Pages

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Sourdough English Muffins




Always on the lookout for ways to use sourdough, I found this recipe online last year. Since then we have enjoyed fresh English muffins often. They don't taste like bought English muffins, maybe because of the sourdough or maybe the whole wheat flour, but we love them and English muffins may become a new weekly tradition.



The muffin dough is partially mixed up the night before. In the morning, I add a few more ingredients and allow the dough to rest.



English muffins are baked on a skillet on top of the stove, which gives them their distinctive flat top.

 


Often I split the muffins,spread with butter, and toast the muffins under the oven broiler. I scramble a few eggs while the muffins toast.



Homemade egg muffin sandwich! Thoughts of a breakfast this good can lure even me out of bed!

 

Sourdough English Muffins
Makes 8-12 muffins - depending upon the size

1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour (or white if you prefer)
1 T honey
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

In the evening, mix the sourdough starter, milk and flour together. Stir well. Cover loosely and sit overnight.

In the morning the mixture should be bubbly. Add the honey, salt and baking soda and stir well. The mixture will be rather thick, like a sticky dough. You will be almost kneading the mixture. If you wish, you can dump the mixture on the counter and knead with your hands. I like to stir in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Mix or knead until the new ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

At this point, you have several options. You can pat the dough out on the counter and cut with a biscuit cutter. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky. You can also shape the dough into round flat muffins with your hands. Place the muffins you cut or shaped onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

I need to keep things really simple or I won't make them often. I found that I can allow the dough to rest in a bowl for a half hour. I then use a spoon and drop the muffin dough directly onto a pre-heated, ungreased, cornmeal-sprinkled skillet. The muffins are not perfectly round, but we don't care.

Cover the pan with a lid and bake at medium low heat. Don't heat too high or the bottoms will be done before the middle. Flip the muffins to bake on the other side.



Enjoy fresh hot English muffins!

11 comments:

  1. Your pictures are making me hungry! I have my starter on the counter right now. I plan on making a batch tomorrow morning. I did splurge and purchase rings so that they come out round but that's just because I thought it would be fun and not necessary. :)
    http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-English-Muffin-Rings/dp/B0000CFME7/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328735105&sr=8-2

    ReplyDelete
  2. These sound good! About how long do you cook them before you flip them over please?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jo -
    Sorry I didn't put in times. It really depends how high your heat is and how large your muffins. Five or ten minutes?

    I just keep checking the bottoms. I like them nicely browned, but not burned.

    Hope that helps!
    Gina

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mmmm...these look delicious!

    I was awarded the Versatile Blogger award and I'd like to pass it on to you. I really enjoy your blog and have learned much from it. If you'd like to accept, go to this link - http://ramblingsofahappyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/whoo-hoo-id-like-to-thank-kari-from.html

    Have a wonderful day,
    Pam

    ReplyDelete
  5. That looks so delicious. Thank you very much for the recipe !!
    Have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We made these English muffins for Christmas brunch. Cannot believe how easy they are to make. Better than any store bought English muffins.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I made these the other evening, and they were great, but I encountered some problems. First, I had to add a considerable amount of flour to keep it from being an ooey gooey mess. Maybe I added too much; I'm not too sure. They cooked up just fine. We had muffin pizzas, and they tasted delicious. But, the next morning, most of the leftover muffins had a greenish-grey circumference and smelled funny! They were in the fridge overnight in a large tupperware type container. I wonder if maybe they just hadn't cooked long enough, and some of the dough was a little raw? Has this ever happened to you?
    Thanks,
    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely. I adapted a joy of cooking recipe nearly 20 years ago. I use a electric griddle to cook mine. Absolutely the best flavor of anything I've made sour dough with to date.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you, Gina, for another easy recipe and yummy breakfast! I had no idea how simple these were to make. I have enjoyed several of your other sourdough recipes and really appreciate how easily they fit into my usually hectic days! Have you ever made them without baking soda? If so, how long do you let them rise? Either way, this recipe is another keeper 😊.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoy them! I always use baking soda so I don't know how it would change the recipe to omit it.
      Happy Baking,
      Gina

      Delete
  10. I made these this morning. My first project with my month old starter. Everything went perfectly and they are wonderful! Thank you for your easy directions.

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you.