Sourdough English Muffins: A Recipe from the Farm
Flavorful soft and full of nooks and crannies these Sourdough English Muffins are so good. Slather a toasted one with butter and peanut butter or eat them fresh with honey butter you can't go wrong!
Ingredients
- 120 g active sourdough starter
- 100 g distilled or filtered water
- 20 g granulated sugar
- 220 g whole milk
- 36 g butter melted and cooled slightly (3T)
- 480 g bread flour
- 5 g kosher salt
- Cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- First, in a large bowl or a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, measure out the active sourdough starter, water, and sugar. Mix this by hand or spoon to create a slurry.
- Next add the milk, butter, and flour. Mix this together by hand or dough hook until a shaggy dough forms. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Cover with a tea towel and let sit for 20 minutes. This is the autolyze.
- After the 20 minutes add the kosher salt and knead by hand or dough hook for 6 minutes. If in a stand mixer bowl transfer to a lightly greased bowl.
- Let the dough rest covered by a tea towel for 4-8 hours. This is the bulk fermentation. You want the dough to be risen, soft and puffy. If you have a cool kitchen, you could do this on your counter overnight.
- Place the dough, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 hours. This helps the dough to firm up and be easier to work with as it is a stickier dough. The first rise is complete.
- Take the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a clean work surface. Using a rolling pin or your hands, roll out or pat the dough to about ½ inch thick.
- Using a 3 in. biscuit cutter cut out your English muffins and place them on a baking sheet generously dusted with cornmeal. You can lay parchment paper down first if you prefer.
- Make sure you don’t skimp in this area otherwise the muffins will stick to the pan and be hard to get off when proofed and ready to cook.
- You can also have a bowl of cornmeal and “dip” the bottoms of the English muffins in it before setting on the cornmeal dusted baking sheet.
- You will have scraps after you get the first round made. You can easily work this into a ball and roll it out again. Make sure to let the rerolled dough rest for 5-10 to let the gluten relax. Otherwise, your English muffins with shrink after being cut.
- Sprinkle the tops with some corn meal.
- Cover with a damp tea towel and let proof for their second rise, in a warm place. This can take 3-5 hours depending on the temperature. You want them to be risen and puffy.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over a medium-low heat. Place 4 English muffins in the pan and cook for 6-7 minutes on each side or 12-14 minutes total. You want them to be golden brown and cooked thoroughly.
- Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool.
- Repeat with the remaining English muffins.
- When you are done cooking and cooling all the English muffins you can either store them in an airtight bag or airtight container at room temperature for about a week or freeze them for longer storage and future use.