Sourdough English Muffins

[Dace]

I am giving these a try....if anyone has a tried and true recipe please let me know.

Sourdough English Muffins

Yield: 8 10 muffins

Time:

Mix and ferment sponge: 8 hours
Mix and shape final dough: 15 minutes
Proof: 45 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Sponge Ingredients:

110 g ripe 100% hydration sourdough starter (1/2c)
160 g flour (5.6 oz)
100 g whole wheat flour (3 1/2 oz) all white flour just use 9.1 oz flour)
276 g milk (I used lowfat 1%) (1 1/4 c)
Final Dough Ingredients:

75 g flour (3 1/2 oz)
3/4 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1.5 t. agave nectar (or honey)
all of the sponge
Method:

In a medium bowl, mix the sponge ingredients until just combined. Cover and let rest for 8 hours or overnight.
Add the final dough ingredients and mix to roughly combine. Turn the dough out onto the counter and hand mix for about 7 or 8 minutes, or until the surface becomes quite smooth. The dough will be very soft, and sticky at first. Resist the urge to add more flour; it will become less sticky with mixing.
Flour the counter and your hands well, and roll or pat the dough out to a thickness of about one-half inch. Cut the dough into 3-inch circles and place them on semolina-dusted parchment paper.
Cover and let proof for 45 60 minutes.
Lightly oil a griddle and heat it over medium-low heat. Cook the muffins for a total of about 7 or 8 minutes on each side, until browned and the sides are firm. I find I get a better shape to the muffins if I flip them every couple of minutes for the first few minutes.
Cool on a wire rack. To get the best nooks and crannies for toasting, split the muffins with a fork rather than a knife.

*Edited to add....this recipe did not turn out the best, it worked but required way more additional flour and tasted a little doughy. My second recipe below works much better!

 

[miss_thenorth]

I've made these twice now, and according to the kids and dh, they are very good. ( I had a nibble the first time I made them, and I thought they were different, but much better than store bought, but isn't that usually the case
Both times I made them, I did them in the cast iron pan, but next time, I am just going to put them in the oven, b/c I found they got too brown (almost burnt) by doing them in the pan.

Sourdough English Muffins
Another recipe stolen from the net. This time, it's Jo-Ann who provided this stunning English Muffin Recipe. The taste is awesome.

The Night Before:
(Recipe from: Bake Your Own Bread & Be Healthier-Stan & Floss Dworkin)
1 C starter
2 tablespoons honey
2 C reconstituted powdered skimmed milk (or whole milk)
4 C unbleached white flour
Mix starter, honey and milk in mixing bowl until smooth. Add 4 C flour, 2 C at a time, and mix in. There's no need for gluten development now, so do not whip-just get all the flour thoroughly wet. Cover with clean towel and leave at room temperature in a draft free place.
The Next Morning:
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1-2 C unbleached white flour
2 tsp sea salt
cornmeal for sprinkling.
Stir down mixture.
Sprinkle a scant teaspoon baking soda and 2 teaspoons sea salt over the surface of the dough and work in.
Flour your board with 1 C flour or more (up to 2 C), until dough is medium stiff - enough to roll out. Once you have enough flour in and the dough longer sticks to your hands, give it a 5 minute kneading.
Get 2 baking sheets or jelly roll pans and line with waxed paper-sprinkle corn meal over both.
Flour board again and lightly roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick. Take a 3 inch round cutter and cut as many rounds as you can-rolling the left over dough out and cutting more until the dough is all used up. Try to keep them very uniform in thickness and diameter.
As you cut each round, place on cornmealed wax paper-don't allow raw muffins to touch--they will stick. When all rounds are cut, sprinkle corn meal over tops of muffins.
Allow to rise in warm place, covered, for about an hour or until risen again.
Now Comes The FUN Part!
Preheat a griddle Use a low flame or heat setting so the inside of the muffin bakes and outside does not burn. Pan bake one side for about 4 minutes and turn. Squish down a bit with spatula and pan bake other side for about 4 minutes. Turn only once so be sure the one side is cooked before turning.

**OR: Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 minutes or until bottom is browned. Turn and bake 7 minutes longer or until second side is browned.
**(I looked up another reg recipe, and this was their instructions for doing them in the oven. Next time I make them, this is what I will try)

Also, if you do do them in the fry pan--do not butter it or your smoke alarm WILL go off, and I won't be using cornmeal again--it just burns.

 

[Dace]

Oh I saw that one online somewhere! I will give it a try too.

So since I have two active SD jars (don't ask) I decided to try two different recipes, the first one that I posted and this one:

1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup water (if your water doesn't taste good to drink out of the tap, consider using bottled water)
Stir it up well, cover with cling wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight (about 7 to 10 hours). In the morning, add
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
2 Tablespoons white sugar
Up to 3/4 cup additional AP flour (add gradually as shown below)

I used all AP flour, since I did not have any wheat. I will probably try MTN's recipe too. I am thinking that homemade SD muffins along with some nice jam will be a nice addition to my holiday gift baskets. If I start now I can just bag them up and pop them into the freezer.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Well, my sd starter died. I didn't use it for a few days so I put it in the fridge. When I was getting ready to bake again, I took it out thenight before, let it warm up and then fed it. It smelled like PAINT! I couldn't save it.

I did freeze some, and now I am thawing that out. Hopefully it will work, b/c it is now colder out and I don't know if I have good enough temps to make a starter again. (it was 67 in the house this morning).

 

[Dace]

Good luck MTN.....I should try dehydrating some. Oh hey, ORchick sent me PLENTY.....do you want some dehydrated starter? I would be happy to pass some a long! PM me your mailing addy, if you want some.

So between the two above listed recipes (that I posted) the one with milk did not work well, it was way too wet and I had to add way too much flour. But they are still edible.

Making the muffins was super easy and enjoyable. The recipe says to knead in additional flour as needed, but I found that to be an unnecessary mess on my counter....best to just dump the dough into a mixer.