How to make soft & Fluffy sourdough english muffins

These Sourdough English Muffins will change your life and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. They are incredibly soft, slightly chewy and fluffy with a perfectly light crisp edge. Toast them up and slather them with whatever you like as you fall into sourdough heaven!

English Muffins were always a household staple for me growing up. They are the perfect size for a snack, an egg sandwich or even desert! Now, I knew I liked English Muffins, but it wasn’t until I start making Sourdough English Muffins that I fell truly in love.

Think of your perfect English Muffin and that’s what these are!!! Insanely soft, fluffy, slightly sour with just the perfect amount of crunch. I dream about these daily.

I love making English Muffins because they don’t require all the stretch and folds like traditional sourdough bread and they take less than half the time to bake. You can make a big batch of these babies and store them in your freezer for those busy weeks. They are delicious for breakfast sandwiches, regular sandwiches, as a sweet treat with fruit and cream or even just slathered in butter. Once you make these, they will become a staple in your house that everyone is OBSESSED with!

Tips for perfect sourdough English Muffins

1. Use a nice active sourdough starter that is at its peak! I recommend feeding your sourdough starter about a 1:4:4 ratio to get a nice a strong starter. This means your starter will take anywhere from 8-12 hours after feeding it to reach its peak. This all depends on how warm it is in your house.
2. Swap out the water for milk as your liquid. Many English Muffin recipes are made with water and while that is fine, they have so much more flavor and tenderness if you use milk!
3. Make sure you allow them to rest long enough after they have been shaped before you cook them. Because they don’t do a long proof on the counter like sourdough bread, you want to make sure that you give them ample time after the dough has been in the fridge to get nice and light and fluffy. I recommend anywhere 2-5 hours, again depending how warm your house is. My home sits around 19 degrees Celsius and I like to leave my English Muffins to rest for 4 or even 5 hours before cooking.
4. Bake them for a few minutes after you cook them on the stove. While you can cook them completely on the stove, I find it easiest to cook them for about 6 minutes per side on the stove then transfer them to a baking sheet and allow them to finish cooking through in the oven. This ensure they aren’t still gummy in the center while preventing them from getting too dark and brown on the outside!

Sourdough English Muffin ingredients

Milk- As mentioned above, I switch out water for milk in my English Muffins for an extra depth of flavor and tenderness. I use whole milk but you could also use 2%.

Sourdough Starter– You want to use a nice and active starter at its peak for this recipe just like you would when making a traditional sourdough loaf. There is a large amount of starter in this recipe so I recommend leaving about 1/3 cup of starter in your jar and feeding it 140-150g of flour and water for your feed before making these.

Honey– There is just a touch of honey in this recipe. Raw or pasteurized is fine.

Flour– You can use unbeached all purpose flour or bread flour for this recipe. I use unbleached all purpose because that’s what I always have on hand.

Salt– As always, there is a touch of salt in this dough for flavor.

Butter– Unsalted or salted is fine. I use salted because that is typically what I have in my house and it is not too salty at all!

The Steps

1.Start by mixing together the milk, sourdough starter, melted butter and honey in a medium sized bowl until lightly bubbly.

2. Next, add in the flour and salt and mix until well combined and there are no dry spots remaining. Cover the bowl of dough and allow it to rest at room temperature for about 1 hour, then place it in the fridge overnight. Make sure to cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out in the fridge.

3. The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and cut it into 10 equal sized pieces. You can weigh them if you want to be precise but I just eyeball them.

4. Take each piece, one at a time and pinch the bottom of the dough together forming a ball shape. Gently roll the ball on the counter with the palm of your hand until its pretty smooth. Repeat this with each dough ball and then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with cornmeal. I like to sprinkle a generous amount of cornmeal over the parchment before placing the dough balls on it do that they don’t stick.

5. Gently flatten each ball slightly with your hand and then cover the tray with a tea towel and allow the English Muffins to rest at room temperature for 2-5 hours. My house stays around 19 degrees Celsius and I like to let my English Muffins rest 4-5 hours.

6. Once the English Muffins have puffed up and are nice and soft looking, its time to cook them.

7. Preheat your oven to 350F and heat a cast iron skillet over medium low heat. You don’t want it too hot or the English Muffins will burn.

8. Sprinkle the top of each English muffin with some more cornmeal and place in the heated pan. Cook for 6-7 minutes on each side, until they are a nice light golden color.

9. Place them all back on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for bout 10 more minutes. This ensures that they are fully cooked through in the center so they are not gummy when you cut them open!

10. Remove from the oven and allow the English Muffins to cool for 20 minutes before slicing and enjoying!

Let us know below if you give this recipe a try!

If you’re looking for the Perfect Sourdough Bread Loaf, check out my recipe here along will all of my Sourdough tips! https://cmbarndominium.com/how-to-make-perfect-sourdough-bread-from-start-to-finish/