Sourdough Limpa English Muffins

Swedish muffins, I guess you could say. I'm pleased with how these turned out.

You Will Need:

Sponge:

1 cup fed white sourdough starter
2 cups water
2 cups strong flour

Let sit 8-12 hours.

Main Dough:

All of sponge
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons full flavour molasses
2 tablespoons finely minced re-hydrated dried orange peel (or the zest of 1 fresh orange, grated
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, crushed
3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled
3-4 cups light rye flour

Mix into sponge, salt, molasses, orange, fennel, and butter. Add the rye a cup at a time until you have a dough that is tacky, but no longer sticky. Knead a couple minutes, but forget getting the dough to windowpane-it won't. Place in a well-buttered bowl, and let rise. Depending on the strength of your starter, and the temperature of the room, this can take 1-3 hours. Mine took 45 minutes.

Punch dough down and divide into two sections. Generously dust a work surface with cornmeal (not cornflour). Line a baking sheet with wax paper, and dust that with cornmeal as well. Pat out each half to about 1 inch thickness (more or less, it depends how thick you like your muffins). I used a large cutter, but again, use what you have, or prefer (a glass will do the trick in the absence of a good cutter, as will an opened tin). Re-rolling doesn't work because of the cornmeal, so try to cut as closely as possible to minimise waste. Repeat with second section of dough. Cover the muffins on the baking sheet, and let rise in a warm place until light-about 45 minutes, but keep an eye on them.

Heat a cooking surface until it is hot, but not so hot that the muffins burn (you'll need to keep checking and adjusting as you go). I use a cast iron pan and can cook about three at a time. Cook the muffins about 10 minutes on each side (again, this will vary for a number of reasons, so you do need to watch what you are doing). Cool on racks, then transfer to plastic bags and store in the fridge. I made mine sandwich sized and got ten muffins.