Written by Kate Tietje
I used to enjoy English muffins as a child. But now, the ones at the store are filled with…food toxins. It’s hard to find clean options, and the existing ones are often very expensive. Who can afford $5+ per package when you need two or more packages just to feed your family one meal?
So, I began to make my own. These English muffins have graced our table many times over the years. Before I had some of my babies, I made up large batches of them and froze them for later — they’re a great make-ahead option.
Plus, they’re a blank slate for whatever you want. Enjoy them toasted with butter, or add honey, homemade jams, or jellies. Or go savory and top with a fried egg, bacon, cheese, or make a sandwich. Whatever you like!
If you’re curious about the “soaking” part, it’s to break down the phytic acid in the grains and make them more digestible. It doesn’t add any extra time to this (but it does mean you need to take 5 minutes the night before you want to cook them). If you’re unsure about it, you can also make it without the soaking part — I’ve included directions for that, too. Learn more about why we soak grains.
Soaked English Muffins
Ingredients:
- 3 cups of white whole wheat flour (ideally freshly ground)
- 2 tbsp. sucanat
- 1 3/4 cups of raw milk
- 3 tsp. yeast
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. sea salt
Directions:
Step 1: The night before, mix together the flour, sucanat, and milk. Stir it up; it will be a very wet dough, almost like a thick batter.
Step 2: In the morning, add the remaining ingredients. Stir together well, and set aside for about two hours to rise.
Alternately, if you don’t want to do the soaking step, mix 1 1/2 cups milk (instead of 1 3/4) and mix all ingredients at once. Follow the recipe from here, setting aside the dough to rise!
Step 3: Punch the dough and turn it onto a well-floured surface. Knead very briefly, then separate into 8 – 12 small balls.
Step 4: Shape each ball into a muffin, then cover and allow them to rest for about 20 minutes. Make sure the surface is still well-floured, or they’ll stick!
Step 5: Preheat your oven to 350ºF and a frying pan on medium-high heat. When the muffins have rested, carefully lift and slip them into the pan, not crowding them.
Step 6: Allow these to cook for 3 – 5 minutes until golden brown. Flip them over and cook the other side.
Step 7: They should puff up while you are doing this. Transfer the browned muffins to a baking sheet. When they are all done, bake for 20 – 25 minutes until they are done all the way through.
Allow the muffins to cool, then transfer to a bag to store on the counter or in the freezer.
Soaked English Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 cups of white whole wheat flour ideally freshly ground
- 2 tbsp. sucanat
- 1 3/4 cups of raw milk
- 3 tsp. yeast
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. sea salt
Instructions
- The night before, mix together the flour, sucanat, and milk. Stir it up; it will be a very wet dough, almost like a thick batter.
- In the morning, add the remaining ingredients. Stir together well, and set aside for about two hours to rise. Alternately, if you don't want to do the soaking step, mix 1 1/2 cups milk (instead of 1 3/4) and mix all ingredients at once. Follow the recipe from here, setting aside the dough to rise!
- Punch the dough and turn it onto a well-floured surface. Knead very briefly, then separate into 8 - 12 small balls.
- Shape each ball into a muffin, then cover and allow them to rest for about 20 minutes. Make sure the surface is still well-floured, or they'll stick!
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and a frying pan on medium-high heat. When the muffins have rested, carefully lift and slip them into the pan, not crowding them.
- Allow these to cook for 3 - 5 minutes until golden brown. Flip them over and cook the other side.
- They should puff up while you are doing this. Transfer the browned muffins to a baking sheet. When they are all done, bake for 20 - 25 minutes until they are done all the way through.
- Allow the muffins to cool, then transfer to a bag to store on the counter or in the freezer.
Thanks so much for the recipe. I’ll definitely be trying these soaked muffins on Saturday.
Do you rest these overnight on the counter or in the fridge?
Thanks
On the counter. 🙂
These look really good! I think I’ll mix some up tonight to bake in the morning. Do you brown them in a dry skillet, or do you use butter or some kind of oil? And will pasteurized milk work? Thank you! I’m excited to try them out!
I have not tried with pasteurized milk…I think using diluted yogurt (1/2 yogurt, 1/2 water), something that is cultured would be safer than regular pasteurized milk.
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Hi! Thank you for this recipe. I am curious though about the soaking..I didn’t think that it would break down the anti-nutrients without an acidic medium?
You can add buckwheat flour to the wheat flour and it will help a lot.
I just got into soaking, and just found this recipe… will the raw milk be enough to break down the phytic acid without adding something more acidic? My break recipe uses water and cider vinegar, but that would obviously sour the milk…
..Oh! and where do you buy your yeast?
Thank you!!
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I too am wondering if you used any oil in the pan.
Nope, nothing in the pan!
These are delicious! Wanted to comment for anyone else like me who doesn’t have access to raw milk. I soaked these in a mix of 1 cup plain yogurt (I used Dannon because it has no additives) and almost a cup of water. Wisk it til it looks like milk and add flour. Soaked it on counter overnight and it did just fine.
We love these! Great as a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese, and sausage. Yum! I used more like 3.5 cups of freshly ground flour to get the consistency in the picture and they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made these today and they were a hit! I used half water/greek yogurt instead of the raw milk (in the process of locating that in my area!) Then I used whole grain spelt for the flour. I will be making these again for sure!
Awesome Shelley! 🙂
Anybody tried flavoring these? My kids love maple, banana, apple, cinnamon/vanilla, pumpkin… I’d love to make some varieties, just not sure how the recipe will fare! Would I include things like banana, applesauce, pumpkin, in the liquid measurements?
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