Sourdough Buttermilk English Muffins
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OK that sounds like a lot going on. Both sourdough AND buttermilk together. What madness is this. AND in homemade English Muffins?!? Insanity.
These English Muffins use both the discard from your nightly sourdough feeding and that leftover buttermilk that is sitting in your fridge. Most English Muffin recipes use AP flour which is rather bland on its own, so I updated it to use a mixture of whole wheat flour, which adds texture and flavor. Both the buttermilk and sourdough add an interesting tanginess.
Also, if you just spent the day before cleaning your oven and don’t want to dirty it up just yet, this is perfect because it uses a flat top griddle or cast-iron skillet to make these. If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet or a flat top griddle you can use a heavy bottom frying pan. I am using both my Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet and Flat Top Electric Griddle. What I love about the Lodge Skillet is that it is very well made and easy to season and clean. The flat-top makes this job easy because you can fit more muffins on to cook at once.
Cast Iron Cooking
If you buy Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet new, it comes pre-seasoned, meaning you do not need to go through the process of scrubbing it down, rubbing it with oil and heating it on high for an hour to bake in the seasoning. Just give it a quick wash with no soap and not in the dishwasher, and dry completely. You can buy a rusted and old cast iron pan at a flea market/thrift shop/yard sale and restore it yourself.
Because cast-iron holds heat so well, you will have to watch your heat. Once the skillet is good and hot, place ONE muffin onto the skillet to see how long it takes to puff up (ideally about 3 minutes). When it puffs up, flip it over. If the temperature is right, the English Muffin will be a beautiful toasted color. If the skillet is too hot, the English Muffin will be burned.
If you haven’t already made a sourdough starter, check out my tutorial.
Sourdough Buttermilk English Muffins
Ingredients
- 200 grams all-purpose flour plus extra for kneading & rolling out
- 100 grams whole wheat flour
- 90 grams sourdough starter
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated natural cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 medium to large egg lightly beaten
- Oil or cooking spray for greasing the bowl
- Semolina or Corn Meal for rolling & dusting pan
Instructions
The Process- Stand Mixer
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine Flours, sea salt, and sugar. Whisk to lightly combine.
- Add Butter, Buttermilk, egg and starter to flour mixture. Using the dough hook, kneed mixture on medium for 4-5 minutes until the dough comes together into a sticky smooth dough.
- Place dough in a clean bowl coated with oil. Cover with cling wrap and let double in size.
The Process- By Hand
- In a deep bowl, combined combine Flours, sea salt, and sugar. Whisk to lightly combine.
- Add Butter, Buttermilk, egg and starter to flour mixture. Mix to combine. You can use a spoon or rubber spatula to assist in this or you can mix by hand sticky smooth dough.
- Once dough forms, flip out onto clean work surface and dust with flour. Knead until dough is soft and stretchy.
- Place dough in a clean bowl coated with oil. Cover with cling wrap and let double in size.
Once Dough has Risen
- Roll the dough out into a 1-inch thick disk. Use flour if needed on the work surface and rolling pin
- Dust a sheet pan with semolina/cornmeal and set aside.
- Using a cookie cutter (or wide mouth mason jar) cut out English muffin, placing cut muffins onto a sheet pan.
- Dust tops of muffins with semolina.
- Cover sheet pan with cling wrap and let sit for 45 minutes to an hour. Muffins should puff up a little.
- To Bake, preheat Skillet or Griddle to medium heat.
- Place ONE muffin on the work surface and allow it to puff up before flipping (about 3-4 minutes).If the muffin is too dark, turn down the heat.If it doesn’t puff up in about 3-4 minutes, turn up the heat
Notes
