Sourdough English Muffins with Fresh Milled Flour
These fresh milled flour sourdough English muffins are long fermented and made with 100% whole grain flour for a healthy, delicious breakfast bread!
The long fermentation process makes them easier on digestion and adds that signature tang of the sourdough starter. The fresh milled flour adds 40/44 essential nutrients and a nutty flavor.
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Why you’ll love these Sourdough English Muffins
- Made with 100% Fresh Milled Flour
- Long Fermented with Sourdough Starter
- Soft and airy crumb with chewy exterior
Looking for an English muffin recipe that uses conventional yeast? CLICK HERE!
Best wheat berries to use for fresh milled sourdough English muffins
Hard White Wheat – Mild, slightly nutty flour that has high protein, low moisture making it ideal for sourdough bread products.
Hard Red Wheat – Just like hard white wheat flour, hard red wheat flour is high protein, low moisture but packs a deeper flavor.
Spelt – An ancient grain, Spelt is a great option for this recipe. It has a strong enough gluten content to make a light and airy muffin and boasts a great amount of nutritional value.
Considerations when using fresh flour in sourdough
When using fresh milled flour in your sourdough bakes, a couple of tweaks can make the process much more successful:
Proper Autolyse – Since fresh flour has the bran and germ intact, soaking the dough for at least 30 minutes helps to soften these making it easier to knead or stretch and fold the dough. In turn, you will achieve proper gluten development more quickly.
Fermentation Times – Fresh milled sourdough can ferment a little more quickly than all purpose flour. Be sure to keep a check on the dough, especially in the summer months for signs of fermentation, including an airy, bubbly dough that jiggles when you shake the bowl.
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I use the NUTRIMILL GRAIN MILL to mill my own wheat berries for freshly milled flour.
For browning the english muffins, I use a CAST IRON SKILLET
For completing the bake, I use THIS BAKING PAN
Brand new to Sourdough?
You will need to make your own sourdough starter. My easy method to make a sourdough starter to get going!
There are so many simple sourdough recipes to try! After having these fresh english muffins made with starter, you will be hooked!
What you will need to make these muffins
- Milk (I use almond milk)
- Active Sourdough Starter (my starter had been fed 2 days before and came from the fridge)
- Honey
- Freshly milled flour (can substitute with store bough whole wheat or unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour)
- Salt
- Baking Soda
For full ingredient amounts, see recipe card below
Looking for another sourdough breakfast staple? Try my Sourdough Breakfast Skillet
For all of my sourdough recipes, click here!
How to make Sourdough English Muffins with Freshly Milled Flour
The night before you want to add the milk, honey, and starter to a large bowl and mix well. Add the flour and mix until well incorporated.
Alternatively, you can mix these in a mixer. Add the ingredients above to the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix well.
Let the mixture sit, covered for 30 minutes. Come back to the dough and do a set of stretch and folds. To perform a stretch and fold, lift one corner of the dough and fold it over the center of the dough. Continue this all the way around the bowl.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave on the counter overnight to ferment at room temperature for the first rise.
You can ferment this dough for 8-12 hours or even up to 24 hours in a cooler kitchen.
If your kitchen is really cool, let dough rise in a warm place.
The next day, in a small bowl, mix together the salt and baking soda.
Sprinkle over the dough and mix in with a stiff spatula bringing the bottom of the dough over the top over and over again until well mixed.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 equal portions.
Roll them into a ball shape and transfer each dough ball to a parchment paper lined baking sheet to rise for 30 minutes covered.
Another method for shaping is to roll the dough out with a rolling pin and cut out with a biscuit cutter.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F with large cast iron skillet in the oven.
I use the Field 10 inch Cast Iron Skillet
After 30 minutes, carefully remove the skillet, sprinkle with cornmeal (optional) and place the muffins on the skillet.
Bake for 4 minutes, flip the muffins, and bake an additional 4 minutes.
Afterwards, move the muffins to a baking sheet and bake an additional 15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes.
Place muffins on a cooling rack to cool completely before storing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use store bought flour for these muffins.
A couple of things to consider if your dough does not rise: How old is your sourdough starter and was it active/bubbly when added to the recipe? If you have a young starter, you may want to add a pinch of instant yeast to the dough to aid in the rising until your starter is more mature.
If you choose to use Einkorn flour, I recommend increasing the amount of flour by 3/4 cup. Also, be aware that the dough will be quite a bit more sticky so work on a lightly floured or damp surface.
Storage
Store in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days.
For longer storage freeze in freezer safe bag for up to 3 months.
Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins
Equipment
- 1 Cast iron skillet
- 1 Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk 250 grams
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter 130 grams
- 1 tbsp honey 20 grams
- 3 cups freshly milled flour 390 grams
- 1 tsp salt 6 grams
- 1 tsp baking soda 6 grams
Instructions
- The night before add the milk, starter, and honey to a large mixing bowl and mix well.
- Add the flour and mix to form into a soft dough.
- Let the mixture sit, covered for 30 minutes. Come back to the dough and do a set of stretch and folds. To perform a stretch and fold, lift one corner of the dough and fold it over the center of the dough. Continue this all the way around the bowl.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to ferment overnight on the counter.
- The next morning, in a small bowl, combine the salt and baking soda.
- Sprinkle over the dough and mix to fully incorporate the salt/soda mixture.
- Transfer dough to work surface and divide into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball shape and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F with large cast iron skillet inside.
- Sprinkle cornmeal in the skillet, add the muffins and bake for 4 minutes. Flip the muffins and bake another 4 minutes.
- Transfer the muffins to a baking sheet and bake an additional 15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes.
- Cool completely before slicing.
I don’t own cast iron can I use just a baking sheet?
Yes, a baking sheet will work just fine.
I love this recipe! I don’t use the oven, just the cast iron on low heat, 6 min each side and covered… delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Do you have a nutritional breakdown for this recipe? Trying to keep track of calories and some macros but we absolutely love this recipe!!!
Here are the nutritional values. I have been going back and adding to all recipes. I hadn’t gotten to this one yet. I will go add them now. This is for 1 muffin: Calories ~190 kcal
Fat ~2.3 g
• Saturated Fat ~1.1 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat ~0.3 g
• Monounsaturated Fat ~0.5 g
• Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol ~4 mg
Sodium ~270 mg
Potassium ~140 mg
Carbohydrates ~36 g
• Fiber ~3.8 g
• Sugar ~3 g
Protein ~6 g
Vitamin A ~70 IU (~1% DV)
Vitamin C 0 mg
Calcium ~60 mg (~5% DV)
Iron ~1.8 mg (~10% DV)
these look so good, can they be cooked on a griddle instead of cast iron skillet and oven?
I make these all the time. So good! I use equal parts hard red, hard white and spelt. I use 2 percent milk. I add the salt when I first mix everything up and I do not add the baking soda the next morning. I divide the dough into balls and let rise until nice and puffy. I use an electric fry pan on 275 6 minutes on each side. No oven. Perfect every time.
What kind of flour are you using hard wheat? Hard White?
Yes, hard white wheat.