Sourdough English Muffins
These easy sourdough English muffins cook up light and fluffy, with a delicious sourdough flavor!
Mix everything the night before and wake up to a beautiful dough that's ready to be cut out and cooked to "nook and cranny" perfection!
Do you know what I love about this sourdough English muffin recipe? Everything!
The taste. The texture. The ease!
Enjoy them slathered with homemade butter and a little cinnamon sugar for a quick breakfast or an afternoon snack.
They are very filling when turned into little breakfast sandwiches with eggs, ham, and cheese.
We even serve them as a side at dinner instead of rolls.
Cook a batch to eat right away or freeze it for later!
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Step-by-step instructions
These sourdough English muffins are simple to make, so let's dive straight into the details!
1. Feed your sourdough starter 12 hours prior to mixing dough so that it's active and bubbly.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix all of the ingredients together with your hands until they are fully combined. Cover the bowl and let rest for 30-60 minutes.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes with your hands. (This step can also be done in a stand mixer, using a dough hook, on low speed for 5 minutes.)
4. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover, and let rise at room temperature for 8-12 hours at 65-70 degrees. (It will double in size.)
5. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, flour the top of it, and press it out to a ½" thickness, using your fingertips.
6. Cut out 3" rounds and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet that's been sprinkled with cornmeal.
7. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal. Cover with a tea towel and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
8. Preheat a non-stick skillet over LOW heat. Place 4 muffins into the skillet, making sure there is 2" of space in between each one. Cover and cook for 4 minutes per side. (No need to add oil to the pan before cooking.)
9. Place the muffins back onto the parchment paper to cool before slicing them in half.
Tips for success
The sourdough English muffins should be cooked over a very low heat, and covered, for best results. This will allow the inside to cook evenly while the outside does not burn.
A good quality all-purpose flour works best in this recipe. I always test my recipes with King Arthur brand for consistent results.
Don't have a kitchen scale to measure flour?
Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
Because flour is measured by weight in these recipes, if the flour is scooped straight out of the bag with the measuring cup, there will be more flour than is called for in the recipe.
If you do not want to knead the dough by hand, use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix at the lowest speed for 5 minutes.
If you live in a very warm or humid environment, you may need to adjust the recipe. I recommend reducing the milk by 30g and using granulated sugar instead of honey to help the dough from being too sticky to work with. Add more liquid if the dough is too stiff.
How to store and freeze
- These sourdough English muffins can be frozen after they have been cooked for up to 3 months.
- Store them in a container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Make sure you try these sourdough English muffins toasted with a slab of honey butter melted on top!
Other recipes you may like:
- sourdough berry sweet rolls
- sourdough coffee cake
- sourdough biscuits
- sourdough bagels
- sourdough cinnamon rolls
Did you make this recipe? I'd love to know how it turned out!
Leave us a message in the comment section below. And don't forget to rate the recipe!
Sourdough English Muffins Recipe
EQUIPMENT
- Mixing Bowl
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Tea towel
- Non-stick skillet with cover
INGREDIENTS
Ingredients to make ½ cup (100 g) of Active Sourdough Starter
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) sourdough starter
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon (50 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 ½ tablespoons (50) water
Dough Ingredients
- ½ cup (100 g) active sourdough starter
- 1 tablespoon (20 g) honey (sugar or maple syrup)
- 1 cup (240 g) milk
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine sea salt
- ¼ cup (40 g) cornmeal (for sprinkling)
INSTRUCTIONS
Feed Your Sourdough Starter
- 12 hours before you plan to mix the dough, add the ingredients to make ½ cup (100 g) of active sourdough starter to a clean jar. Stir until combined, loosely cover the jar and let the starter rise at room temperature. (The ingredients will create a total of 115 g active starter but, because some of it will stick to the sides of the jar during the transfer, we are making a little more than needed.) The sourdough starter is ready to use when it has doubled in size and there are plenty of bubbles on the surface and sides of the jar.
Make the Dough
- Add 100g of the active starter and the rest of the ingredients (except corn meal) to a large bowl and use your hands to mix until well combined. Cover and let rest 30-60 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough by hand for 5 minutes. (A stand mixer with a dough hook attachment can be used on the lowest speed.)
- Place the dough back into the bowl, cover and let ferment on the counter at room temperature 8-12 hours. (Room temperature is 65-70°F)
Cut and Cook
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, flour the top of the dough and press it out using your fingertips until it is ½" in thickness.
- Use a 3" biscuit cutter to cut rounds and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet that's been sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with cornmeal, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Preheat your non-stick skillet over LOW heat. Place 4 muffins into the skillet spaced 2" apart, cover and cook the first side for 4 minutes. Turn the muffins over and cook for an additional 4 minutes. (When done, the center of a muffin should register about 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.)
NOTES
- Use the scoop and level technique to measure your flour if you do not have a kitchen scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag. Use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until it is heaped on top. Take a butterknife and level off the top. This should give you the most accurate measurement for flour.
- If you live in a very warm or humid environment, you may need to make adjustments in the recipe. I recommend reducing the milk by 30g and using granulated sugar instead of honey to help the dough from being too sticky to work with. Add more liquid if the dough is too stiff.
- Store at room temperature for up to 5 days in a container or freeze for up to 3 months.
Just made my second batch. These English muffins are so addicting! Crunchy nook and crannies out the outside and chewy goodness inside!
These came out great and were not very hard to make. I ended up cooking mine longer than the recipe said. I was wondering if I wanted them to taste even a little more sour....can I increase the starter or perhaps use buttermilk instead of regular milk? I feed my starter rye flour not sure if that affects the taste.
I would try using buttermilk!
Hi, thanks so much for all your wonderful sourdough recipes! These were good but I think I might have done something wrong somewhere.
I followed your recipe exactly except only fermented at room temp for about 8 hours because the dough had more than doubled in size (my house is about 70/71). When I turned out the dough on my counter and pressed it to 1 inch (checked with a ruler), I could only cut out four 3.25-inch muffins. I used the scraps to get two more for a total of 6, but your recipes says 10?
Wondering if the dough is not supposed to double, or if I should have pressed it thinner? Thank you for any help - all of your other recipes I’ve tried have worked great, so I’m sure this is user error as I’m new to this 🙂
Hi Beth! I use a 3" cutter, so that might be why you weren't able to get as many as I did. You say the dough doubled. Did you have any issues with the dough being sticky when you pressed it out? Did it feel over-fermented?
Yes I did, love it!
I actually got sick day after I prepped the dough so I put it in a cold frig and went back to it 3 days later, still came out fabulous!
Thank you
These are amazing! I had previously tried an English muffin recipe from another blog and it was so confusing, the whole batch ended up in the trash. These turned out so perfectly and I will definitely make them again and again!
Love the recipe just wondering if you are only supposed to get around 4/5 muffins per batch?
Super tasty!
Will the following work?
1. Bulk ferment
2. Cold retard in refrigerator
3. Bring out to room temperature the next day
4. Roll to 1 inch thickness
5. Proof for 1 hour
6. Cook them! 🙂
Yes that should work! 🙂
This is a great English muffin recipe. I used freshly milled hard red wheat and they turned out beautifully!
These are fantastic! When you say to cover the dough, what do you use to cover it? I used just a dish towel and it seemed to dry out the dough.
Hi Rebecca! When I cover my bowl of dough I use a plastic shower cap or I just started using a reusable silicone bowl cover. You could also use a plate that's large enough to cover it.
I use a damp dish towel and my dough doesn't dry out.
I love this recipe however mine always take much longer than 4 minutes per side to reach 200, even at low/medium so I will say that using a thermometer is a must!