This Sourdough English Muffin recipe makes incredibly fluffy, soft and delectable muffins that are perfect for a quick breakfast!
The last few weeks have been an overwhelming amount of flour in our kitchen.. an active sourdough starter (which we named “Sid”) and lots of yummy recipes.
One of the most rewarding things next to making your own cheese is being able to pull out your homemade sourdough starter and whip up the most delicious breads.
Mmmmnn. Bread.
Who doesn’t love fresh baked bread?
I’ve reached a deeply profound love for my sourdough starter. I feed it once or twice a day, and if I get too busy, I’ll sometimes toss in the fridge.
This sourdough starter has reliably made this English Muffin recipe now for quite a long time. I say that with definition: reliably. No matter what the circumstance, these english muffins always turn out tall and fluffy.
The insides are soft, beautifully enjoyed with warm butter or even honey butter. Or jam – but who’s keeping track? The recipe makes aa whopping 13-14.. but if you can’t eat that many, don’t despair.
Simply cook them up, and then once cooled, place them in a gallon ziploc and toss in the freezer. They freeze beautifully. Pull out as needed. Then toss in the toaster (or on the griddle) before smothering with your favorite topping.
Hydration Levels are Important
Using a sourdough starter can be tricky at first. Once you start your sourdough starter, allow it 4-5 days of feeding before making these english muffins. You’ll want to feed your starter and allow that starter to sit and do it’s “thing” at least 3-4 hours before starting this batch.
I opt for a 1:1 hydration with my starter – so it tends to be rather wet. As a result, you’ll want to make tweaks to your flour ratio as you begin mixing the muffins.
Though I have made english muffins the traditional way (yeast), they don’t compare to these sourdough english muffins. These sourdough muffins rise so much more and are beautifully soft.
Delicious is what they are, and quite easy to make. The majority of the time is spent waiting for the rise.
How to Eat Sourdough English Muffins
While I’ll be the first to admit that these are perfect smothered with butter or jam and eaten at breakfast, that’s not all they are good for.
Ever since I was a young kid, I remember my mom making us english muffin pizzas for dinner. We simply split them apart, and ladled on the pizza sauce and cheese before asking our mom to lightly toast them.
If you have kids, it’s a quick and easy dinner when you are in a funk.. feeling rather stressed, and with limited time to cook. You can feel good that you are giving your kids a wholesome meal that you created yourself. It’s also something that everyone absolutely loves.
Sourdough English Muffins
Skip this step by step and move on to the far bottom to see the recipe card. If you are looking for a step by step, then you’re in the right place!
Add the flour, starter, salt, sugar, egg and butter to your mixer bowl. Using your dough hook, throw the mixer on slow until it starts to come together.
Then flip the mixer on medium (notch 3-4) and let her go for a good 4-5 minutes. Check out the dough – it shouldn’t be too wet. If it is, add a little extra flour (a Tbsp at a time).
The dough should come together quite lovely on your dough hook with some still sticking to the bottom. Dust your counter with flour and drop the dough on the counter.
Knead the dough for a good 3-4 minutes until smooth. Toss some extra flour on the surface of the dough to keep your hands from sticking to the dough.
Let the Dough Rise
Wash out that mixer bowl, then dry it well. Coat it with a little olive oil and drop your dough in there. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit in a warm corner of your kitchen for 4-5 hours. It should double in size.
After that time, dust your counter with more flour – be generous this time around. The dough will stick if you aren’t!
Roll and Cut
Dump the dough out on the floured counter and push it into a circle, about 3/4 to 1″ thick. Use a wide mouth canning jar to cut out the english muffins. You should get about 8 (depending on the size of your cutter).
Dust your sheet pan generously with corn meal, place the cut out muffins on the pan. Take the extra dough and re-roll the scraps, re-cut additional english muffins (the scraps gave us 5 more).
Allow those english muffins to sit, undisturbed, for another 45-50 minutes. During that time, they should rise slightly.
Cook your English Muffins
Once that time has passed, heat your cast iron skillet or double griddle to between low/medium. Once it is hot, place your english muffins on the griddle. Cook on each side until lightly browned – then flip.
During this time, they should puff up quite generously. Aim for 4-5 minutes on each side, before flipping. Once they are done, transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Once they are all completely cooled, enjoy them with your favorite spread or topping. From this point on, you can store them in the freezer or enjoy over the next several days.
Sourdough English Muffins
Ingredients
- 525 grams all purpose flour plus additional as needed (18.5 oz.)
- 160 grams sourdough starter 5.65 oz.
- 270 grams warm water 9.5 oz
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 30 grams butter softened (2 Tbsp)
- 30 grams cane sugar 2 Tbsp
- 12 grams sea salt 2 tsp
- oil for greasing the bowl
- corn meal for rolling and dusting the sheet pan
Instructions
- Add the flour, starter, water, eggs, butter, came sugar, and sea salt to the bowl of your KitchenAid mixer. Mix on low just until it comes together.
- Crank the mixer on notch 3 or 4 and let it mix away for a good 4-5 minutes. You might need to add additional flour (1 Tbsp at a time) - especially if your starter is a wet one.
- After 4-5 minutes, the dough should come together nicely around the hook, with some still being stuck on the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Dust your counter with flour, drop the dough on the counter. Flour the dough to make it more workable, and knead with your hands for 3-4 minutes.
- Wash out your mixer bowl, then grease with oil - drop the dough in there and cover tightly. Set it in a warm spot in the kitchen, it should double in size over 4-5 hours (or more if nneeded).
- Dust your counter with more flour/semolina. Dump the dough out once aagain, and push into a large circle, 1" in thickness.
- Use a wide mouth canning jar to cut circles from the dough. You should get 8 depending on how thick you roll your dough. Re-roll the scraps - repeat to cut more circles until you are done.
- Dust your sheet pan with flour/semolina. Be liberal - the muffins will stick. Place your cut muffins on the sheet pan, cover loosely with a damp rag or with plastic.
- Allow the muffins to rise for another 45-50 minutes. Once that time haas passed, heat your cast iron skillet or double skillet between low/medium.
- Once hot, place the cut out muffins on the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until light brown. Fiip, and repeat.
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool. Repeat until all have been cooked.
- Once cooled, enjoy - if not eating immediately, store in a zippered gallon bag.
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this sourdough english muffin recipe? If so, please please tag us @RebootedMom in your Instagram post! I hope they turned out as fabulous for you as they did for us!
Is this fed or unfed starter?
Thank you!!
Fed starter
Any tips on timing the rest/rise, so they are fresh off the griddle for breakfast? Or should I just plan to make the day/night before?
JC, when I want to make them for the kids in the morning, I mix them up before I go to to bed. Then I let them rise overnight in the mixer bowl (covered of course)… about 6-7 hours. Then when I get up I turn out the dough on the counter and cut them, toss them on the griddle.
I’d like to try this recipe but I can’t have added salt. Do you think this would work without the salt? I have used starters and also have made yeast english muffins, so I know what I’m getting into, but yeasted breads need salt to control the rise. Some work without salt and others don’t. I could use No-Salt in it…
Absolutely – just forego the salt. It will still turn out fine!
Could you give measurements in cups . TIA
Is it possible to make these just kneading by hand, without a stand mixer?
Sure, give it a try!
Can this recipe be made without the use of a Kitchenaid mixer??
Yes, just a bit harder.
Have you ever baked these instead of cooked in cast iron skillet? I am looking for a nice sourdough recipe to fill with a meat filling. It’s a food that is part of my cultural heritage. All recipes I can find involve yeast, this dough recipe looks promising. Any thoughts?
Also without a kitchen aid mixer, do you just knead longer?
I haven’t.. but I don’t see why they wouldn’t? Pita bread I do with sourdough in the oven and it puffs up, I would think these would too.
I haven’t made without a mixer, I would just knead a little longer. They have always turned out well for me… and I make them 2-3 times a week (my 5 kids eat them faster than I can make them).
Thanks for the reply. Sorry I didn’t see that the post came through at first so kept asking the same question ;). I will let you know how this turns out…
The filled meat buns turned out great! Brushed with egg wash after filling and baked for 30 minutes at 350 F, no real rise time required but they did sit for a bit before I baked them. And I’m about to cook up the rest of the double batch as English muffins.
Thank you, I’m enjoying your recipes that I’ve tried so far.
Can you bake this dough? Has anyone tried this? I want to use it to make filled meat buns, because I can’t find a sourdough starter recipe for the bun dough.
The flavor is fabulous but what am I doing wrong? I’ve made them twice and both times, they flatten out during the second rise rather than getting tall. They rise a little during cooking but not what I expected. Do I need to use additional flour?
3rd time the charm! I mixed them up last night and let them rise until this morning. I also found that cutting one muffin at a time and putting it on the dusted cookie sheet was the key to taller muffins. The first few I cut out like you do biscuits, cut them all at once and then put them on the cookie sheet. Those were harder to transfer and flatter.
So glad to hear that Pat! Enjoy them!!!
The absolute best English muffins! These blow store bought out of the water! My kids devour them! Always a hit!
Jen, you are so sweet. This comment made my day. I said to myself “… who just left this comment?” Sure enough, it’s you. What a way to put a smile on my face.
I need gram conversions to cups. Thanks
I can adjust the recipe to include that. Thanks so much!
I’m confused on the nutritional information listed… you said this recipe makes ~8 English muffins but serves 14 people? Is the 180 cal for a partial English muffin (a little more than half? Thanks for the clarification!
The number of English muffins it makes will depend on the size you make them. They can make anywhere from 8-14. I always hesitate to use nutritional information for that reason.. I typically avoid relying on that information in recipes. If you use smaller rounds, then it can make up to 14. For me, I use a rather consistent size so it makes 8.