Easiest Sourdough Apple Crisp Ever!

This sourdough apple crisp will be a family favorite apple dessert in no time! Delicious granny smith apples smothered in a crispy sourdough topping and served with vanilla ice cream, you are going to love this sourdough apple crisp!

Similar to an apple crumble, this stunningly simple sourdough dessert is the perfect fall treat, no fancy equipment required!

If you love sourdough discard recipes that use apples, then make sure you check out these sourdough apple fritters, sourdough apple cobbler, sourdough apple pie, sourdough apple cake and this sourdough apple fritter bread, as well as these sourdough dessert recipes. They make a lovely change from making sourdough bread and are perfect to have in your collection during apple season. 

Why You'll Love This Recipe!

So Quick and Easy - with very little preparation, this recipe can be in mixed and baked in an hour (with most of that being oven time so you're free to do other things). The most difficult thing you need to do is chop the apples! It's the perfect no wait sourdough recipe!

Crowd Pleaser - I love making this recipe for a barbecue or potluck because it feeds a lot of people and is fairly economical to make - which is especially important at the moment.

Uses Lots of Discard - this recipe is a great way to empty your sourdough discard jar by using 200g of discard in one recipe. Every sourdough baker needs an easy sourdough dessert recipe to empty their discard jar!

Using Sourdough Discard In Recipes

This recipe is a great way to use up your sourdough discard. Although you can also use fresh, recently fed active starter if you prefer. It doesn't make any difference because you aren't using the sourdough starter for leavening at all. You can read about the differences between sourdough starter and sourdough discard here.

The sourdough starter in this recipe is used instead of adding all purpose flour. Sourdough recipes that don't use added flour are very handy if you've run out of flour or you just don't want to use more when utilising your sourdough discard. You can read about how to add sourdough discard to any recipe here.

Just remember that older discard will give your sourdough apple crisp a stronger, more sour flavor. I recommend using fresher discard for this recipe. 

How To Make Sourdough Apple Crisp

I think the best thing about this sourdough apple crisp is that you don't have to add anything to the apples. Unlike apple pie filling, you just toss the chopped up apples into the bottom of a baking dish. It's so easy! Such a fantastic way to use up a glut of apples during apple picking season (tell me it's not just me that seems to take the kids apple picking and ends up with a year's supply!!).

One of the things I love about this recipe is that you don't need a stand mixer or anything fancy. Just a mixing bowl and a baking dish! That's it.

Grab a baking dish (my dish is 11" x 9"). Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks and place them in the base of the baking dish. I haven't greased my baking dish before adding the chopped apples, but you can if you want to. That's how easy the apple filling is to prepare ... you just have to chop the apples up!

Next, add the rolled oats, sugar and spices to a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Add the chopped pecans now if you're using them.

Then add the sourdough starter and softened butter and mix through until it forms a stiff mixture. You may need to get in there with your hands if your butter isn't soft enough - that's ok! The wet ingredients will combine with the dry ingredients to form the top of the apple crisp.

Take your sourdough apple crisp topping and place it on top of the apples. Use your fingers to press the mixture all over the apples, essentially sealing them into the bottom of the dish.

Bake the sourdough apple crisp at 200C for around 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and crispy.

Allow to sit for around 10 minutes before serving so that the apples cool a little. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard.

Ingredient Notes

Apples - The best apples to use for this sourdough apple crisp are tart Granny Smith apples. I've peeled my apples, but you don't have to if you don't want to (leaving the peel on is great for a little extra fiber). For something a little extra, you could also add some raisins to the apples. 

Sugar - I've used raw granulated sugar for this dessert. Fine white sugar is ok too, but I found in testing that raw granulated sugar gave the best "crisp" texture. You can use brown sugar or coconut sugar if you want to, but I found it didn't give the crispness I was looking for.

Pecans - I find these really add to the texture and depth of flavor of the sourdough apple crisp. You can swap them out for walnuts or hazelnuts if you prefer, or leave them out altogether.

Can You Use Other Fruit For This Recipe?

The short answer is yes you can use other fruit when making a sourdough crisp. If I have fresh blueberries or strawberries that need using up, I often add a handful into the apples when I make this recipe.

Other fruits that work when making a sourdough crisp are peaches and pears. Prepare them in the same way the apples are prepared in this recipe.

How To Store + Freeze

I don't recommend freezing this recipe. It's best made fresh when you need it. In saying that, once it's baked, you can store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.

I usually just cover the baking dish in press n seal and store it at the back of the fridge. I heat up portions in the microwave as we want them. The top isn't as crisp doing this, but it still tastes lovely!

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