Sourdough Discard English Muffins
Craggy, tangy sourdough discard English muffins with real nooks and crannies. A wet dough, bread flour, and an overnight rest do the work, and they cook up on a skillet and freeze perfectly.
Equipment
- Electric skillet or heavy griddle
- 3-inch round cutter
- Bare metal sheet pan
- Instant-read thermometer
- Kitchen scale
Ingredients
- 240 g whole milk 1 cup
- 28 g unsalted butter melted (2 tablespoons)
- 30 g brown sugar 2 packed tablespoons
- 3 g active dry yeast about 1 teaspoon
- 140 g sourdough discard
- 300 g bread flour about 2 ½ cups
- 6 g kosher salt about 1 to 2 teaspoons, depending on brand
- Fine semolina or cornmeal for dusting (have about 1 to 1 ½ cups on hand)
Instructions
- Warm the milk to about 100 to 105°F, distinctly warm but not hot.
- Stir together the warm milk, melted butter, brown sugar, yeast, and sourdough discard.
- Add the bread flour and salt. Mix until no dry flour remains. The dough will be soft, sticky, and wetter than a sandwich dough. Do not add extra flour.
- Cover and let rise until roughly doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Cover and refrigerate 8 to 24 hours. (You can skip this and continue the same day, but the overnight rest gives better flavor and easier handling.)
- Dust a bare metal sheet pan generously with fine semolina or cornmeal. Do not use parchment.
- Lightly flour the counter. Turn out the cold dough and pat or roll it to about 1 inch thick.
- Cut rounds with a 3-inch cutter, pressing straight down without twisting.
- Gently press the scraps together and cut the remaining muffins.
- Coat the tops and bottoms with semolina or cornmeal, set on the dusted pan, and cover loosely.
- Proof until visibly puffy: about 1 hour if not chilled, or 1 ½ to 2 hours straight from the fridge. A gentle poke should fill back in slowly and incompletely.
- Heat an electric skillet or heavy griddle to about 300°F. Use a dry nonstick surface, or cast iron with the thinnest film of oil.
- Gently transfer the muffins without pressing out the gas. Cover and cook about 5 minutes.
- Flip, cover, and cook about 5 minutes on the second side.
- Lower the heat to 250 to 275°F and keep turning every few minutes until the centers reach 195 to 200°F.
- If the outsides darken before the centers are done, finish in a 350°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, checking internal temperature.
- Cool completely on a rack, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Split with a fork around the circumference and pull apart. Do not cut with a knife.
Notes
The single most important step is not adding flour to the sticky dough. Chill it and handle it gently instead.
Cut straight down and do not twist the cutter, which seals the edges and closes the crumb.
Judge doneness by internal temperature (195 to 200°F), not by color.
All-purpose flour works but gives a tighter crumb. Bread flour gives the most open, craggy interior.
These freeze very well. Split before freezing and toast straight from frozen.
Cut straight down and do not twist the cutter, which seals the edges and closes the crumb.
Judge doneness by internal temperature (195 to 200°F), not by color.
All-purpose flour works but gives a tighter crumb. Bread flour gives the most open, craggy interior.
These freeze very well. Split before freezing and toast straight from frozen.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!