Perfect Sour Dough Muffin Recipe

I have spent a month trying to figure out the perfect English Muffin.  This is the 10th or 11th version.  I actually have another variation plan in mind.

Sourdoughs have different peak and actions, so you'll have to adjust your recipe to how your sourdough behaves.  I used a Bahrain starter, which is a slow acting starter with an amazing sour flavor.

325g Sourdough starter
24 g sugar
25 g dried milk
12 g salt
35 g melted butter or oil
140g water
465 g flour.

I do my bread by hand, so I add about 1/2 the flour and mix like mad with either a  whisk or rubber spatula to develop gluten in the mix.  This saves tons of time in kneading later.

Knead to a smooth texture and proof.  My technique is to turn the oven on for 5 min at 350, then turn it off and use it to proof the dough.  I keep the dough in the mixing bowl and cover it with a shower cap to retain the moisture.  First proof is 2 hours. (adjust for your sourdough)

Pinch off sections 75-80g in size.  Create balls using the fold and squeeze method my mom taught me for making rolls.

 Pull the edges into the center of the ball, until the outsides have a smooth texture.

 Squeeze the base and tuck it under for the rest.

 After a 10 minute rest, roll the balls into 3-4" circles.

 Directions here vary in other recipes with flour or cornmeal.  I used Masa  sprinkled from a high distance.  I used flour for early batches, but it tended to clump up and be too thick.  I don't like cornmeal so none in the house.

 12 to a pan. Covered with foil (which I reuse from batch to batch) with space above to be sure it doesn't touch the cover while it rises. Proof for an additional 2 hours.

 They touched each other more that I would have liked.  Use a sharp knife to divide them, hoping to limit how much they deflate.

Cooked in an electric skillet at 250 for 6 minutes per side with the lid on. The steam helps with the cooking heat while limiting the browning.  My early attempts were nearly burnt.  I find that by going on  a lower heat, it needs and additional  minute per side. I also stacked them 2-3 high after pulling them from the skillet instead of cooling rackto get some residual cooking.

So there are my secrets for Fluffy Muffins.

Fluffy Muffins History

5 weeks ago, I started out on a quest for fabulous, fluffy English Muffins.  Sounds simple, right?

 I asked for recipes from friends, and reviewed internet versions.  Here's the first round with some wonky shaped versions on the re-roll of extras.

 Cooked in an electric skillet.  Had trouble getting them off the proofing pan without making weird shapes.

Reasonable texture.   Fairly small.

 Next batches were wonky

And too dark on the cooking.  But still delicious.

 Texture improved.  Tried multiple techniques, resulting in weird shapes.

 Then this super-model version.  This is what I was imagining.

Even prettier when toasted.

Last week's version shows how much closer I'm getting to the solution.  The upper version from the freezer are the same size (65g) as the lower ones.  I am 9 batches into this at this point.

Posting the finale in another post.