What a delicious light-textured yeast bread topped with apples, cinnamon and maple syrup.  There is no obvious sourdough flavor but I am sure the starter does add some depth to this great breakfast/brunch dish.  The crust has a crispy bottom and would make an excellent  pizza dough!  If used as a pizza cut the toppings into chunks rather than slices.

This recipe was one of my weekly email recipes from King Arthur Flour which  I have adapted.  They called it Cinnamon-Apple Flatbread and I felt it tasted more like French toast.  Flatbread is any kind of bread that is flat so that could include this dough which is flat as you do spread the dough out in a sheet pan.  Many types are unleavened (made without yeast or  sourdough starter); but some  like pita bread are made with yeast.  I just associate the name with a bread like pita, naan or even tortillas.

This recipe allowed me to use the sourdough starter I have to throw away every week.  Yes, I have to feed it (remove 1 cup and throw away and replace with 1 cup fresh flour and 1/2 cup water).  If you do not have any starter just substitute 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1/2 cup flour.   It has been awhile since I used my starter  and for this recipe it could be fed or unfed.   Below is a  nice crock with my starter in it that I keep in the refrigerator and the bubbling sourdough starter just waiting for me to bake something.

Dough:

• 1 cup sourdough starter, fed or unfed (room temperature)
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 2 tsp. instant yeast (1/4 oz.  or 1 packet)
• 3 cups flour (King Arthur Flour of course)
• 1-1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. Bakers Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
• 3 tbsp. olive oil

Combine all of the ingredients in the order given; mix and knead to make a smooth, soft dough.  Place in a lightly greased bowl and let rise for 1 hour.  I like to put the dough, covered with a towel, in my oven with the light turned on.  Occasionally, if the dough does not seem to be rising I will turn the oven on to 170°F and then turn off.  Do not ask me why as I have done this for years any time I made bread that needed to rise.

Punch it down and let rise for 1 more hour; it should double in bulk.  Prepare the apple filling.

Filling:

• 4 very large firm apples, about 2 lbs. (I used 8 small Gala apples)
• 1/4 cup boiled cider (can use thawed frozen apple juice concentrate as a substitute)
• 1/4 cup Michigan Grade B syrup

Core the unpeeled apples and cut each into wedges, then cut each of the wedges into  2-3 pieces.  My Rosle apple corer works great as you can see below.  You can peel the apples if you prefer.  I like the extra fiber but some people might not care for it.  You should have about 7-1/2 cups apple chunks.  Put the chunks in a shallow microwave-safe bowl and drizzle with the cider and maple syrup.    Microwave the apples till they have softened, but still hold their shape.  In my microwave it took about 9 minutes.  Drain the apples and reserve the juice.  Set the apple chunks aside to cool while the dough is rising.

Lightly grease an 18″x13-inch rimmed baking sheet or a half-sheet pan.  Spray the pan first and then drizzle olive oil atop the spray; the spray keeps the bread from sticking, while the olive oil gives the bottom crust great crunch and flavor – I just love this dough!

Gently deflate the risen dough, then pull and shape the dough into a rough rectangle in the sheet pan.  If it shrinks back, cover it, walk away and come back in 15 minutes and stretch again into the corners.

Topping:

• 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar mixture (I always have on hand a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tbsp. cinnamon)
• 1/4 cup syrup, reserved from the cooked apples
• 2-3 tbsp. coarse white sparkling sugar (I liked this addition)

Arrange the apple chunks atop the dough and make the topping.  I would double the topping ingredients!  Drizzle the syrup mixture over the apples.

Third rising – this dough does take some time but when you are making dough using yeast there is time involved (trust me as this dough is worth it).  You can bake it the day before then tent lightly with foil and reheat in a preheated 350°F oven.  You could also reheat in a microwave.

In the picture below is the third rising where the bread is covered and you can see how puffy the dough becomes.  Let rise for 1 hour (I put it in my oven with the light on).  Remove 15 minutes before baking and preheat the oven to 425°F.  Uncover the bread and sprinkle with coarse white sparkling sugar (optional).  Bake the bread for 30 minutes, till the crust is golden brown around the edges and feels set in the center.  Remove and turn it out on a rack and serve warm.  I liked it with Michigan maple syrup.

This was hard to quit eating; crispy and tender crust topped with a delicious apple topping, plus some added Michigan maple syrup!