Homemade Sourdough English Muffins Recipe (No-Knead)

Make breakfast special with our light and fluffy Sourdough English Muffins recipe. Step-by-step instructions and helpful tips are included.

Look at these light, fluffy, beautiful homemade sourdough English muffins and tell me you don’t wish you could grab one and chomp away. Okay, maybe a little butter first. They’re so good to eat and make using your very own sourdough starter; you will be hooked.

Step-by-step instructions to prepare, mix, roll out, cut, and cook these English muffins will have you enjoying breakfast in no time at all. We’ve included a lot of tips that may make you think they’re difficult to make but it’s a fairly easy recipe.

Why You’ll Love Sourdough English Muffins

• Another great way to use your sourdough starter. This recipe uses an active, bubbly starter. I recommend feeding it the night before or about four hours before you want to make this great recipe so that it’s good and bubbly and ready to work. 
• A fresh, delicious bread. Perfect for your breakfast sandwiches. Make a big batch on the weekend to have them ready for the week.
• Homemade bread is so much better. You do know how the book is always better than the movie? The same is true about homemade sourdough bread vs. store-bought. Rare is the supermarket bakery that can compete with homemade.

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Ingredients for Sourdough English Muffins Recipe

• Warm Water – 95 °F to 105 °F.
• Instant Dry Yeast – By using both an active and bubbly sourdough starter *and* yeast, you get the best possible texture and height for these English muffins.
• Sourdough Starter – This Sourdough English Muffin recipe uses an active sourdough starter which is not the same as a sourdough discard recipe which uses the portion of inactive starter that’s usually discarded before it’s fed again.
• Sugar – We use white granulated sugar in this recipe.
• All-Purpose Flour – You can use bleached or unbleached flour. One doesn’t act or taste any differently from the other. Unbleached flour is just less processed since it doesn’t go through the step of bleaching it.
• Salt – You can use any salt. Our preferences are Kosher salt or Fine sea salt which we feel dissolves better with a less likely chance of salt pockets in our baked goods.
• Butter – Since we use such a small amount, it doesn’t make a difference whether you use salted or unsalted butter.
• Cornmeal. This is optional but highly recommended.

How To Make Sourdough English Muffins

We don’t use an electric mixer for our sourdough recipes because we can get a better feel of the dough. This isn’t an overly wet dough so using our hands works well.

Step One: Proof the yeast.

Melt the butter so that it has a chance to cool before you need it. In a large bowl, mix the warm water, yeast, active starter, and sugar. Let it sit to allow the yeast and starter to activate.

Add dry yeast

Add active starter

Combine water, yeast, starter, and sugar.

Step Two: Mix the dry ingredients.

Add the flour, and salt and mix well. Once the flour is almost all incorporated, add the melted butter.

Combine flour with yeast mixture

Combine yeast mixture and flour

Add melted butter

Step Three: Mix the Batter.

Mix using a Danish whisk or a wooden spoon to incorporate the flour. When the dough gets too thick, you can use your hands. Shape the dough into a ball.

Step Four: Let the Sourdough English Muffins dough rise.

Leave the dough ball in the mixing bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap. For the first rise, let the dough rest for 90 minutes in a draft-free, warm place. If you have a proof setting on your oven, use it.

Step Five: Prepare your plans.

While the dough is rising, put some cornmeal on a cookie sheet or large plate. Set aside.

Roll the dough

Stamp out dough

Place cut muffins on prepared pan

Step Six: Roll out your sourdough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. I usually use my baking mat and approximately 2 tablespoons of flour. Roll the dough ½ inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter or English muffin rings, cut out your English muffins. You will need to cut a few, re-roll the remaining dough, and cut more until you have used all the dough.

Step Seven: Let it rise again.

Place the cut dough on the prepared baking sheet pan and cover with a towel for the second rise. Allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes.

Step Eight: Cook your Sourdough English Muffins.

Use a non-stick pan or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet with a cover and heat it on medium. Place three or four muffins in it, and cook on the first side for about 5 minutes. Flip carefully to the second side for 4-5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting with a serrated knife or separating the halves with a fork.

Popular Variations & Additions

• A larger size. If you want to use a larger cutter to make sure they are big enough for sandwiches, go for it! Our English muffins are 3-inches round. You could go up to 4-5-inches. Just make sure they’re 1/2 inch thick.
• Make it spicy: We add some spicy cheese like pepper jack or a sprinkle of red pepper flakes to the dough mix to spice things up. You can even add pieces of cooked bacon
• Freshness. Add some herbs, such as rosemary or dill, to the dough for a more savory taste.
• Seasonal. Add some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the dough for a warm, fall-like option.

How To Reheat & Store Sourdough English Muffins

Store at room temperature, in a freezer-quality ziplock bag.

Can I Freeze English Muffins

Yes, they freeze great. Freeze them individually on a tray, then combine them in one airtight container and thaw as needed.

How To Reheat Sourdough English Muffins

English muffins are amazing toasted. You can also reheat them in the air fryer for a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to know when your Sourdough English Muffins are done?

Using the internal temperature of the muffins removes all of the guesswork. As soon as they reach an internal temperature of 190ºF remove them from the pan. Continue checking frequently to avoid overcooking your muffins and drying them out.

Hostess Tips

Get the water right. Make sure the warm water is 95 to 105º F. Use an instant-read thermometer or think of warm bathwater. If the water is cold, it will delay the yeast reaction, and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Both lead to the yeast not working properly.

Adjust for moisture in the air. Depending on your location and environment, you may need to add a little extra flour or more water. You don’t want a sticky dough. It should feel like playdough and be evenly mixed with no dry parts.

Use Cornmeal. This is in my opinion very important. Corn meal acts like little beads that will not modify the composition of the English muffin but will help keep the dough from sticking to the cookie sheet.

I used a lightly floured silicone mat, and just with the movement of lifting the dough from the silicone mat, the muffins lost some of their air bubbles and were flatter. So every time I put the cut dough on the cookie sheet pan I make sure there is enough cornmeal under it so it moves easily. When you pick them up from the pan to cook, don’t worry about brushing off the cornmeal. 

Be gentle when moving the English muffins after the second rise. They are full of air bubbles, and you don’t want to break them out. I either use my hands, a bench scraper, or a fish spatula to carefully lift them from the cookie sheet and place them in the hot pan.

Because my cast-iron is well seasoned, I did not need to oil the pan. However, I did test it, and if you add a thin layer of oil before putting the muffins in, it won’t change the outcome. I found using a fish spatula worked well for turning them over to cook the second side.

What to Pair with Sourdough English Muffins

Serve them warm or lightly toasted. Add a pad of butter or your favorite jam. They were excellent as well when making an egg sandwich or a BLT. Drizzle the English muffins with syrup for your sausage and egg sandwich and mimic a popular sandwich at McDs. Cut the English Muffin in half, and top it with a poached egg, or let your kids make mini pizzas.

If you enjoyed our sourdough English Muffins recipe, take a look at our regular homemade English Muffin recipe and our English Muffin Bread recipe. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.

Sourdough English Muffins Recipe

Author: Julie Menghini

Make breakfast special with our light and fluffy Sourdough English Muffins recipe. Step-by-step instructions and helpful tips are included.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Combined Rise Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword: English Muffin, Sourdough, Sourdough Bread

Servings: 12 (10-12)

Equipment

• Mixing Bowls
• Biscuit Cutter
• 10-inch Cast Iron Skillet
• Baking Sheets (half sheet pan)
• Instant Read Thermometer highly recommended

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ½ cup Warm water warm water (95 °F to 105 °F). See Note #1.
• 2 ¼ tsp instant dry yeast or 1 packet
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar you can use raw sugar
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour you may need to add an extra ¼ cup See note #2.
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter melted, cooled (I used salted but you can use unsalted as well)
• Cornmeal optional so the dough does not stick to the cookie sheet after the second rise.

Instructions

 

• In a large mixing bowl, mix the warm water, yeast, sourdough starter, and sugar. Let it sit to allow the yeast and starter to activate.
• Add the flour, and salt and mix well.
• Once the flour is almost all incorporated, add the melted butter.
• Mix and when the batter is too thick, you can use your hands to make sure the flour is incorporated and you have a dough ball. I used a Danish whisk but when the dough gets too thick I use my hands. You can also use a wooden spoon if you don’t have a Danish whisk. I wouldn’t recommend using a traditional whisk.
• Leave the dough ball in the mixing bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 90 minutes in a warm draft-free place.
• *NOTE* If you have a young starter you may need to rise longer
• While the dough is rising, put some cornmeal on a baking sheet pan or large plate. Set aside.
• Place the dough on a floured surface. I usually use my baking mat and approximately 2 tablespoons of flour.
• Roll the dough ½ inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter stamp out your English muffins. You will need to cut a few, re-roll the dough, and cut more until you have used all the dough.
• *NOTE* Once the dough is rolled, lift it from the mat to “relax it” then cut the circle.
• Place the cut dough on the prepared cookie sheet and cover with a towel for the second rise in a warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes.
• *NOTE* This is in my opinion very important. Cornmeal acts as little beads that will not modify the composition of the English muffin but will help with the dough not sticking to the cookie sheet.

  I used a silicone mat, and just with the movement of lifting the dough from the silicone mat, the muffins lost some of their air bubbles and were flatter. So every time I put the cut dough on the cookie sheet pan I make sure there is enough cornmeal under it so it moves easily. When you pick them up from the pan to cook, don't worry about brushing off the cornmeal. You can also use a bench scraper to carefully move the dough.
• Use a non-stick pan or a well-seasoned cast iron skillet with a cover and heat it on medium.
• *NOTE* This is important. Covering when cooking helps with the steam. If not covered they don’t cook evenly.
• Add 3 or 4 English muffins at a time depending on the size of your skillet.
• *NOTE* CAREFUL when moving the English muffins after the second rise. They are full of air bubbles and you don’t want to break them out. I used 2 hands and carefully lifted them from the cookie sheet and placed them in the hot pan. You can also use a bench scraper.

  Because my cast iron is well seasoned I did not need to oil the pan at all. However, I did test it and if you add a thin layer of oil before putting the muffins in it won’t change the outcome.
• Once the English muffins are in the hot skillet, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• Carefully flip them and cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.
• *NOTE* When flipping them use a fork or if you have a fish spatula use that.
• The English Muffins are cooked when the internal temperature has reached 190 degrees F.
• Cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

NOTE #1* I added an extra tablespoon of water and flour an extra ¼ cup if needed. Depending on where you are at you may need to add. When mixing all the ingredients, the dough should be tacky but not sticky. When you knead in the bowl, you shouldn’t have any dry dough or very sticky wet fingers.

Note #2* make sure the warm water is 95 to 105 degrees F. If the water is cold, it will delay the yeast reaction and if it is too hot it will kill the yeast. Both lead to the yeast not working properly.)

How to cut English Muffins: Some say you can cut with a serrated knife but others say in order not to break the air bubbles you insert a fork in the middle and go around. The fork method was new and fun, but either way, it did not change the flavor or texture.

Serve them warm or lightly toasted. Add a pad of butter or your favorite jam. They were excellent as well when making an egg sandwich.

Ease: I was asked by my taste team if they were easy to make. I have to say yes. Mixing the ingredients until you have a dough. The dough feels like play dough. For a successful recipe, make sure the water is not too warm, the ingredients are all incorporated and you allow enough time to rise properly.

Nutrition

Calories: 145kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 211mgPotassium: 50mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 58IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 6mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

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