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Sourdough Discard English Muffins are one of the best ways to use sourdough starter leftovers! They cook on the stovetop to be perfectly golden brown.

sourdough english muffins on a table with butter and jam

Our sourdough discard pancakes, sourdough pizza crust, and sourdough discard rolls are three of our most popular recipes—because who doesn’t love a quick way to use up sourdough leftovers between artisan sourdough bread baking?

If you’ve been craving sourdough English muffins but don’t have time for a long fermentation, this easy sourdough discard English muffin recipe is the perfect solution. With just a hint of sourdough tang, these muffins toast up beautifully, creating the perfect base for butter and jam in every little nook and cranny. You’ll love them as much as our sourdough biscuits!

Developing the recipe:

To develop this recipe, I started with our homemade english muffins (and toasting bread). I reduced the amount of flour and milk by ½ cup each to account for the 1 cup sourdough starter discard. However, the mixture was still too wet and I had to add a lot more flour.

The second and third recipe testing, I added less milk and a standard 4 cups of flour (which we use for our sourdough cinnamon rolls). This yielded a very workable bread dough, an ideal texture and the perfect base to breakfast sandwiches with fried eggs, a slice of cheese and turkey sausage or bacon.

uncooked english muffins on a baking sheet with cornmeal

Key Ingredients

This homemade sourdough english muffins recipe has simple ingredients, but here are a few things to consider:

Sourdough discard: Sourdough discard are the leftovers from when you feed your sourdough starter. It’s possible to not have a “discard”, but I love discard recipes! I almost always have ½ to 1 cup of sourdough discard in my fridge for recipes such as these. When you add the discard to the dough, you’ll want it to be room temperature so it doesn’t affect the yeast.
Honey: Don’t have honey? Use sugar. We are beekeepers so I chose to use our sweet honey any time we can.
Bread flour: Bread flour gives the english muffins a little bit more of a chewy texture. Use the same amount of all-purpose flour if you prefer. For a little bit of whole wheat flavor, swap 1 cup of white flour for 1 cup of whole wheat flour.

✨ See the recipe card below for full ingredients and amounts. ✨

Tips for Making Sourdough Discard English Muffins

When making these English muffins, here are a few tips:

Mixing the dough. I prefer to use my bread machine to mix the dough. It’s easy and hands off. Use a stand mixer if you have it, or simply mix the dough in a large mixing bowl and knead by hand.

english muffin dough on lightly floured table

If mixing by hand: Don’t add too much flour if mixing by hand. The dough should be slightly tacky to the touch and not dry at all. This will give you the best texture.
Room temperature. The sourdough discard and eggs should be at room temperature. That way it will not affect your yeast from rising properly.
Cut the disks. You can pinch off the dough and press them into a circular shape by hand, but it is hard to get perfect circles this way. I prefer to roll the dough and then cut into 3″ diameter circles that are ¾ – inch thick.

Don’t bake the dough! English muffins are not baked in the oven, they are cooked on the stovetop. Covering the skillet gives a nice rise and helps them to cook more quickly. Adjust the stovetop temp as needed so that they don’t get too brown.

uncooked english muffins in a cast iron skillet

Pair this recipe with:

sourdough discard english muffins on a table with butter

Love sourdough discard recipes? Try these: