One cool, December morning, I woke up to dough rising. A new recipe I’ve not tried before. As my brother sleepily came down the stairs and poured a hot cup of black coffee, I slipped away into the kitchen and dusted the counter tops with flour.

Tediously rolling each slice of dough into a tiny ball, I warmed butter in an iron skillet and started cooking up my first ever batch of homemade English Muffins.

They were lovely. Something new we’ve never had freshly baked with eggs over medium. This was not a quick bread like the biscuits and cornbread we’re used to. It was a yeast bread in breakfast format and we were hooked.

Here is a slide of pictures, so you can see the process and the finished product.

Maybe we enjoyed it so well because we had not had this before, but Sourdough English Muffins became a staple that I batch for the week. It’s a quick breakfast that’s already prepared. Noah, my brother, like to pull them out of the fridge on the way to work, and they’re so versatile. The can be filled with so many things before baking.

Think of all the thinks to fill the dough with:

• Cinnamon and Raisen
• Jalepeno and Cheddar
• Cranberry and Orange

And the toppings are endless:

• Butter and Large Sea Salt (my favorite)
• Fig Preserves… recipe coming soon
• Turkey and Cheese
  • English Muffins make a great sandwich!
• Strawberry Jelly
• Apple Butter… also coming soon

Let’s get to baking

If you want to watch me make these Sourdough English Muffins to see how everything looks along the way, you will enjoy this video, here at The Farm.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup active sourdough starter
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Butter for the skillet

Instructions:

Mix active sourdough starter, water, all-purpose flour, honey, and salt. Many recipes add the honey and salt after the dough rises, but I have found it easier to work with if those two ingredients are added before.

Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has expanded and is at least 1/3 larger in size. This could take anywhere from 5-12 hours depending on temps. etc.

After the dough has risen, add baking soda to dough and incorporate thoroughly. This does need to be added after the dough has risen because the baking soda can react with the sourdough to inhibit rising.

On a surface lightly dusted with flour, pour out the dough and slice it into a 10 equal parts. Roll each into a ball and pull against the flat surface to create tension around the outer edge of the dough.

Pre-heat an iron skillet or two on medium high heat, and pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Melt butter in skillets and start frying English muffins until golden brown on bottom. They will rise until nearly double in size. Flip and turn heat down to low. Add butter as needed. Once the muffins are cooked and brown on the other side and releases easily from the skillet, transfer to the oven to finish baking on the inside. Leave for approximately 5-10 minutes, give or take, depending on the size muffin you make. You can always slice one open to see if it is thoroughly baked inside.

Serve warm with butter and your favorite topping.