Discard or not discard, that is the question!

Or at least that’s the question I set out to answer when I decided to try an English muffin recipe that used active sourdough starter, rather than my go-to recipe from Dave that uses sourdough discard.

I found a recipe entitled “Sourdough English Muffins With All Those Nooks and Crannies” on Pinterest. Well, hello, who doesn’t want English muffins with nooks and crannies!! But my excitement was short-lived. Immediately upon loading the blog, I was irritated. Why? There was no “Jump to Recipe” button. Whyyyyy?! There is nothing more frustrating than having to continuously scroll to find the recipe, only to realize you scrolled faster than the page loaded and you’ve passed it (thanks, ads). Back up I went, hunting for the elusive recipe. When I did finally locate it, the recipe was fairly similar to the one I have been using, minus the yeast.

 

So, I dumped everything into my mixer and in no time at all, I had dough. Now what I didn’t plan on (because I didn’t pre-read the recipe) was having to proof the dough. It’s my own fault, but it was not something I was prepared for. Mentally or physically. I made these muffins the same day I did my cheddar loaf, so this dough had to rise the old-fashioned way; under a heap of quilts on my bed. *psst* This is how my grandma (and probably yours) did it, and it works like a dream!

 

 

Pesky proofing and stretchy & folds out of the way, it was time to roll, cut, and toast up some muffins!

Now to get nit-picky about these muffins. Do I think they are better than Dave’s discard ones? No, and here’s why:

• Proofing and stretch & folds add SO much extra time.
• The recipe says to squish the muffins a little…I think this resulted in thinner muffins.
• They taste exactly the same as the discard muffins. I thought they’d be more sourdough. Not that I can tell *shrug*

 

 

Discard muffins are on the left, active starter muffins on the right.

Final verdict. Save your active starter for bread (or something else equally as delicious), and use your discard to make English muffins.