Sourdough Whole Wheat English Muffins…Absolutely addictive!

In an attempt to turn our home into purgatory during this coronavirus epidemic, I’ve been using the extra time to experiment with recipes that I might not normally have the time or patience to try. I recently shared on our social media pages that with the help of my 9-year-old son and favorite kitchen assistant, made these whole wheat sourdough English muffins. They turned out phenomenally well and were surprisingly not all that time consuming. We may just have to make larger batches for the freezer because I’m not sure the family will let me go back to the store bought English muffins. Like the Dalgona coffee McKayla loves so much and the iguanas taking charge of southern Florida, I may have introduced something into our environment that that won’t be going away anytime soon.

Sourdough English Muffins

Makes about two dozen muffins

Ingredients:

• 2C warm water, 110-115°F
• 2T sugar
• 1T salt
• 1C  sourdough starter
• 1/1T active dry yeast
• 2 1/2C whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2C all-purpose flour
• 1/4C butter, softened (salted or unsalted is up to you)
• 1/2C non-fat dry milk
• corn meal for dusting pan

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients except corn meal in a large bowl. Knead by hand, hand mixer, or stand mixer until dough is soft and elastic, approximately 5-7 minutes depending on type and speed of mixer. Add sparingly more flour if too sticky or water if too dry.
2. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and place in a warm location to rise until doubled in size; 1-2 hours or more depending on temperature and vitality of your sourdough starter.

•     *To get that particularly sour sourdough, place dough covered in the refrigerator overnight before allowing to rise. This will allow the flavors to blend even better. Worth the wait!

4. Once dough has doubled, gently punch down and deflate the dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, cover, and allow to rest for 1-2 minutes to elax the glutens.

5. Forming your muffins. You can do this one of two ways:

•     A. Divide dough into two halves and cover one while working with the other. Roll dough out to 1/4-1/2” thick cut muffins out with 3” cookie cutter. Place muffins on baking sheet dusted with corn meal. Dust tops of muffins with more corn meal, cover loosely with plastic wrap,, and allow to proof. Collect, roll out, and cut scraps. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
•     B. The other way is to roll each muffin by hand into balls and press them down into 3” flat disks. To avoid your English muffins proofing up like rolls, trim or score them around the edges. Tray them up on baking sheets as above.
• 6. Leave the English muffins loosely covered with plastic for 30-60 minutes or until light and fluffy. I the dough was refrigerated overnight this step may take twice as long.
• 7. Carefully transfer muffins one at a time to a hot frying pan or electric griddle on medium heat, about 350°F. I used a floured spatula to do the job.
• 8. Cook for 10-12 minutes on each side.  The middle may look a little doughy. This is no problem so long as the internal temperature on a meat thermometer reads about 190°F.
• 9. Allow to cool for 20 minutes (if possible) on a rack before devouring. If there are any leftovers after you and the family devour them, these English muffins can be stored in an airtight container for 4-6 days. They don’t have the preservatives the store bought muffins do and should be eaten quickly or frozen.

Try these out, take pics, and let us know how it went on our Instagram! Get after it!