Summer “Baking:” Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

The recipe for these whole wheat sourdough English muffins is your baking lifesaver this summer! Minimal heat is required to crank out these light and fluffy gems, and they are perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Save this recipe on Pinterest to come back to all summer long!

No Oven Required!

When we moved into our hundred year old cottage with no ac, I knew I was going to have to be creative when it came to baking sourdough bread in the summer. Here we are! As temperate as San Diego is, it is still HOT (and stuffy!) inside. I have no desire to turn on my oven and make our house sweltering!

For cooking in general, I’m utilizing the instant pot way more than I normally do, because it contains the heat so well. However, despite claims that you can bake bread in an instant pot… I will NOT be trying that one.

Last winter, I tried my hand at sourdough English muffins. We all loved them! I knew that they would be my go-to, once it became too hot to turn on the oven. If you’ve never made English muffins before, you might not know that you actually don’t turn on the oven for them! Using a large cast iron skillet with something that can cover it like a lid, you cook them on low on your stove top. Hardly any extra heat is emitted, and we still get the benefit of eating fermented grains!

Whole Grain Factor:

My first time making sourdough English muffins, I used this great recipe. I wanted to try the recipe as-is, which was 100% white flour. We are team Whole Grain Flour here, so if I was going to use that recipe, English muffins would be a few and far between treat for us.

Using whole wheat is a little tricky, but worth it. It’s not just a simple swap of flours. Whole wheat absorbs so much of the moisture with the bran, that if you were to do that, you’d end up with very dry English muffins.

Using a high hydration, allowing time for absorption and assisting the whole wheat with vital wheat gluten have made for delicious, light and fluffy whole grain sourdough English muffins.

Versatile Timeline

Just like with my regular whole wheat sourdough recipe, we are not a slave to our dough’s schedule. At any point, you can put these in the refrigerator to slow down the fermentation time. I actually recommend it, because whole wheat is so flavorful and develops that sour flavor quickly out in the summer heat.

Normally, with a sourdough loaf, you would do the bulk rise, then shape it and place it in the baskets and refrigerate at that point. (If you planned to refrigerate.) With these, I don’t have the refrigerator space to pre-shape them, so I punch the dough down after the first ferment and put them straight in the fridge. Once I pull them out, I let them warm up in the bowl for 30 minutes or so. Then I flatten them out, cut them and let them rise for another hour or so, until they are nice and fluffy.

I have also over-proofed them, and they still work well! It’s not the devastation that it is when you overproof a boule, thankfully!

Prepare Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

Make the Dough

Start with 200 grams of active sourdough starter. The day before you want to make them, feed 50 grams of starter with 100 grams purified water and 100 grams flour (rye is my favorite flour to feed my starter with!).

Once that is doubled, mix the following ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer: 200 grams of your active starter, 40 grams honey, 540 grams milk (any of your choice, my favorite is whole milk) 660 grams whole wheat, and 60 grams vital wheat gluten. Mix until thoroughly incorporated, then let rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add 20 grams of salt. At this point, because of its high hydration, it will be a very shaggy, sticky dough. Give it time, and it will come together!

Knead with mixer for 10-15 minutes. You want it to go until the bowl is clean and you have a taut ball. If you do not have a mixer, do a series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes for 2 hours. This develops the gluten, so it is an important step!

Let the dough rest in a warm place for the bulk fermentation process until it is doubled. A lot of times, this happens while I’m sleeping!

The next day, punch down and fold out onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Using my hands, I push the dough into a flat disk, about 3/4” thick. Make sure that there is plenty of flour under its entirety at all times.

Shape

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and a thorough, heavy dusting of corn meal. These will stick to the parchment paper if you don’t use enough!

You are welcome to make classic English muffins by using a biscuit cutter, but I’m always looking for ways to streamline and simplify. Making squares is the best way to go about it! Utilizing the help of a bench scraper, I shape my dough in as much of a square or rectangle as possible, then cut them into ~3” squares. I love that there are no scraps to either waste, or have to reshape.

Second Rise

Place on prepared baking sheet to rise at room temperature. Give the top of the dough a hefty dusting of corn meal, then cover with plastic wrap, then a wet towel. (I use a wet towel to hold the plastic wrap in place without having to fuss over the plastic wrap too much!) Let rise for about an hour, or until they are risen and fluffy.

Bake!

5-10 minutes before I plan to bake them, I set my large cast iron on low heat with a lid. Right before I bake, I will turn it up to medium-low heat, but preheating it on low is insurance in case I get distracted, WHICH HAPPENS! Assuming your cast iron is well seasoned, you will not need to add any cooking oil. The pan being properly pre-heated is all you need to achieve non stick capabilities.

Using a spatula, VERY GENTLY ease English muffins onto the heated cast iron pan. I don’t set any in the center, because that is the hottest place, and those ones tend to burn. Cover with a lid and set the timer for 4 minutes.

Once the timer dings, again, VERY GENTLY, flip them over. I lift it off the pan with a metal spatula, than grab it near the bottom where it is cooked and sturdy with my other hand, turn it upside down, and gently place it back on the pan. A careless flip will deflate them and make them more dense. (Remember, we’re working with whole wheat here, and it does require a little extra TLC to not be dense rocks!)

Set the timer for another 4 minutes. Once that time is up, check to make sure they are all golden brown. Adjust either the time or heat accordingly for your next batch.

Best bread to bake in the summer!

This easy recipe only requiring 8 minutes on low heat (albeit, a few rounds to get through them all) for sure beats having the oven set to 450+ for over an hour! Enjoy as your morning toast with honey butter and a side of eggs, or use throughout the day! We love to make simple cheese and sprouts sandwiches with these whole wheat sourdough English muffins for lunch. This has been our summer sacrament for communion and standby carb for dinners.

Save this recipe on Pinterest to use all summer long, and come back to it for a cozy winter breakfast! Comment below and share your favorite way to use English muffins!