Sourdough English Muffins make the perfect companion for any breakfast , if you ask me! These are a mild tangy twist on your regular english muffin, with a less chewy texture than your store bought version. Now while they do need an “Active Starter”, the starter timeline does not need to be as strict as it does in bread making. It can have fallen a bit and be passed its peak.
Making your own english muffins will surely impress anyone, and making sourdough english muffins to boot! It may come as surprise, that they are actually super easy and require very few ingredients! I am guessing everything that is in them, you already have in your pantry right now! My absolute favourite thing to make with them is breakfast sandwiches, I typically make a very large batch and freeze the sandwiches, for quick grab breakfasts for my husband on his way to work. My kids often enjoy them fresh with butter and jam, or as my base for eggs benedict on a special occasion. Anything you do with them, you really can’t go wrong.
What you’ll need:
- Mixing bowl
- Wood spoon or Danish Whisk
- Tea Towel
- Cooling Rack
- Frying Pan with lid
Ingredients:
- Flour
- Active Sourdough Starter
- Honey
- Milk
- Salt
- Cornmeal- for dusting
Why Active Sourdough Starter?
While there are many recipes that use flat sourdough discard, this one is better with an active starter. To achieve the light fluffy texture, you need the bread to be leavened with the sourdough starter. As I mentioned before, the time line can be a bit more flexible and I have made these with fallen sourdough starter, just not totally flat and lifeless.
What is Active Sourdough Starter?
Active Sourdough Starter, is a sourdough starter that has been fed or refreshed, roughly 12 hours before. It is bubbly and rising or has risen and doubled-tripled in size. It contains lots and lots of bubbles. The yeast in an active sourdough starter are very active. As it is processing the flour and water, It is releasing CO2, which is what you want when it is going into a bread recipe!
How to make Sourdough English Muffins?
Start by adding your milk to your bowl, then add honey and mix.
Next add the sourdough starter, and mix very well. Sometimes thicker starter can take a bit of work to mix in. You can also warm your milk before adding the starter, which will help to make mixing easy. Careful not to make it too hot.
Once sourdough starter has been mixed in, add your flour and salt, and mix until a shaggy dough comes together. You may need to use your hands once a spoon or dough whisk gets too hard.
Once dough starts coming together, cover bowl with a tea towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes. This dough shouldn’t be that sticky, I don’t find I ever need to add more flour, the more you add the denser the sourdough english muffins will become. So keep that in mind. If I am having troubles working the dough, I will lightly flour my hand.
Now that your dough has rested for 30 minutes, this can be longer- don’t fret if you forget about it! Once your rest is done, dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for 2-3 minutes, until smooth.
Once dough is smooth place it back in the bowl and cover for 8-12 hours. I prefer to use a bowl cover or plastic wrap, when I am covering dough for this length of time on the counter. Sometimes if you use a tea towel, it exposes the dough and a hard crust can develop on the top side of it. This tends to happen in a warmer environment- which my house is.
Now that your dough has proofed, it is time to flatten it out and cut into rounds for your english muffins!
Start by turning dough out onto a clean surface, you can lightly dust with flour. Press or roll you dough out evenly, until it is about 1 inch thick. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, or a mason jar or ring works just fine- cut out your rounds! You’ll need to gather the edges and leftovers and re- roll them out, to cut them into rounds. Once all your rounds are cut, place them on a baking sheet, and sprinkle the tops with cornmeal. Let them rest for 1 hour.
They are ready to cook! Now this is where english muffins really differ from a lot of other breads and baked goods… they do not go in the oven! You actually heat them in a frying pan.
Grab your pan and set it on low, allow it to preheat for a few minutes before you start cooking. You also need to choose a pan that has a lid, because they need to cook covered. You do not need to grease your pan at all! We do not want them frying, the cornmeal dusting will prevent any sticking.
Start by placing the sourdough english muffins, top side down in the pan (So that the side you sprinkled cornmeal on, is the side touching the pan). Sprinkle the top side with a bit of cornmeal and place the lid on the pan. Cook for 4 minutes, and flip. You want them to be nice and just lightly golden on the sides. Cook the other side for 4 minutes as well, not depending on how well you rolled them out, and how thick they are, I like to take the center temperature. It should read between 190- 200 F Degrees. If it is not there yet, cook them until they are.
Once they are finished, remove from pan and place on a cooling rack. Work in batches until they are all finished!
Let them cool and then enjoy! Pro-tip: Serve warm with butter and a drizzle of honey!
Storing:
Best stored in a sealed container, or bag on the counter for about 5-7 days.
They freeze very well for up to 6 months! Make sure before placing them in any sealed container they have completely cooled off, as to not hold onto to any extra moisture and cause them to mold quicker.
Sourdough English Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Active Sourdough Starter
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 1 Cup Milk
- 3 Cups Flour
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Cornmeal For dusting
Instructions
- In a large bowl add your milk, and sourdough starter, and mix until combined.
- Next add your honey, and mix well.
- Add flour and salt, and mix until a shaggy dough comes together, you may need to use your hands.
- Once dough has started to come together, cover bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes, or until the dough is nice and smooth.
- Place back in your bowl and cover.
- Let sit on the counter for 8 – 12 hours.
- Once dough has proofed, turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
- With a rolling pin or fingers, gently press dough out flat until it is about an inch thick.
- Using a 3 inch cookie cutter or in my case a mason jar ring, cut out rounds of dough until you have used all of the dough up.
- Place rounds on a cookie sheet, and sprinkle tops lightly with cornmeal, cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat pan on low, place rounds cornmeal side down in the pan evenly spaced apart- so that they are not touching.
- Cover with lid, and cook for about 4 minutes, flip and cook for another 4 minutes. I like to use a thermometer to check the inside of the muffins; you want them to be between 190-200 degrees.
- Once done, place on a cooling rack or serve right away!
I really like this recipe. I am curious how many English muffins this recipe makes? I’m assuming around 8? Id like to know so I can double or triple it to make a big batch.
I usually get about 8 -10 depending on how thin I get them!
What are the measurements in grams?
Sorry there aren’t
I don’t have cornmeal, what can I use instead?
Ive used rice flour or just very very lightly oiled my pan in a pinch!
Love this recipe! I have made it several times and they come out great each time. Everyone loves them.
Oh I am so happy to hear this!! Thank you!
Oh I am so happy to hear this!! Thank you!!