectly. I put it braided and ready to go in the fridge and covered it loosely. In the morning I took it out and let it come to a good rise until it reached room temp and baked it then. It was perfect. Soft and sweet and perfect. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for the review! I’m glad you found a great recipe for your family.
Delicious!! Now my fiance wants me to make it every weekend haha
It’s a favorite for a reason! Enjoy!
Hi Amy
Would you have a recipe for apple loaf with canned apple pie filling
That sounds delicious. Amy doesn’t have any recipes with canned apple pie filling. She has several apple bread recipes like this Sourdough Apple Bread and this Apple Cinnamon Sourdough Bread.
I am making this now – the dough is in the fridge – I want to add walnuts ..what do you think???
That sounds delicious! Let me know how it turns out!