These beautiful little English Muffins are super easy and satisfying to make. They're the kind of thing that give you this feeling of accomplishment, of having made something really special. They're completely vegan and as low-waste as possible. And best of all, no oven required, which is definitely a plus with the return of warmer temperatures.

Sourdough English Muffins [Vegan]


Cooking Time




For a dozen muffins:
  • 1/2 cup of sourdough starter
  • 2 and 3/4 cups of wholewheat flour
  • 1 cup of mylk
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon of unrefined brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (scant) of organic, aluminium-free baking powder (or one sachet)
  • polenta or cornmeal for dusting


  1. In a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, combine the lively and bubbly sourdough starter with half of the flour.

  2. Then add the salt and sugar and incorporate the mylk.

  3. Combine the rest of the flour and the baking powder before gradually adding to the mixing bowl.

  4. Finish mixing the dough by hand and knead for a a minute or less, just to make sure everything is well combined.

  5. Cover the mixing bowl with a clean tea-towel and leave to rest.

    How long you wait before cooking the muffins depends on a number of factors such as how warm the ambient temperature is, how sour you like your muffins or how pressed for time you are.

    If it's reasonably warm, you may leave it to rest for as little as an hour.

    If it's really cold you can leave it overnight and cook them fresh in the morning.

    And if you really like them strong, you can place the bowl in the fridge and leave it there for up to 24 hours prior to cooking.

  6. When ready to cook your muffins, preheat a large frying pan on medium heat.

  7. Meanwhile, start prepping the muffins by dusting some polenta or cornmeal onto your working surface. I use a simple wooden chopping board for this. Take a portion of the dough (about a third of what you have) and place it on the surface. Add a little polenta (or cornmeal) on top and roll it to about 3 cm (or 1 inch) thickness.

  8. Using a glass, cut some circles into the dough and place them on the hot pan (I usually manage to cook 3-4 together).

  9. Let them cook for about 3 minutes on each side.

  10. While the first batch cooks, prepare the second batch, and then the third if needed.

    You can enjoy these right away for a delicious brunch or let them cool and reheat in a toaster later.

    They even freeze quite well once cooked so you can double the recipe and make a lot of them in advance to eat one or two whenever the mood strikes!