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.
I started playing with sourdough back in December. I've made several of your recipes. Made these English Muffins today and they came out perfect! Easy to follow recipe that made me look like a hero at breakfast this morning. We enjoyed them warm from the oven but I think I liked them toasted even better. Crunchy outside, chewy inside. Fantastic!
Great recipe! I cooked mine on low on an electric griddle. They took a while longer to cook. Next time, I'll try covering them on a skillet instead. Texture and look was perfect!
This is the first English muffin recipe (sourdough or regular) where cooking them does not result in hockey pucks! I've never used a covered skillet before and I was skeptical about the LOW setting, but the cover makes all the difference. I tried one straight from the pan and it was cooked through and through and so fluffy inside (full of nooks and crannies!). This recipe is a keeper! Thank you so much for sharing!
What is the muffins don't brown after 4 minutes?
Hi Nichole, I would turn up the heat on your burner a notch, this should help!
Can this recipe be used with almond milk?
Yes you can 🙂
I think you're biscuit cutter is larger than 3". Mine is 2.75" and I thought "close enough" but they look significantly smaller than yours. Also, you say the recipe serves 10, but from all your pictures, I think you got 7 or 8 muffins from your batch of dough. I got 18!
Hi Amy!
I made this recipe several weeks ago and I'm hoping to make it again tomorrow but with more success hopefully! Last time I made them, they never really seemed to rise on the baking sheet(once cut out)- are they supposed to double in size? My kitchen is really cold so I put them in the oven with a light on, and it still took them at least 4 hours to look like they rose at all. Since I left them so long, it made the tops really dry out...I thought for sure they would be wasted but they still turned out yummy despite looking weird!
Also I used a mason jar to cut them out, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have twisted the mason jar so much when cutting them out, as it may have "sealed off" the edges, not allowing them to rise? The reason I think this is because I used some of the leftover dough to just form a few of the last muffins and those ones seemed to rise much better.
Did you feed your starter for this recipe with just AP white flour? I fed mine with whole wheat flour so mine definitely had more of a whole wheat texture and really sour.
Lastly, I wanted to let everyone know that they bake well in the oven at 400F for 10 mins, flip and then bake an additional 5 minutes.
Overall they were still really yummy, I just need to perfect the process 🙂 They make a great toasted turkey and swiss sandwich!
Hi Amy!
Thanks for this recipe, I love it and use it often! I was wondering, how this recipe would do to let it ferment for a full 24 hours?
Hi Chelsea! You can let it ferment at room temperature for the first 8-12 hours and then place it in the fridge for 12 hours to make sure it does not over proof. 🙂
Hi Chelsea
I left mine for a full 24 kn the side its not to warm and turned 9ut pretty well becomes quite sour though very good recipe though
I just made these and they were
Fantastic. I actually tested another batch before these were cooked and put away....I actually doubt they'll get put away!
Loved this recipe, so easy with great results. Took longer on my hob/pan but everyone's is different. We had a decedent brekkie of muffins, fried egg and mushrooms, grilled Emmental and mustard. Absolute delight!