These sourdough discard english muffins are easy to make. Simply mix up at night and make the next morning.
Sourdough discard recipes are one of my favorites. It seems the ability to use discard is endless. Recently I have been making sourdough discard English muffins and they are beyond easy! Along with bagels I’m not sure I will buy them in the store anymore!
Similar to when I make pancakes I start the dough the night before I plan to make them. Then the next morning I just need to cut, rest and cook.
Sourdough Discard English Muffin Ingredients
- Sourdough Discard: unfed sourdough starter
- Water: filtered or whatever you use to feed your starter
- All Purpose Flour: I always use unbleached flour when working with sourdough
- Salt: adds flavor to your dough
- Baking Soda: helps the dough rise
- Sugar: balances out the tang of the discard.
How to Make Sourdough Discard English Muffins
- Combine discard, water, and 2 cups of flour. Cover and let stand overnight.
- In the morning add additional 3/4 cup flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar. I like to use my stand mixer. Mix until dough isn’t sticking to the sides. Wrap dough and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick and cut with round cutter (anything round will work). Cover cut pieces and let rest from an hour.
- Heat up skillet to low-medium heat. Fry the muffins 3-4 minutes on each side.
What is discard?
A popular question that I hear is “what is discard?” Discard is simply unfed sourdough starter. Typically, this is starter that is left after feeding your starter. Some people just toss this out, however I keep mine in the fridge to make other recipes with!
Want more discard recipes?
Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip Cookies
Perfectly Fudgy Sourdough Brownies
Share Your Experience
I would love to hear about your experience making and enjoying my Sourdough Discard English Muffins! Feel free to tag me on Instagram or leave a review below. Your feedback helps me improve our recipes and provides inspiration to fellow home cooks.
Save this recipe for later by simply using the pin button on the recipe card or any of the photos above. Happy cooking!
Sourdough Discard English Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard unfed starter
- 1 cup water
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
- Combine discard, water, and 2 cups of flour. Cover and let stand overnight.
- In the morning add additional 3/4 cup flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar. I like to use my stand mixer. Mix until dough isn’t sticking to the sides. Wrap dough and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick and cut with round cutter (anything round will work). Cover cut pieces and let rest from an hour.
- Heat up skillet to low-medium heat. Fry the muffins 3-4 minutes on each side.
I made your English muffins last night and this morning and my husband and I think they are amazing! My daughter asked for the recipe after hearing about how tasty and super easy they are. We always share pictures of our sourdough creations since we are new at this. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
I’m so so glad you all loved them!
When you say “wrap the dough” do you mean take it out of the bowl and wrap it in plastic wrap or just wrap the top of the bowl with plastic wrap?
Either works fine! I’ve done both and it doesn’t matter.
Thoroughly enjoyed these English Muffins. I’ve tried several recipes the past few weeks from online blog posts. I believe this recipe is the best one! Super yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much! I am so so glad that you enjoyed these english muffins!
My dough was a bit sticky and didn’t hold a good form. Would you say this should be a stiff dough? I ended up just grabbing chunks and flattening in the pan with wet fingers. It worked fine. But I think my dough was too wet. Tasted great though!
It should be a pretty stiff dough. You may need to add more flour next time.
Can I put the dough in the fridge after the overnight rise if I can’t cook them until later in the day? Thank you
Absolutely!
When you first combine the starter, water and 2 c flour and let it set overnight, do you put it in the fridge or leave it in the counter?
On the counter.
This is my first time trying the muffins, do you put anything in the skillet to fry them in?
I do not. I use my cast iron skillet and have never had an issue with them sticking. If you are worried you can put a little bit of oil down.
So yummy and soft
So glad you enjoy them!
Are these supposed to rise above the 1/2 inch after the cut?
No, they will not visibly rise much.
Should the water be hot, warm, or cold?
Room temp is great.
Hello ! I just made the english muffins and they turned out great!!
Thank you for the recipe
Good morning Kayla,
Can I use whole wheat flour ((either on first or the second day) when making these?
Thank you, Kathy G.
Yes, but please note that you will typically need less whole wheat than all purpose flour. I will work on a whole wheat flour recipe!
Love how simple the instructions are! Two questions would using actual sour dough starter that is fed and not discard work as well? Also do you do any stretching and folding after the initial mix or just mix it once and let it sit overnight?
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! I don’t do any stretch and folds. If you would like a recipe that uses active start check out this one here: https://kaylazenner.com/sourdough-english-muffins/