Vegan Sourdough English Muffins Recipe
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Jump to RecipeThese vegan sourdough English Muffins are simple and easy, loaded with nooks and crannies! Mix the night before, let the dough rise overnight, and cook perfect English muffins the next morning.
These make a fantastic base for a breakfast sandwich, great toasted with jam and cream cheese, or fantastic eaten plain with any spread you like!
Want more great sourdough discard recipes? Try our sourdough Hawaiian bread, overnight sourdough brioche, and our favorite brown sugar sourdough cinnamon walnut rolls.
My ‘Year of the Sourdough’ has officially extended into 2021! My starter (named Joe Don Baker) is almost a year old at this point, and I have been loving baking up fun new recipes with it.
I’ve made sourdough muffins, sourdough bagels, and now these amazing sourdough English muffins. It’s a great way to use unfed sourdough starter without throwing it away. Prep the dough the night before, then do a final rise & bake in the morning.
Why This Recipe Works
- The overnight rise develops a rich, tangy flavor that’s classic to sourdough.
- Cooking these muffins on a skillet gives them that signature golden crust and soft interior.
- The cornmeal adds a delicious crunch and texture to each bite.
- A great way to use unfed sourdough starter!
- These are simple, rustic, and satisfying—no oven needed.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Sourdough Starter Discard: you can buy sourdough starter, or I have a great guide to making sourdough starter in just one week!
- Granulated Sugar
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Almond Milk: you can use any variety that you would drink. I prefer almond milk.
- All Purpose Flour: I normally use all purpose flour for all my baking recipes, I love the consistency and texture of the crumb this flour produces. If you are gluten free, then a gluten free flour would be a nice substitute in this dish.
- Salt
- Corn Meal: to get that signature texture on the outside of the muffins. I love adding cornmeal to my breads as they start their second rise… corn meal has such a nice texture and makes these English muffins look super professional!
Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!
Additions and Substitutions
Swap almond milk for oat or soy milk if preferred or on hand.
Add 1 teaspoon baking powder to the dough the next morning for extra lift if your starter doesn’t rise as well.
Mix in fresh herbs like garlic, rosemary, or thyme for a savory twist.
How To Make This Recipe
- Prep the dough the night before: In a large bowl, combine the sourdough starter, sugar, olive oil, almond milk, flour, and salt. Mix and knead for about 5 minutes until a dense, smooth dough forms. Cover with a tea towel and let rise at room temperature for 8 hours (overnight).
- The next morning, lightly flour a cutting board and roll the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Use a glass or round cutter to cut out muffin rounds. Gather and re-roll scraps until all dough is used. You should get around 10 muffins.
- Dip both sides of each muffin in cornmeal and place on a sheet pan. Cover loosely and let rise for 1 more hour, or until the muffins have doubled in size.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over low heat until hot. Place 4–5 muffins in the skillet and cook for 7–8 minutes per side, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining muffins.
- Slice, toast, and enjoy with tofu cream cheese or your favorite jam.
Recipe FAQs
You can, but unfed starter discard works best (and gives the best rise) since this is an overnight-ferment recipe.
Check your room temperature: if it’s too cold let the dough rise longer or move to a warmer spot. I like to preheat my oven for 1 minute, then turn it off and let the dough rise there.
Yes you can – It’s traditional and adds a nice texture, but you can use all-purpose flour or skip it in a pinch.
More Vegan Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Sourdough Hawaiian Rolls
- Vegan Sourdough Naan with Garlic Recipe
- Vegan Sourdough Bagels Recipe
- Sourdough Discard Focaccia
- Vegan Sourdough Pancakes
- Vegan Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
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If you made this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
Vegan Sourdough English Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unfed sourdough starter
- 1 tablespoon sugar1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- Prep the dough the night before: In a large bowl, combine the sourdough starter, sugar, olive oil, almond milk, flour, and salt. Mix and knead for about 5 minutes until a dense, smooth dough forms. Cover with a tea towel and let rise at room temperature for 8 hours (overnight).
- The next morning, lightly flour a cutting board and roll the dough to about 1/2-inch thickness. Use a glass or round cutter to cut out muffin rounds. Gather and re-roll scraps until all dough is used. You should get around 10 muffins.
- Dip both sides of each muffin in cornmeal and place on a sheet pan. Cover loosely and let rise for 1 more hour, or until the muffins have doubled in size.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over low heat until hot. Place 4–5 muffins in the skillet and cook for 7–8 minutes per side, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining muffins.
- Slice, toast, and enjoy with tofu cream cheese or your favorite jam.
Notes
Nutrition
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I’m fairly new to Sourdough baking. I love how simple these English muffins are to make and they are so delicious. I have followed the directions except I use honey instead of sugar. I use my electric griddle at 325 degrees and still bake each side for the 7 minutes. Perfect!
Hi Mary, I am so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the rating and review. Great suggestion on the sugar/honey substitute.
– Kelly
I’ve made lots of English muffins recipes and usually they aren’t vegan. I’m trying to cut out dairy for my family so I tried these and they are the best! They actually rose a bit, so fluffy and are delicious!
Great taste and fun to make
Hi Kelly~
These are my go-to English muffins. They are amazing and my husband says that I’ve outdone myself with these!
My question for you is what setting for using an electric fry pan would I use? I am visiting my parents and want to make these for them. They do not have a griddle or cast iron skillet.
Thank you!
Hi Shaundi, thank you so much for the note, I am so glad you enjoy them! They are a favorite for us as well 🙂
I’ve never made them on a electric fry pan, but I would assume a low to low-medium setting would be best to try them out on. You’ll want to cook them slowly so they are tender and cooked through on the inside, but don’t want to burn the cornmeal on the outside either. If you end up making them on the electric pan, please let me know how they turn out, and what setting you use so others can try it!
– Kelly
Can you use part whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
…this is the easiest/most delicious/authentic English muffin recipe I’ve made with my levain…so appreciate your effort here on creating epic staples that every pantry needs…also make your sourdough naan on the regular…ty…best, Lindy
The recipe lists (fed) sourdough, but the info above indicates this recipe uses sourdough discard. Please clarify. Thanks.
Hi DL, you’re correct, it’s UNFED starter right from the discard- let me edit that quickly. Thank you!