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Easy Sourdough English Muffin Recipe

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These easy sourdough english muffins are a fun and delicious way to use your leftover sourdough discard. They have a lovely sourdough taste and a perfect texture filled with nooks and crannies.

This easy sourdough muffin recipe is a fun use of your sourodugh discard. You will never wnt to buy english muffins again!
sourdough English muffins on white platter with fork beside
sourdough english muffins in a stack sitting on a wooden cutting board

These sourdough english muffins are light and fluffy with tons of nooks and crannies. They have an amazing taste from the sourdough starter! English muffins are a fun bread recipe you can make on a stove-top griddle instead of baking in the oven. Cooking them on a cast iron pan is the perfect way to get them perfectly crispy on the outside but perfectly soft on the inside.

sourdough english muffins on white platter and wooden cutting board

These are best toasted and served with butter and jam. They are also pretty amazing for mini homemade pizzas made with english muffins!

sourdough English muffin split open with butter, more english muffins on plate behind

Sourdough discard recipes perfect for beginner sourdough bakers:

Don’t like wasting your sourdough discard? Try these easy recipes for unfed sourdough discard!

sourdough english muffins on cooling rack

Sourdough English Muffins

English muffins are a fun and delicious skillet bread. They are similar to an English crumpet. English crumpets are cooked by pouring a batter into a ring mold, while english muffins have a thicker dough that is cut into circles and cooked.

The traditional way of splitting an English muffin in half is not to cut it with a knife – that could destroy the delicate nooks and crannies you have created, but to use a fork to pierce your way around the muffin.

plate full of homemade sourdough english muffins

How to make sourdough english muffins

These overnight english muffins are a great way to use leftover sourdough discard.

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full recipe, but here is an overview on how to make this recipe:

  • Feed your sourdough discard and wait for it to become active.
  • Perform a float test to make sure that your discard is active and ready.
  • In a large bowl, combine your active sourdough starter with only 2 cups of the flour and water (reserve the remaining cup of flour for the morning). What you have created is called a poolish or levain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on the counter overnight (or 7-10 hours).
  • In the morning, prepare a rimmed baking sheet by sprinkling it with half of the cornmeal.
  • Mix the baking soda, salt, and sugar into the dough.
  • Using 2 TBSP at a time, mix in the remaining 1 cup of flour, until the dough is no longer sticky.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a 1/2″ thickness. If you make them too thick, they won’t cook all the way through.
  • Using a 3″ biscuit cutter, cut as many rounds as you can. You can reform the dough scraps back together and cut more, but be careful not to overwork your dough or your english muffins won’t turn out right. You should just be able to get twelve.
  • Place the english muffin rounds onto the prepared baking sheet and lightly dust the tops with more cornmeal.
  • Cover the english muffins with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 45 minutes. They won’t rise much at this time. That is ok, the magic will happen when you start to cook them.
  • Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium high heat.
  • Place an English muffin on the skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the bottom is light-medium brown.
  • Flip over and cook for 3-5 minutes on the other side, until both sides are golden brown and the sides of the english muffin are dry. You can cook more than one muffin at a time, but do not crowd the skillet. Only do 2 or 3 at a time.
collage showing steps to make sourdough english muffins

Tips for making sourdough english muffins:

  • Oil – You want the griddle lightly oiled, not swimming in it.
  • Griddle – don’t heat your griddle too hot. If it is too hot, the bottoms will get too browned before the middle cooks all the way.

Notes about sourdough discard for this recipe: This recipe requires an active, fed sourdough starter. Read this article to learn more about how to feed your sourdough starter easily. You should perform a float test on your starter to know that it is really active.

How to perform the float test on your sourdough starter – The best way to determine if your starter is really and truly active, you need to do a float test. Fill a glass with room temperature water. Take a spoon from your kitchen and scoop a small amount of fed sourdough starter onto it. Drop the sourdough starter from the spoon into the water and see what happens. If the sourdough starter floats, your starter is active and ready to use! If the starter sinks, either it needs more time to become active, or you have missed the window and it is no longer active.

Notes on timing: You will also need to make a baker’s schedule so your english muffins will be ready when you want them to be. These english muffins require an active starter, an overnight bulk ferment, and a 45 minute rest before you bake them. Plan accordingly!

sourdough english muffins on white platter resting on wooden cutting board

How to store sourdough english muffins

These store best at room temperature for 1-2 days. If you are going to take longer than that to eat all of them, you can store them in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Can you freeze sourdough english muffins?

Yes, these english muffins freeze well! Allow them to cool completely, and then freeze them individually. I prefer to freeze them pre-split, but you can do what feels right to you. Make sure to label them so you remember what they are. Thaw them and rewarm in the oven or toaster, not the microwave.

 
sourdough English muffins on plate and cutting board with fork

Obsessed with Sourdough? Fuel your obsession with these:

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graphic for sourdough course - reads "new to sourdough? learn the skills to impress your family and friends with your sourdough baking. Click here".
sourdough English muffins on white platter with fork beside
graphic for sourdough course - reads "new to sourdough? learn the skills to impress your family and friends with your sourdough baking. Click here".
sourdough English muffins on white platter with fork beside

Sourdough English Muffins

This easy sourdough muffin recipe is a fun use of your sourodugh discard. You will never wnt to buy english muffins again!
5 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 177kcal
Author: Jenni

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup fed active sourdough starter
  • 2 TBSP sugar
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • cornmeal for dusting

Instructions

  • Feed your sourdough discard and wait for it to become active. Perform a float test to make sure that your discard is active and ready.
  • In a large bowl, combine your active sourdough starter with only 2 cups of the flour and water (reserve the remaining cup of flour for the morning). What you have created is called a poolish or levain. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on the counter overnight (or 7-10 hours).
  • In the morning, prepare a rimmed baking sheet by sprinkling it with half of the cornmeal.
  • Mix the baking soda, salt, and sugar into the dough.
  • Using 2 TBSP at a time, mix in the remaining 1 cup of flour, until the dough is no longer sticky.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a 1/2" thickness. If you make them too thick, they won't cook all the way through.
  • Using a 3" biscuit cutter, cut as many rounds as you can. You can reform the dough scraps back together and cut more, but be careful not to overwork your dough or your english muffins won't turn out right. You should just be able to get twelve.
  • Place the english muffin rounds onto the prepared baking sheet and lightly dust the tops with more cornmeal.
  • Cover the english muffins with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 45 minutes. They won't rise much at this time. That is ok, the magic will happen when you start to cook them.
  • Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium high heat.
  • Place an English muffin on the skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the bottom is light-medium brown.
  • Flip over and cook for 3-5 minutes on the other side, until both sides are golden brown and the sides of the english muffin are dry. You can cook more than one muffin at a time, but do not crowd the skillet. Only do 2 or 3 at a time.
  • Allow to cool and enjoy!

Notes

Tips for making sourdough english muffins:
Oil – You want the griddle lightly oiled, not swimming in it.
Griddle – don’t heat your griddle too hot. If it is too hot, the bottoms will get too browned before the middle cooks all the way.
How to store - These store best at room temperature for 1-2 days. If you are going to take longer than that to eat all of them, you can store them in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Can you freeze them? Yes, these english muffins freeze well! Allow them to cool completely, and then freeze them individually. I prefer to freeze them pre-split, but you can do what feels right to you. Make sure to label them so you remember what they are. Thaw them and rewarm in the oven or toaster, not the microwave.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 155mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g
sourdough english muffins on table top
a stack of sourdough english muffins
And they were so delicious, too! I didn’t get as many nooks and crannies as I wanted, but the taste and texture totally made up for it! They were soft and chewy all at once, with soo much sourdough flavor!
Joel said I was never allowed to buy English Muffins ever again – and I totally agree with him! These are so simple to make, and so delicious, I don’t see why I would ever buy them again!! (How many more exclamation points do you think I could get in that paragraph?)
showing split sourdough english muffin with fork

15 Comments

  1. Paula @ Vintage Kitchen says:

    These are wonderful! Did you use your sourdough straight from the fridge or had you feed it two or three times? I want to make them soon!

  2. Hi Paula! Both? Haha. I forgot to feed my starter the week before, so I pulled it out of the fridge and gave it 3 feedings (one every 12 hours) so that Felix was nice and active again before I used him (yes, I have named my starter!). When I made the muffins I had fed it 12 hours before, and I pulled it straight out of the bowl. Often times though, I just pull my starter from the fridge. It depends on if I am thinking about it ahead of time or decide on a whim to start baking!

  3. Girlfriend, those are some gorgeous English muffins! You might not have had the nooks and crannies you were looking for, but those have awesome texture, and I bet that they tasted amazing.

  4. I like how much these seemed to rise! I'm definitely going to try this recipe as well…

  5. I like this recipe too. I didn't get as many nooks and crannies either, but they did taste good!

  6. Hey, traditional English muffins don't have that many nooks and crannies :-). They still look wonderful!

  7. I agree with Joel – no more storebought! They look great Jenni 🙂

  8. Hi do you the amounts in grams please?
    Thx

    1. Hi Tim! I do not have the measurements in grams. Most of my readers are very beginner sourdough bakers and haven’t moved over to baking in weights yet, so for them I keep measurements in cups, etc! This recipe is still good even without a scale, though! I hope you enjoy it!

  9. Can I use my discard for this recipe?

    1. You can use the discard that you create when you feed your sourdough starter, but to get a good rise on these English muffins you need to use active starter. So take your discard, feed it, and then wait for it to become active.

  10. Jan Braverman says:

    Worked perfectly even with a few changes and mistakes. The texture is excellent and exactly what you expect in an English muffin. I’ve been baking sourdough breads for quite a while but have no experience in anything that uses baking soda or baking powder. So I’m thinking of lowering the sugar and raising the salt in the recipe the next time. I’m unsure of what result that might produce overall but I like a saltier English muffin. I wouldn’t want to upset the texture in particular. I also am wondering if this recipe could be converted to whole wheat (partially or fully) without sacrificing too much in the nooks and crannies. Thanks Jenni for this recipe which is especially prized since I’m living outside the US and can’t buy anything that resembles a proper English muffin.

  11. I will never buy them from the store again, they so absolutely delicious.

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