Sourdough English Muffins Recipe | Bread Baking (2024)

FAQs

Why are my sourdough English muffins dense? ›

There are several possible reasons why your English muffins came out too dense: 1. Didn't knead long enough. Gluten provides structure and helps trap air bubbles during fermentation (rising time), contributing to a light and airy texture.

6. Just add water for softer sourdough. The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

Are sourdough English muffins good for you? Yes! Not only are they easier to digest than standard English muffins made from non-fermented wheat, but they also contain more nutrients that your body can more easily absorb, such as fiber, and are a good source of B vitamins.

If yours are, it's possible that you over-measured your flour (it's easy to do!), over-mixed your batter, or simply baked them too long. Over-mixing will doom any quick bread, muffin, or pancake; it makes them dense and dry.

A firm, dry dough will not produce an airy center. Avoid using ALL whole wheat flour because you may end up with bread hockey pucks. Do not punch down the dough after it rises.

The magic that makes this sourdough so fluffy is a quick oven-rising process under very high heat. The key is to make sure the Dutch oven is fully preheated before baking the bread.

Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda can be used in sourdough bread to create a less sour loaf. Added after bulk fermentation, but before shaping, it can help to create a lighter, more fluffy loaf of sourdough.

The key taste compounds include salt, which is directly added to the dough, as well as acetic and lactic acid, produced during fermentation. After these experiments, they applied a technique called “unified flavor quantitation,” which was previously developed by Hofmann's team, to the sourdough bread.

You'll find I use honey in many of my recipes. I love to use it in my no-knead 100% whole wheat sourdough bread because it makes it much softer and less dense than it would be without it. Subbing it in recipes that call for sugar is not usually as simple as a one-to-one sub, though.

Whole wheat English muffins may be especially beneficial for maintaining a moderate weight. Not only do they contain more fiber than other varieties, but studies suggest that a higher intake of whole grains may be linked to a lower body weight and a lower body mass index ( 1 , 7 ).

Is it OK to eat an English muffin everyday? ›

An English muffin isn't healthy on its own as it does not provide a balanced meal by itself, but it can still be part of a healthy diet. English muffins can be rich in fiber and several important nutrients, such as selenium, manganese, and B vitamins.

How Long Do Sourdough English Muffins Last In The Fridge? If you will be consuming the english muffins within 3-4 days, it is fine to keep them on the counter in a ziplock bag or dish with a lid. Consuming them within 7 days? It is best to store them in a sealed container in the fridge.

Can I use sourdough discard to make a new sourdough starter? Absolutely! You can take a portion of sourdough discard and add a few grams of flour and a few grams of water to create a healthy active sourdough starter. You may need to feed your revived starter a few more times before its ready to make bread.

Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer. Experiment until you find the sweet spot, and take notes along the way.

Too much liquid – If there is too much liquid in the batter, the muffins will be very dense.

The recipe, as originally written, produced wonderful muffins but they dried out quickly and tasted overly dense. In the past few years, I've worked to improve it by replacing some of the oil with melted butter, some baking powder with baking soda, and adding sour cream for moisture and lightness.

Add All Flavorings Last. To prevent your muffins from producing too dense of a texture, add all of your flavoring last. While herbs and spices can be mixed into the other dry ingredients, add-ins like nuts, fruit and cheese should be added at the end.

First of all, try cutting back on the leavening. For every cup of flour, you only need 1 teaspoon of baking powder or 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Too much leavening actually results in a denser texture because the cake rises and then collapses back onto itself when the gases escape.