Sourdough English Muffins
Sourdough English Muffins are a delicious use for sourdough starter discard removed when feeding and easy enough for novice bread makers. You can even turn the dough into an incredibly tasty breakfast bread instead of individual muffins!
Note: This recipe received a major update in 2020 with lots of new tips and tricks, a variation for a bread loaf, and more.
What readers say
“My new Sourdough English Muffin recipe. 3rd time making them in 3 days and consistently come out perfect!👍🏼“
Brigette
“Hands down my favorite sourdough recipe ever. I make the loaf version of this and I make multiple loaves every week. I can’t get enough of it.“
Priscilla
There are few things I enjoy more than some toasted sourdough with butter. The sourdough english muffins give me an excuse to enjoy that all year round!
With no need to heat up the oven these have become a weekly staple in our home. If you are new to sourdough bread, this is an easy recipe to use sourdough discard! It’s also such a great recipe if you are fairly new to bread baking in general as you can use the dough for English muffins or bread loaves.
Ingredients you need
- Unfed sourdough starter
- Milk
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Cornmeal
What is sourdough discard?
Sourdough discard is the sourdough starter that you remove before you feed your starter. You can just discard it (hence the name) or you can use it in different recipes like this one. You can also use sourdough discard in Sourdough Waffles, Sourdough Pancakes, Sourdough Naan, or even Sourdough Banana Bread!
Where do you get sourdough starter? You can make your own sourdough starter, get starter from a friend, or you can buy dehydrated starter (affiliate link).
Substitutions
Some people in the comments have suggested swapping the sugar for honey. It gives the muffins a slightly more rounded flavor. Feel free to use whatever you have most accessible.
Other commentators have shared their experimentations with mixed flours:
- Mo said, “I used some whole wheat flour (about 25% of the flour I subbed in with whole wheat flour).
- Bree said, “I made mine with gluten free brown rice starter and gluten free cup for cup flour. I did maybe 1/4 less flour than the recipe calls for.”
Can I use dairy free milk?
You can use a non-dairy milk if you need. I have successfully used lactose-free milk, coconut milk, and almond milk for this recipe.
How to make sourdough English muffins
- Make your sponge and cover with plastic wrap. Leave out for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- After the overnight rest, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
What is the purpose for the overnight sponge?
The overnight sponge helps to develop the flavor of the dough. It is one of the opportunities for the dough to rest and ferment. Overall, the longer you can take with each step, the better the flavor.
- Roll out dough to 1/2″ and cut into rounds using a 3″ cookie or biscuit cutter. If you prefer bigger muffins for breakfast sandwiches, use a bigger biscuit cutter.
- You can re-roll the scraps but you need to let the dough rest at least 10 minutes before cutting more muffins from them. (see tips from the readers below for ways to reduce re-rolls)
- Place muffins on a piece of parchment or cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. Let rest for at least 45 minutes (for more nooks and crannies see tips below).
- Spray griddle or skillet lightly with oil. Heat to medium and cook muffins until browned on top and bottom and cooked through (internal temperature should be 195°F).
Tips & Tricks
- I find they cook up best on a cast iron skillet versus a traditional skillet. Some readers have found they prefer cooking them on an electric skillet because they can more easily adjust the temperature.
- The English muffins should be no thicker than 1/2″ or they will be too thick and won’t cook.
- If the heat is too high, the outside will cook before the center is cooked. If you find the center is still doughy, lower the heat.
- If the center is still slightly underdone you can always stick them in the oven at 350°F for about 5-10 minutes until they are done.
- Use a digital kitchen thermometer to make sure the muffins have cooked through. They should be between 195° and 200°F
Can you use English Muffin dough to make bread?
I have gotten a lot of love on my Sourdough English muffin recipe about how wonderful they are but I’ve also gotten a lot of complaints about how long it takes to cut them out and leave them to rest, etc.
Well, I now can tell you that you can make excellent bread with the same dough and that it is far less effort to make! The sliced bread would also work for our favorite lunchtime staple- Simple Sourdough Pizzas.
How to make English Muffin Bread:
*Follow the first two steps of the recipe to make the overnight sponge and then the dough.*
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until dough is smooth and elastic. Roll the dough into a log shape.
- Grease a loaf tin with cooking spray and lightly dust with cornmeal. Place your bread loaf into the pan. Sprinkle a little more cornmeal over the top of the loaf. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place until the loaf has risen to the top of the pan.
- Bake until bread is a light golden brown on the outside.
- Carefully remove bread from the loaf tin and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.
Tips
Tips for making this as a bread instead of muffins
- The amount of time it will take for the bread to rise will depend a lot on the warmth of where it is rising. A long slow rise will give you a better sourdough flavor so don’t necessarily be in a hurry to speed along the proving process.
- I did store my bread pan covered in the fridge overnight before cooking so if you want an even stronger sourdough flavor you can do that.
- The bread does not have lots of nooks and crannies and a big part of that is having to slice the bread. But the bread tastes fantastic so I haven’t minded the lack of little pockets for the butter to pool.
FAQs
How can I get more nooks and crannies?
The number one question I get is on how to get more nooks and crannies. I have my suspicions that commercial English muffins have yeast added to give them more rise and therefore more nooks and crannies.
But don’t fear! There are ways to help encourage more little cavities to pool with butter.
For more nooks and crannies, the best way is to allow the English muffins to rest for longer after cutting them out. I’ve let them rest for over an hour and a half which gave me the results in the picture above.
Also, always make sure you use a fork to stab all the way around the muffins to separate the halves instead of using a knife.
Tips from YOU!
- One reader subbed sour cream for 3/4 of the milk which she said resulted in a wonderfully soft muffins which stayed that way for days. A great tip if you find you are running low on milk.
- Multiple readers offered tips for making these in the oven. Use a baking steel or baking stone in the oven at 275 degrees F baking for 7-8 minutes per side.
- Some suggestions for reducing the number of times needed to roll out the muffins were to cut square muffins or to roll the dough in a log and cut out slices.
Other easy bread recipes to try:
- Bread Machine Oatmeal Breakfast Bread
- Bread Machine Coconut Bread
- 90 Minute Whole Wheat Parmesan Rosemary Rolls
Do you follow Jonesin’ For Taste on Facebook? Stop by, say hi, and let me know what kinds of recipes you want to see!
Recipe
Equipment
- 3" cookie cutter
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter
- 1 cup milk
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- Combine starter, 2 cups flour and milk in a large bowl. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and leave out for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- After the overnight rest, add the remaining flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda and mix well.
To make muffins
- Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Roll out to 1/2" and cut into rounds using a 3" cookie or biscuit cutter. You can re-roll the scraps but you need to let the dough rest at least 10 minutes before cutting more muffins from them.
- Place muffins on a piece of parchment or cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal. Let rest for at least 60 minutes (longer is better).
- Spray griddle or skillet lightly with oil. Heat to medium-low and cook muffins for about 6-8 minutes on each side or until browned on top and bottom and cooked through.
To make bread
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Roll the dough into a log shape about 9″ long.
- Grease a loaf tin with cooking spray and lightly dust with cornmeal. Place your bread loaf into the pan. Sprinkle a little more cornmeal over the top of the loaf. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place until the loaf has risen to the top of the pan, about 2-3 hours.
- Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes or until bread is a light golden brown on the outside and reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees F.
- Carefully remove bread from the loaf tin and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
I’ve made these several times, they always turn out great. This is my go to recipe for English muffins. Thank you!
I’ve been making these for about a year now. They are the best English Muffns. I can’t even eat store bought anymore. Even people that I’ve made them for can’t. So delicious and they come out perfect every time! Thanks for a great and easy recipe!!
Help! These were super yummy when fresh, BUT they all turned grey around the edge overnight. What would cause that? This was our first time making SD English Muffins and it freaked us out.
Makes just the right amount. Delicious& easy to make.