Start your mornings off with fresh Sourdough English Muffins. You don’t even need to turn on your oven; just get out your skillet and cook the muffins to a golden brown and top with butter, cinnamon and sugar, jam, or make one into your favorite breakfast sandwich. And we all know that you have to have an English Muffin for your eggs benedict! It’s also another great way to use your Sourdough Starter! Sourdough Popovers and pretzels are another delicious way to use your starter!
Sourdough English Muffins
English muffins have English in their name but were trademarked in America by an Englishman named Samuel Bath Thomas, who emigrated to the United States from England. He first came up with toaster crumpets in his New York Bakery. Then, in 1926, the term English Muffin was trademarked from his original recipe. I made these English muffins using the same method Thomas did–on the stovetop! That’s right, you don’t even turn on the oven to make these English muffins.
Can I Make Sourdough English Muffins Ahead of Time?
Yes! The nice thing about this Sourdough English Muffins recipe is that you can prepare the dough the night before and have fresh English muffins hot and ready to eat the next morning. To prepare the dough, mix together the sourdough starter (either your discard or fed starter), honey, milk, flour, and sea salt using your stand mixer for about 5 minutes. Cover the dough and let it sit out overnight (about 12 hours).
How to Make a Sourdough Starter
A sourdough starter is SO handy to have available for so many recipes. It’s a way to get delicious bread and treats without using yeast. For these English Muffins, you just need to make it to the day when you begin removing half the starter (around day 3). Then, you can add it to your recipe.
To begin, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/3-1/4 cup water to a jar and stir well. Then, gently cover the jar (do not seal it closed) and let it sit in a warm place (70°F is best) for 24 hours. The best option for a cover is a paper towel and rubber band. Or, just remember to keep the jar lid loosely sealed. Try to keep it in an area of your house that is somewhat warm. Very cool rooms tend to slow the action of a starter. Wait 24 hours before checking the mixture.
Day 2: After 24 hours, check the mixture for bubbles. If you see bubbles, add the flour and the water, mixing it well, and let it sit for the next 24 hours. If you don’t see bubbles, do not get discouraged! It sometimes takes a couple of days for the science of it all to work. Just wait another day (or even two) until the first feeding (adding flour and water).
Day 3: After another 24 hours, check for bubbles. If you do see bubbles, remove half of the starter, add the 1⁄2 cup flour and 1⁄4-1/3 cup water and stir thoroughly. Let sit 24 hours. Oh, and don’t get rid of the starter you removed! You can use this for these Sourdough English Muffins! And, now that you have been successful in feeding the starter, don’t stop now!
On days 4, 5, 6 you can feed it 2 times a day with the flour and water. Continue this routine (discarding & feeding) until the starter is consistently bubbling and doubling in size within 8 hours of each feeding.
How to Store Sourdough English Muffins
Store the muffins at room temperature for up to 5 days in a sealed container (do not refrigerate). You can also freeze them in a freezable zipped bag or container for a couple of months. Just remember to write the date on the container!
More Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough English Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter, discard or fed
- 1 tablespoon honey, or sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ cup cornmeal, for dusting
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, mix all of the ingredients together (besides the cornmeal) on low for 5 minutes.
- Cover the dough and let it sit on the counter overnight (10-14 hours).
- The next day, turn the dough onto a floured surface, add flour to the top of the dough, and use your fingertips to press out the dough to a 1/2-inch thickness.
- Using a biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter, or tall kitchen glass, press into the dough and place each biscuit onto a parchment-lined baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.
- Sprinkle more cornmeal on the tops of the biscuits and cover with a towel to let them rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat a nonstick skillet (make sure you have a cover for it) over low heat. Place 4 muffins (or how many fit) into the skillet. Cover the skillet and cook for 6-8 minutes. Turn the muffins over and cook for 6-8 more minutes, or until golden brown.
Video
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I love this recipe! I made it with Einkorn wheat, needed a little extra time for the rise, and used flour instead of the cornmeal. Delish!! And a simple way to use my discard. Can easily be doubled for company! Love your blog, Amanda!
Very good. I didn’t have cornmeal and just used extra flour instead.
Gosh I see You get 24 from resipe , I only get about 9, probably still to thick when I push dough down still delish.
Thank you I have made some before but you’re resipe was spot on super easy, family favorite
Starter is in day 5 so bread is my next challange! 😀This is therapy in you’re Kichen.
When you publish a rest recipe for sourdough you need to tell your readers to use a glass lid …. not a metal lid on their starter storage jar, because the sourdough will react with a metal lid and you don’t want that to happen.
Your readers can find wide mouth quart jars that have a glass lid and a wire bail to secure the lid.
That’s what they need if they’re serious about having a sourdough starter.
These are fantastic and a huge hit! I got 13 in my batch and only 2 were left after our family devoured them for breakfast. Thank you for another great recipe!