SOURDOUGH ENGLISH MUFFINS

You will love how delicious these muffins are...much better than store-bought English muffins. If you have your own sourdough in your refrigerator, you can add 3 tablespoons to the dough. I included a quick sourdough recipe for you to make the day before you want to make your muffins. You can leave it out of the recipe for plain muffins. It is absolutely your decision. 

I have seen recipes for English muffins using wide mouth mason jar rings, but they are still too small and a little difficult to remove the rings from the partially cooked muffins. I bought 8 English muffin rings in a kitchen supply store and they were only ($4.99 for 4 rings).

Sour Dough Starter

½ cup all-purpose flour

⅓ cup water

½ t active dry yeast 
½ t honey

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, water, yeast, and honey until well combined.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 24 hours. 

The mixture will bubble and expand.

You can skip this process if you already have a sourdough starter in your refrigerator or just eliminate it altogether.

Dough
1 cup whole milk
1 T unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 T honey

2 t active dry yeast

3 T sourdough starter (optional) or add 2 T more of milk

1 t sea salt
1 t baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour

Cooking oil spray

Cornmeal

Warm milk with butter and honey in a small saucepan on the stove or in the microwave.
Do not let the milk get too hot. Stir until honey has dissolved.
Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and let cool.

Add the yeast. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes.

Add the starter (if using) and mix in.
Place bowl back onto the mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Add the salt and then the flour and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Cover the bowl with a clean damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot for about an hour, until doubled in size.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to a circle and place your 6 muffin rings on top, close together, to make sure you use all of the dough. Sprinkle with flour, if needed. 
Spray the inside of your muffin rings with cooking oil (I spray one area and use my fingers to rub it around the entire ring) and then cut out muffins (leaving rings on) and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with oil and dusted with cornmeal.
Cover with a damp tea towel and let rise in a warm spot until they fill the muffin rings to the top. 
Spray tops with cooking oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Spray a griddle pan with oil and heat over medium-high heat. 
Lightly brown the muffins, in their rings, on each side for about 2 minutes. 

Do this in 2 batches.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Transfer muffins to the same baking sheet while the oven is preheating.
Bake muffins for 10 minutes.

Let cool completely and then release from rings with a kitchen knife.

To toast, split oven muffins with a fork and toast in your toaster or under a broiler for a minute or so.

Store unused muffins in a plastic storage bag in the refrigerator.

Makes 6 English muffins

Note: You will have leftover dough from around the muffins rings. I make a small loaf of muffin bread with the leftover dough. You can also make 2 additional muffins, if you prefer.