Name: Sourdough English Muffins
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 795 min
Ingredients: 350 grams milk; 100 grams active sourdough starter; 1 egg; 40 grams sugar; 600 grams bread flour; 10 grams salt

Soft + slightly dry English muffins that toast up so perfectly, made using sourdough. These have all the nooks and crannies that we know and love, and the flavor is spot on!

One of my all-time favorite things to make with sourdough are these English muffins. They're soft and pillowy, and toast like a dream. They last longer than a regular loaf of sourdough (thanks to the milk, egg, and sugar), and it is my firmly held belief that if you have some homemade English muffins on hand, you're ready for anything life throws at you.

So make some and eat them plain, toasted with all manner of spreads, broiled with cheese, and enjoy the best egg sandwiches of your life!

The dough

This follows the standard sourdough formula of mixing liquids, then adding dry ingredients.

You'll do one round of stretch and folds about 30 minutes after mixing everything together.

This dough is VERY easy to work with, which makes these great for beginners!

It will rise for about 6-8 hours, until the dough has roughly doubled in size. I use cold milk in the dough, so it really helps to place the dough somewhere warm to help the rise along.

Shaping English muffins

Another point for how easy these are is there is no shaping - only cutting. So if shaping loaves is something you struggle with (and I think we've all been there), take a break from it while still enjoying homemade bread and make these 🙂

To shape English muffins, turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it 1-inch thick and cut your muffins out.

You have some options as far as shapes go:

Round English muffins: If you want perfectly round English muffins, use a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or the rim of a roughly 2 ½-inch wide glass. You can re-roll this dough several times and continue cutting the scraps, just be careful not to add too much flour to the dough, and give it a few minutes to relax if it's resistant to being rolled out.
Square English muffins: If you want to save time, roll the dough into a roughly 10-inch square (use your hands to help shape it), and cut into 16 pieces. Each English muffin will be about 2 ½-inches square, and you won't have to worry about re-rolling dough or wasting scraps. Plus, if you're putting a square piece of cheese on it, it will be just right.

After English muffins are shaped, cover and let them rise for another 2-4 hours at room temperature, until they're significantly puffed up.

One thing that I think is mandatory for making English muffins is corn grits. They really give them their signature look and that extra bit of crunch on the exterior. You'll sprinkle your baking sheet with them before arranging them for their second rise, and sprinkle a little extra on the top. (I also use them on these sourdough discard hoagie buns - the texture is top notch!)

Cooking English muffins

You may recall my English muffins were on my list of 2024 fails due to not being able to nail the cooking method, but I'm happy to report I have it figured out and my days of underdone English muffins are over!

To get the perfect browning on the English muffins, you cook them in a pan. The problem is, to cook them all the way through in the pan would take far too long, especially considering you will have to do it in batches.

So, I do a combination of stovetop and oven. I get them browned on the stovetop, then finish baking through in the oven. This makes it much faster!

Nailing the timing on the stovetop can be tricky - your first batch will probably take the longest, but keep a close watch on it. (Though, to be fair, I've burned my fair share of these while figuring out the timing and have yet to get any complaints - which is really saying something at my house!)

I highly recommend using an instant read thermometer to make sure these are done! It can be really hard to tell just by looking, and having underdone English muffins is no fun.

An alternative timeline

I typically let these do the first rise overnight, then shape and do the second rise in the morning. This means English muffins are usually being eaten as a mid-morning snack or for lunches.

If you want to cook them first thing in the morning, you can shape them in the evening, cover well, and let them do the second rise in the fridge overnight. Just make sure they've puffed up nicely before cooking.

Tips

Storage: these will keep for up to a week in a bread bag at room temperature.
Split these in half using a fork! I don't think it's technically against the law to cut an English muffin with a bread knife, but you will be missing out on lots of nooks and crannies and good ridges to get toasted!
When you're flipping these in the pan, treat them like pancakes - where they land after flipping is where they will stay. And be careful you don't bump them up against each other.

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Sourdough English Muffins

Perfectly soft English muffins leavened with only sourdough! These have the best nooks and crannies and are so satisfying plain, toasted, or as a base for sandwiches. Since the dough is really easy to work with, and the shaping is very forgiving, these are great for beginners.

Makes about 20 (2 ½-inch) English muffins.

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Rise Time12

Total Time13 15

Servings:

Author: mandyjackson

Ingredients

350 grams milk
100 grams active sourdough starter
1 egg
40 grams sugar
600 grams bread flour
10 grams salt

Directions

Combine the milk, starter, egg, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt and mix until incorporated. Cover and rest for 30 minutes. Do a round of stretch and folds, cover the bowl, and set somewhere warm to rise for 6-8 hours, until doubled in size.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with corn grits.
Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface. Flour the top and roll 1-inch thick. Add more flour if the dough starts sticking to the countertop or rolling pin. Cut using a round cookie or biscuit cutter, and place cut muffins on the prepared baking sheet. Reball the dough once you've gotten as many cuts as you can out of it, roll it out again, and continue cutting. You can re-roll this dough several times, just be careful not to add too much flour. You may need to let the dough rest for a few minutes before re-rolling to allow the gluten to relax.
Once all the muffins are cut and on the baking sheet, sprinkle the tops with more corn grits and cover. Let rise until puffed up - about 2-4 hours more.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large pan on medium-low. Cook muffins in batches for 3-4 minutes per side, covered, until golden brown. Return to the baking sheet. Once all the muffins have been browned on both sides, place in the oven for an additional 4-6 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest muffin reads 200-210 degrees. Cool on a wire rack.
Leftovers will keep in a bread bag for up to 1 week at room temperature.

Notes

Square English muffins: I love to do this when I want to save some time. Roll the dough out into a 10-inch square, then cut into 16 squares (roughly 2 ½-inches square each).