These Sourdough English muffins are such a joy to make! They'll impress everyone in the family, and you'll never go back to store-bought English Muffins again.
Seriously, make a double batch and freeze some if they last long enough.
It's a 3 day process, starting with a preferment made the night before mixing, the mixing and shaping day, and finally, the morning where you cook them in a skillet then finish them off in the oven.
On the morning you are planning to bake the English Muffins, they have to do one final warm proof for about 3 hours, so set an alarm or be the early bird to take them out of the fridge 3 hours prior to cooking!
Special Ingredients: Notes and Tips
Whole Wheat Flour: I like to use a little whole wheat flour in this recipe to deepen the flavor. If you don't have whole wheat, feel free to replace it with spelt flour, all-purpose flour, or more bread flour!
Liquid Sweetener: Although I am vegan, I do use and consume honey. If you want these fully vegan, feel free to replace with equal parts white sugar, date syrup, agave nectar, maple syrup, or other preferred sweetener.
Plant Milk: I always use Soy Milk when baking, as it has a similar protein content to dairy milk. However, an almond, cashew, oat, or pistachio milk should do just fine. Just avoid coconut milk, as the fat content can be too high for baking.
Cornmeal: If you want the classic English Muffin look, use cornmeal to line the baking sheet that the english muffins are proofed on. It will add a little extra crunch to the outside of the muffins, as well as toast a little bit in the cast iron pan. However, if you don't have it on hand, as I didn't here, you may use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to line your pan instead.
Method: Notes and Tips
Incorporating the Vegan Butter: This is a slightly enriched dough, meaning we add the vegan butter slowly while the mixer is running to strengthen the dough while adding in fat. Slowly add the vegan butter pats to the dough. When the pats are completely incorporated, the dough should be shiny, smooth, and a little sticky.
Shaping the Rolls: The dough can be rather sticky, so I recommend keeping your hands wet and free of dough. The more dough that's on your hands, the more the dough will stick. If the dough is too sticky, you may place the bowl in the fridge for 25 minutes to let the dough firm up a little.
Cooking the English Muffins: Have butter on hand to continue to grease the pan between sets of cooking. Place three English muffins on the greased pan, cook for 2-3 minutes, until golden brown, then flip them. You may have to rotate the English muffins to make sure they cook evenly and are brown all the way around the surface of the English muffin.
Vegan Sourdough English Muffins
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make the levain. Combine the flour, water, and sourdough starter in a bowl. Cover, but leave room for air to flow in and out. Leave to rise, become well aerated, and active.56 grams Bread Flour, 56 grams Filtered Water, 17 grams Active/ Fed Sourdough Starter
- Warm the water in the microwave or in a tea kettle until roughly 90 degrees fareinehit.283 grams Filtered Water
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add both of the flours, honey, milk, water, salt, and preferment. Combine the ingredients on low speed for 1-2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough starts to cling to the dough hook, about 3 minutes.Preferment (see above), 437 grams Bread Flour , 55 grams Whole Wheat Flour*, 18 grams Honey, 10 grams Fine Sea Salt, 283 grams Filtered Water, 55 grams Plant Milk
- Cover with a tea towel and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the vegan butter into 1/2 inch butter pats. Check that it is room temperature and ready to be mixed into the dough.33 grams Vegan Butter
- On low speed, add the vegan butter one pat at a time. Wait until each pat is fully absorbed into the dough before adding the next pat. Using a spatula, scrape and wipe down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Once all the butter is incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix for 2-3 minutes, until the dough is smooth, shiny, and clings to the dough hook. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- After the 30-minute rest, start the first set of stretch and folds:The dough can be sticky; use wet hands to stretch and fold the dough. Scoop up one side of the dough, pull up towards yourself, then allow the dough to fall back down. Rotate the bowl 180 degrees and repeat. Then, quarter-turn stretch the dough, and stretch and fold; turn 180 degrees again and stretch and fold the last side of the bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes, do another set of strecth and folds. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, do the last set of stretches and folds. Cover the bowl and set it in the warmest spot in your home. Depending on your kitchen temperature, this will take more or less time. For this dough, it usually takes 2-3 hours. Ultimately, you're looking for your dough to be slightly less than double in size. It should be puffy, pulling away from the bowl slightly, and slowly rise back when poked with a finger.
- Dust a sheet pan with cornmeal or line a sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.Cornmeal
- Weigh your dough. Portion out the dough into 12 even pieces. The dough balls will most likely range between 80-82 grams. I would say roughly 1/2 cup of dough if you don't have a scale.
- To shape the rolls, grab a portioned piece of dough. Pull all the corners/ edges of the dough ball towards the center, pinching the sides and corners together. If it does not form a tight ball, you can repeat the step. Then, on the granite counter, place the seam side down and push and pull the dough ball across the counter to create tension (reference the videos and pictures below for help). Place on the lined sheet pan. Repeat until all twelve dough balls are portioned; they should all fit on one baking pan.
- Cover the pan with saran wrap or a sheet towel. Leave in the fridge overnight to proof.
- The English Muffins will be ready to cook when they are pillowy soft and bounce back slowly after being poked.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, for baking the English muffins after being cooked. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fareinheit, with the rack in the center of the oven.
- Over medium- low heat, warm a cast iron pan or other nonstick sheet pan. Grease the pan with butter.Vegan Butter
- 3 at a time, place the English muffins on the pan. Leave to cook until the first side is golden brown. You may have to rotate the English muffins to ensure even cooking. Once browned, flip the English Muffins over and finish cooking on the other side. Once both sides are golden brown, place on the lined baking sheet for baking. Repeat this process, buttering the pan between sets of cooking the English muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 15 minutes. This is just to ensure the inside of the dough is fully cooked. They should not darken much more.
- Transfer the English Muffins to a wire rack. Leave to cool for 30 minutes before poking along the outside rim of the English muffin with a fork to cut it open.
