Tag: English Muffins

Gluten Free Sourdough Discard English Muffins

The Adventures of Sophie the Sourdough

Recipes for sourdough discard are as plentiful as there are sourdough bread recipes.  These Sourdough Discard English Muffins were my first experiment using discard, as Sophie, my gluten free starter continues to develop.

So, what exactly is sourdough discard?  In simple terms, when feeding a new sourdough starter, you will be adding flour and water at least twice per day.  As your starter grows, part of the process requires that you discard some of the mixture.  This keeps the starter at a reasonable quantity while feeding the organisms that will eventually produce that wonderful sourdough flavor.

Even after your starter is well established and living in the fridge, you will still need to feed it regularly, and unless you are a prolific baker there will always be “discard”.

It’s all part of baking with sourdough, but that doesn’t mean your excess starter needs to be thrown in the trash.  I mean just look at those English Muffins!  I knew when I made this batch that Sophie and I were going to have some incredible BREAD adventures this year.

In some cases, recipes made with discard like this one are actually “sourdough enhanced”, meaning that they use the sourdough discard along with traditional leavening ingredients such as commercial yeast and/or baking powder.  When I first made these English Muffins, Sophie was about a week old.  Not mature enough to raise a loaf of bread by herself yet, but ready to enhance the flavor!  If you love bread like I do this recipe will make you very happy!

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Ingredients:

  • 75 g. (1/3 cup) milk (I used 2%)
  • 275 g. (1-1/8 cups) water
  • 15 g. (3 tbsp.) whole psyllium husk
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 2 tbsp. canola oil
  • 2-1/4 tsp. instant yeast
  • 140 g. (1/2 cup) gluten free sourdough discard
  • 240 g. (2 cups) gluten free flour (I used Better Batter Original Blend)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tbsp. butter for the griddle
  • cooking spray
  • cornmeal for sprinkling

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Preparation:

Combine the milk and water together and microwave 30 seconds.  Whisk in the whole psyllium husk, yeast, sugar and canola oil.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Use a dough whisk to combine the wet and dry ingredients with the sourdough discard.  Turn it out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times to form a cohesive dough.

Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350º and heat a seasoned griddle on medium.

Butter the griddle and coat 8 muffin rings with cooking spray.  Arrange the muffin rings on the griddle and sprinkle cornmeal inside each.

(Note-muffin rings are optional, the muffins will hold together without them.)

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 95g. each.  Rub a little oil into your hands, then roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten slightly with your palm.

Place one piece of dough into each muffin ring and sprinkle more cornmeal on top.

Cook on the first side for 5 minutes, then use tongs and a spatula to turn them over.  Carefully remove the rings with tongs and cook 5 minutes longer.

Transfer the muffins to a parchment lined baking sheet, and place in the oven for 10 minutes longer or until the internal temperature reaches 210º (check with a thermometer).

Cool several hours on a rack before toasting.  Wrap leftovers individually and place in freezer safe bags.

Notes ♪♫ I used and highly recommend Better Batter Original Flour Blend in this recipe (use the link for 30% off full price).  Remember, every gluten free flour blend is different, so if you use another brand you may need to adjust the flour to liquid ratio.

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Cassava English Muffins

Cassava is a gluten and grain free flour made from the root of the yucca plant.  A while back I made a Sweet Potato Flat Bread using cassava flour.  It was delicious, and ever since that post the thought of experimenting more with cassava has been on the back burner.

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So now that the holidays are behind us and I’m getting back into my normal baking routine, I want to tell you all about this new recipe.  A light, crispy English Muffin made with cassava flour and arrowroot starch.

There is so much to like about this recipe.  First, look at the ingredient list.  Unlike most of my gluten free breads, this one does not have a mile long list of ingredients!  You will also notice that I stirred everything together with a dough whisk, no mixer needed.  Last and most important, they look and taste great!

Note that you will need a set of muffin rings for this recipe.  The batter is too thin to hold its shape without them.

4 Servings

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spray the inside of 4 muffin rings with cooking spray and arrange on the baking sheet at least 1″ apart.  Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. of cornmeal into each ring.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and melted butter (be sure the butter has cooled first, you don’t want it to cook the egg).

Use a dough whisk to stir the dry ingredients into the wet.  You should have a smooth, thin batter that can be poured, like pancake batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin rings.

Take a closer look.  The batter is thin enough to pour but not so liquid as to leak through the bottom of the muffin rings.  Sprinkle the remaining corn meal over the top of each muffin and bake for 8 minutes.

The muffins will be set, but not fully cooked.

Use tongs to carefully remove the muffin rings.

Use tongs or a spatula to gently turn the muffins over and bake for another 6 minutes.

Remove from the oven and turn them right side up.  Cool in the pan for five minutes.

Like all gluten free bread, it needs to set completely before slicing.  Cool on a rack for at least an hour.

I was very happy with the appearance of the English Muffins right out of the oven.  Of course, it’s not a success until you slice it open and taste it.  Here’s how they looked before toasting, light with a nice open crumb.

Now for the taste test, I toasted for 5 minutes and served with a simple pat of butter.

The verdict, I’m quite pleased with how this recipe turned out!  The English muffins were mild tasting and light.  As you can see they toasted up beautifully with edges nicely browned.  I also got a thumbs up from my husband, who does not have to be gluten free.

I recommend that the English Muffins be frozen if you are not going to eat them within a day.  Just wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place in a freezer safe bag.

Notes ♪♫  Cassava flour has been touted to behave like wheat flour in gluten free baking, a one for one substitution.  In my experience thus far, it can definitely cut down on the ingredient list, but still performs best when blended with another starch.

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