Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Sourdough English Muffins

A stack of pumpkin spice whole wheat sourdough english muffins on a white plate.

5 from 1 vote

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Sourdough English Muffins

These delightful pumpkin spice sourdough English muffins are made with 100% whole wheat fresh milled flour! They are lightly sweetened and perfectly spiced making these a great addition to your fall and winter breakfast table.

Prep Time30

Bulk Fermentation & Proofing Time7

Total Time7 30

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American, English

Servings:

Calories: 131kcal

Author: Holly Lee

Cost: $5

Equipment

Mixer optional
Cast Iron Skillet
Wide-Mouth Mason Jar or Biscuit Cutter
Small Spatula

Ingredients

520 grams hard red wheat berries, milled into flour Roughly 4 cups flour after milling, or use the same amount lightly spooned and leveled in store-bought whole wheat flour.
240 grams water 1 cup (240 ml)
50-100 grams sourdough starter active OR discard, **see notes
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoon butter melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2-4 tablespoon cornmeal

Instructions

Mill your wheat berries into flour. Place the flour in the bowl of your mixer (or a large mixing bowl if you wish to mix by hand).
Add the water, sourdough starter (see notes), butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the mixing bowl. Mix with the paddle attachment until everything is mixed together well, or use a wooden spoon to mix by hand.
Cover the dough and let it rest 30 minutes.
After the rest period, knead the dough in the mixer with a dough hook, or hand knead until smooth and supple. This does not need a lot of kneading--just get the dough to come together in a nice, smooth, even ball. The dough will be firm, not sticky, but not dry. See photos in the article if needed.
Cover the dough and let the dough ferment until it has risen about 50%. I like to move the dough to a clear glass container to keep a good eye on it.
After it has risen about 50%, pour a little cornmeal onto a clean work surface and spread it around with your hand. Pour the dough out onto the surface and roll it in the cornmeal to coat the outside on all sides (this does not need to be perfect or heavy--just enough to keep it from sticking).
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is 1/2 inch thick. Use a wide-mouth mason jar or biscuit cutter to cut your muffins. Use a small spatula to help you scoop the muffins away from the dough. Place on a large baking sheet for proofing.
Continue preparing the rest of the English muffins the same way. Combine the scraps into a pile and gently roll them out again (be careful not to de-gas the dough too much) and continue cutting more muffins until you have used all of the dough.
Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and let the English muffins proof in a warm spot until they have puffed slightly, about 60 to 90 minutes. They will not grow drastically, but you want to see that they are growing a bit.
Put a large cast iron skillet on the stove and heat it to medium-low. I use 2 notches below medium on my induction stove--you may need to adjust a notch higher for electric or gas stoves. However, start on the lower setting first before adjusting. Give the skillet adequate time to heat up before starting.
After the skillet is hot, use a spatula to scoop the English muffins from the baking sheet and set them in the skillet. Let them cook until the bottom is nicely browned, then gently flip them over being careful not to deflate the dough.
Cook the English muffins until both sides are nicely browned and the middle is baked all the way through. This can take 5 to 7 minutes per side. Do not to try to speed up the process by turning your stove higher--these will easily burn. Leave the stove at medium-low and just give them more time to cook.

Video

Notes

About the Starter: I make these with cold, unfed starter (as I do most sourdough recipes--see my article on using starter straight from the fridge in recipes). This recipe is still fully fermented, it is not a "discard recipe" in the traditional sense of the term. However, an active starter works great, too.

Amount of Starter: If you are making this dough before bed to ferment overnight, I would use only 50 grams of starter, or maybe even a little less if your starter is particularly robust. If you are making these during the day, then 100 grams is fine.

Cornmeal: Rolling the dough in cornmeal before rolling it out helps keep the dough from sticking to the cast iron skillet when cooking. You don't need a ton, but make sure all sides get some cornmeal. Nothing worse than your English muffin getting stuck to the pan!

Some recipes call for a very hot cast iron pan to prevent sticking. The inclusions in this recipe, such as the pumpkin puree, sugar, and syrup make this recipe more susceptible to burning so we will not be doing that. That is why we roll it in cornmeal and cook it on medium-low. This will give the middle ample opportunity to cook all the way through without burning the outside.

Nutrition