Sourdough English Muffins
There’s just something magical about making sourdough English muffins at home. This is one of my most favorite sourdough discard recipes. Cooking english muffins in a cast iron skillet instead of baking them, gives them a seasoned toasty flavor. The addition of homemade clarified butter creates a rich, buttery flavor that goes perfectly with that classic sourdough tang! They’ve got a perfectly crisp edge that store-bought could never match.
Whether you split them open for a pat of jam or use them as the base for your favorite breakfast sandwich, you’ll be coming back to this sourdough English muffin recipe again and again. (This recipe has been updated from my original post to reflect a more classic sourdough recipe.)
🍞Are you new to Sourdough Baking? It’s such a rewarding and delicious way to bake and leaven your bread naturally. Follow my guide for how to make a sourdough starter from scratch and you’ll love starting this baking journey!
Why you’ll love these sourdough english muffins
- Sourdough Discard: These are the perfect way to use up your leftover sourdough starter, like my Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins.
- Tall and fluffy: While they cook low and slow in a cast iron skillet, they get super puffy and soft!
- The clarified butter: You wont’ want to skip this step! Cooking English muffins in this refined butter gives them a super rich and buttery flavor!
- That sourdough tang: just like my Easy Sourdough Bread recipe, these have that yummy tangy sourdough flavor!
- So many uses: They make the perfect toast with butter or jam. Make the ultimate egg and cheese English muffin. Or use them for a lunch sandwich by adding avocado, ham, or your favorite sandwich toppings!
- One of the best breakfast recipes! If you like this one, you’ll love my Easy Biscuits and Gravy Recipe too!
Table of contents
Ingredients
- Sourdough starter: This natural yeast slowly leavens (rises) the dough. A longer fermentation equals a more rich, complex flavor. This is where you get that sourdough tang!
- All-purpose flour: Different flours have different amounts of protein content. The higher the protein content, the more effective that flour is at developing gluten (the structure of the dough). For example, a bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, and is ideal for sandwich breads like Crusty French Bread. Using an all-purpose flour (with lower protein) for English muffins will give them a softer crumb, and pillowy texture.
- Clarified butter: This is a unique ingredient that sets this English muffin recipe apart from all others. Clarified butter is simply a butter that has been melted and had it’s milk solids and water removed. What’s left is pure butterfat that has a higher smoke point and richer flavor. This is perfect for cooking the English muffins – allowing them to cook on a low heat for several minutes without burning. Cooking them “low and slow” allows them to cook all the way through to the center.
- Find the full list of ingredients and instructions in the recipe card towards the end of the post.
Substitutions & Variations
- Sourdough starter: You can use sourdough discard, but it should be fairly active and thick. Use discard that has been fed within the past couple of days and kept in the refrigerator. If you want to use a less active discard, you can add 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast to help rise the dough.
- Flour: You can swap out a portion of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour. Remember, when baking with whole grains, the flour absorbs more water than white flour. It also ferments faster and can have a denser texture. I’d suggest starting by swapping out about 20% of the white flour for whole wheat flour and see how you like it. You can continue to increase the amount of whole wheat flour if you like the results.
- Clarified butter: I often get asked if ghee can be used in place of the clarified butter. The short answer is yes, but it won’t taste the same. Ghee is cooked a little bit longer and therefore, has a different flavor than clarified butter. You could also use regular butter instead of clarified butter, but you’ll need to cook on a very low temperature, to prevent the English muffins from burning before cooking all the way through.
How to make sourdough English muffins
Sample Timeline
| 9:00 am (the day before) | Feed starter – 1:6:6 ratio. If you use 11g starter, 66g flour, 66g water, it will give you enough for the recipe plus some left over to feed your main starter. |
| During the day | Make the clarified butter and refrigerate. |
| 9:00 pm | Mix the dough & let it rest 30 minutes. |
| 9:45 pm | Stretch & Fold 1 |
| 10:15 pm | Stretch & Fold 2 |
| Overnight rest (room temp) | |
| 6:30 am (the next day) | Divide & Shape |
| 6:45 am – 7:45 am | Final Proof |
| 7:45 am – 8:30 am | Cook English Muffins & Enjoy! |
Prepare your sourdough starter
Plan ahead and make sure you have enough sourdough starter for this recipe. Using your starter at its peak is best, but you can also make sourdough discard English muffins by using a very active, well-maintained sourdough discard that has been fed in the past 1-2 days.
As shown in the sample timeline above, if you want to serve freshly cooked English muffins for breakfast, you’ll start the process a day ahead of time.
- I find that my sourdough starter fed at a 1:6:6 ratio will peak within 11-12 hours. Your ratios may differ, depending on the warm of your kitchen and other factors like elevation and humidity. Feed with the ratios you like to use for a 12 hour peak.
Make the clarified butter
Clarified butter is the process of removing water and milk solids from the butter. What’s left is pure butterfat which has a richer flavor and higher smoke point. To make clarified butter, melt unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Do not stir. As it melts and comes to a low simmer, you’ll begin to see white, milky solids floating to the surface. Quickly remove the pan from the heat – you don’t want to brown the butter. Skim the white milky solids from the surface. Line a wire sieve with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl. Pour the butter over the sieve. The cheesecloth will catch any bits of remaining milk solids and you’ll now have a beautiful golden liquid butter. Place it in the refrigerator so that it can solidify before cooking your English muffins.
Mix the dough
Step 1: Mix the English muffin bread dough. Knead bout 5-6 minutes in a stand mixer. It should feel soft and slightly tacky, but will improve in texture during bulk fermentation. After kneading, place the dough in an oiled bowl, and let it rest 30 minutes.
Step 2: After a 30 minute rest, perform a set of stretch and folds. Pull up one side of the dough and fold it over. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and do that again. Repeat until all four sides of the dough have been stretched and folded. Cover and let the dough rest for another 30 minutes.
Step 3: Perform one more series of stretch and fold. You can also use a coil fold method if you prefer. Cover and let the dough rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation.
Step 4: During bulk fermentation, the dough will rise and become easier to handle. I prefer to make this dough at night, about an hour before bedtime. You can do a couple sets of stretch and fold and then let it rise overnight. If you’re serving them for breakfast, they only need another one hour of rise time after shaping.
When is bulk fermentation done? It’s much easier to see the progress of your dough if you let it rise in a clear container, like a glass bowl. Look for these signs:
- the dough has risen about 50% in volume
- there are small bubbles throughout and on top of the dough
- when gently pressing on the dough, it feels fluffy and aerated
- the dough pulls away easily from the bowl
This English muffin dough takes about 8 hours to complete bulk fermentation with a dough temperature of 78°F. If your dough is colder, it will take longer to ferment. Likewise, if your dough is warmer it will speed up the process.
Shaping
Step 5: Place the risen dough onto a floured work surface. Do not deflate it. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.
Step 6: Form each piece of dough into a ball by pinching opposite sides together at the center.
Step 7: Flip the dough ball over so that the pinched seam is on the bottom. Roll the dough in a circular motion, tightening the outside surface. Make sure the counter isn’t too floured, or the dough ball will just slide around. This is a technique you can also use for round dinner buns like my Soft and Fluffy Whole Grain Dinner Rolls.
Step 8: Prepare a sheet pan with by lining it with a piece of parchment and sprinkle generously with cornmeal. Flatten each sourdough English muffin to a disc. Place on the sheet pan, flipping so that both sides are coated with cornmeal. Cover with a clean tea towel and let them puff up before cooking, about 1 hour.
My pro tip about shaping sourdough English muffins: Be careful not to deflate the volume of the dough that has been developed during bulk fermentation. Avoid being to aggressive with the dough as you shape each English muffin. This will allow the dough to quickly rise after final shaping, only about 1 hour before they’re ready to cook on the stovetop.
Cooking Sourdough English Muffins in a pan
Step 9: In a cast iron skillet, on medium low heat, melt a spoonful of clarified butter. Gently place 3-4 sourdough English muffins in the pan and cook until the bottom edges have started to brown, about 3 minutes.
Step 10: Flip and cook on the other side another 3-4 minutes. Keep the heat lower if needed – these sourdough English muffins need to cook a good 3-4 minutes each side to cook completely through to the center.
Step 11: Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place the cooked sourdough English muffins on top. This will allow the extra butter to drain off. Let them cool at least 15 minutes before enjoying – as they cool, they’re continuing to cook internally. If you split them apart too soon, they will be doughy in the center.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is specifically written for English muffins toasted in a cast irons skillet on the stovetop. It gives them a delicious, seasoned and rich flavor.
Line an airtight container with a paper towel and place the leftover English muffins on top. This will keep them from getting too greasy as they are stored. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, freeze for up to one month. To thaw, remove them from the freezer the night before you want to use them. Let them thaw in the container at room temperature.
More Breakfast recipes you’ll love
Sourdough English Muffins Recipe
Sourdough English Muffins
Ingredients
Dough
- 256 g water room temperature (around 76°F)
- 120 g active sourdough starter
- 18 g extra virgin olive oil
- 7 g fine sea salt
- 410 g all-purpose flour
Clarified Butter
- 113 g unsalted butter
Additional ingredients:
- 60 g yellow cornmeal
Instructions
Feed your sourdough starter
- I suggest doing this in the morning. About 12 hours before you want to mix the dough, feed your starter with a 1:6:6 ratio, making enough for the recipe plus more to feed your main starter. (Example: feed your starter 11g starter, 66g flour, 66g water – giving you 143g.)
Make the Clarified Butter
- This should be made and chilled at least 4 hours before cooking the English muffins. Melt the cubed butter in a saucepan over low to medium-low heat. Without stirring, melt butter until a white foamy layer forms on top. Remove from heat. With a spoon, skim off the top foamy layer, leaving the clear yellow layer of butter underneath. Avoid browning the butter. Let sit for 5 minutes. Line a wire sieve with a dampened, wrung out piece of cheesecloth and set over medium bowl. Pour the clear, yellow, melted butter onto the lined sieve. Leave any milky residue behind in the sauce pan. Discard the residue. Store the clarified butter in a covered container and refrigerate until it becomes a solid form, about four hours.
Mix the dough
- I suggest mixing the dough at night, around 9:00 pm. To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the water, sourdough starter, olive oil, salt, and half the flour. Mix on low speed using the dough hook attachment. Mix about 1-2 minutes, until all the ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth. Gradually add the remaining flour and mix until fully combined.
- Knead the dough on low speed for 5 minutes. The dough will be soft and feel slightly tacky. If the dough feels very wet and sticky, let it rest for 10 minutes. Come back to it and tap on it with your finger. If it still feels wet, mix in 1-2 Tablespoons of flour and test again. Add more flour if necessary, but try to avoid adding too much flour – the texture will improve during bulk fermentation.
Bulk Fermentation
- Place dough in a large bowl. Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
- Stretch & Fold 1: Stretch one side of the dough up and fold over onto itself. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and stretch and fold again. Repeat on all 4 sides of the dough. (You can also use a coil fold if you prefer.) Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
- Stretch & Fold 2: Perform a second series of stretch and fold. (You can also use a coil fold if you prefer.) Cover and let rest for the remainder of bulk fermentation.
- Allow the dough to rise about 50% in volume. It should have small bubbles throughout with a few on top. It should easily pull away from the sides of the bowl. If you gently press on it with your fingertip, it should leave an indentation that slowly springs back. With a dough temperature of 78°F, this may take around 7-8 hours. Warmer conditions will speed up this process, and cooler conditions will slow it down.
Divide & Shape
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Do not depress the dough. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball by pinching opposite sides together at the center. Turn the dough over so that the seam side is down. Cup your hand and gently round the dough by rolling it in a circular motion. When the outside of the dough smooths and tightens, gently flatten it to a small disc. Place each dough disc on the parchment and flip so each side is coated with cornmeal. Cover with a towel and let it rise in a warm place until they have increased in volume by 50%, about one hour.
Cook the English Muffins
- Melt 2 Tablespoons of clarified butter into a large (preferably cast iron) skillet on low to medium-low heat. Add 3-4 English muffins to the pan and cook until the bottom is golden, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 3 minutes. Keep the heat low enough so that they don't burn before the centers are fully cooked. The interior of the English muffin should be at least 195°F. After cooked, place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain the excess butter. Add more butter to the skillet and repeat until all of the English muffins are cooked. Allow them to cool for at least 30 minutes before splitting apart and serving – they are continuing to cook internally.
- To split in half, use a fork to poke holes around the center of the English muffin and pull apart with your fingers – this will give you all of those delicious nooks and crannies!
- Toast or enjoy fresh! They're best enjoyed the same day.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container, lined with a paper towel. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- You can freeze baked and cooled English muffins in an airtight container for up to one month. Allow to thaw at room temperature overnight.
- Keep extra clarified butter, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Use for other things like sauteing vegetables.
- You can make sourdough discard English muffins by using discard that has been fed within the past week. If it’s on the runnier side, add 1/2 tsp instant yeast to the dough to help it rise.
Nutrition
If we have our own sourdough starter… how much do we use? And we can use discard?
Hi Jenny, Yes, you can definitely use your own starter! I’d suggest using 1/2 cup ripe starter/discard. Let me know how that turns out! Happy baking!
I found Ghee with sea salt at Aldi. Can I use it instead of making clarified butter? If so, do I reduce or leave out the salt called for in the recipe?
Ghee will work but it has a slightly different flavor. I really prefer the flavor of clarified butter. They are very similar, but I’ve substituted with ghee before and didn’t care for the flavor.
If you do use ghee with sea salt, I’d consider reducing the salt in the recipe by half. But…I’ve never tried that before so it may take some experimenting. Let me know how it turns out!
If you use active sourdough starter, do you still need to add yeast to the dough?
Hi Rachel,
I am working on getting a set of sourdough instructions ready to share to add to this recipe, but in the meantime, I would sub the biga for 140g active starter and just add it to the dough recipe and remove the instant yeast. Rise times will be longer. You could mix the dough, let it proof for about 1 hour and then place in the refrigerator overnight before shaping the next day. Or you could make these same day.
These are the BEST English muffins I’ve ever had! The sourdough tang is so perfect without being overwhelming. I love the flavor from the clarified butter. It’s definitely a step you shouldn’t skip! Thank you for such a great recipe! My family loves them and we will be enjoying these again and again!
I’m so glad you loved these Hannah! Thank you for trying it out!