Sourdough English Muffins
These deeply flavoured sourdough english muffins are the perfect savoury base for a wide range of breakfast and snack options. The extra long cold fermentation times allow for the natural yeasts and bacteria to break down sugars in the flour and produce the tasty levels of lactic and acetic acids that give characteristic sourdough flavours.
if you don’t have a flat sandwich toaster you can cook these sourdough english muffins on the flat hot plate of a BBQ or a frypan . The convenience and the size of this appliance makes cooking a large batch of these muffins a breeze. Because of the extra long preparation time, it’s well worth making a full or double batch so the extra cooking space is helpful in keeping the cooking times reasonable.
The sourdough flavours really elevate this muffin into more than just a vessel to contain your breakfast sandwich, and they really shine on their own when toasted and simply topped with butter and your favourite spreads. I love topping with Vegemite and butter. The salty sweet combo of peanut butter and raspberry jam also works very well.
If you are already maintaining a sourdough starter, these are an absolute must try to make. If you are new to sourdough, but interested in getting started you can easily establish your own starter in a few weeks. It will require daily feedings of fresh flour and water through this process and will develop in character over time.
if you give this recipe for sourdough english muffins a try, please let us know below. Check out the archive here for more bread recipes.
Sourdough English Muffins
Combine all the ingredients, excluding the cornmeal, in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed until everything comes together
Continue mixing on low speed to knead the dough for 6-8 minutes
Cover the bowl and set aside to begin bulk fermenting for 2-4hrs and then transfer to the fridge to continue fermenting a further 2 days.
On a large tray or platter, sprinkle a thin layer of cornmeal.
Remove the dough from the fridge and seperate the into 12 roughly equal pieces.
Shape each piece into a ball and press down into the cornmeal gently to flatten into a muffin sized round.
Sprinkle the top of each dough piece lightly with cornmeal and leave to rise, covered at room temperature for a further 1-2 hrs until soft and puffy.
Preheat a flat sandwich toaster, griddle or panini press.
Gently transfer the muffin pieces in batches to cook on the bottom plate of the open sandwich toaster for 10 minutes each side. They should be evenly golden brown - depending on your appliance this time will vary.
Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Using a fork, poke around the middle line of each muffin and gently pry apart into two pieces.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine all the ingredients, excluding the cornmeal, in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed until everything comes together
Continue mixing on low speed to knead the dough for 6-8 minutes
Cover the bowl and set aside to begin bulk fermenting for 2-4hrs and then transfer to the fridge to continue fermenting a further 2 days.
On a large tray or platter, sprinkle a thin layer of cornmeal.
Remove the dough from the fridge and seperate the into 12 roughly equal pieces.
Shape each piece into a ball and press down into the cornmeal gently to flatten into a muffin sized round.
Sprinkle the top of each dough piece lightly with cornmeal and leave to rise, covered at room temperature for a further 1-2 hrs until soft and puffy.
Preheat a flat sandwich toaster, griddle or panini press.
Gently transfer the muffin pieces in batches to cook on the bottom plate of the open sandwich toaster for 10 minutes each side. They should be evenly golden brown - depending on your appliance this time will vary.
Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Using a fork, poke around the middle line of each muffin and gently pry apart into two pieces.
Notes
Recipe Notes
You’d be best off substituting 50-100g of the plain flour for wholemeal rather than the whole amount. The english muffins might be slightly more difficult to handle, but they should still rise sufficiently. Using only wholemeal flour will impact the gluten structure. Impacted structure will trap and retain less gas bubbles.
Key Ingredients
