Kefir Sourdough English Muffins

Get extra Minerals from your Food

Making Cultured English Muffins

There is a famous bakery in Kansas City called Wolferman's that sells its gourmet baked goods to many distributors (like Harry & David's) and has been around since 1888. Every fall, I used to drive thirty minutes for their legendary, super-delicious English muffins, so good I just had to have them. That was before a sourdough starter and kefir found their way into my kitchen and changed everything I knew about baking and health. I was seeking to be healthier, and the more I learned about how using a culture or soaking grains releases phytates in the flour, the more I wanted to eat only grains made with a sourdough culture (opens in new tab) or sprouted flours . Then I learned how to make sourdough English muffins with the addition of kefir, and they became my favorite English muffins ever.

Unlocking Minerals that Keep Us Healthy

Our bodies have lots of minerals, but one of the most abundant is phosphorus, second only to calcium. Phosphorus works with calcium to keep your bones and teeth strong and healthy, but it does more than that. It provides energy to every cell in our body and helps regulate how we use carbohydrates and fats; it is also needed to make protein for the growth, maintenance, and repair of cells and tissues. It helps your kidneys filter out waste and acts as a buffer that keeps your blood pH balanced.

Plants like grains store phosphorus as a compound called phytic acid. However, phytic acid can be problematic as it binds with other minerals and locks up the phosphorus in the grain so the body can't use it. You need an enzyme called phytase to unlock the phosphorus and minerals so the body can use them. We have some of these enzymes in our gut, but we really need extra help from microbes.

Adding a sourdough culture to the flour (and, in this recipe, also adding kefir) and letting it slowly ferment is one of the best ways to break down these compounds. The Lactobacillus in the culture produces phytase. Phytase effectively pre-digests phytic acid during the extended fermentation. This neutralizes the effects of phytic acid, makes the bread easier to digest, and helps us get the minerals. Besides, these muffins are delicious and fun to make!

Overnight English Muffins

There are a lot of foods that need the help of fermentation to break down the enzyme inhibitors in them so we can absorb what we need to stay healthy. Digestive enzymes are released by the pancreas to break down our food; however, nuts, grains, seeds, and legumes all contain enzyme inhibitors that halt this breakdown process. Soaking and sprouting - or using a culture that's loaded with microbes - is key to getting all you need from these important plants.

This recipe has both a sourdough culture and kefir which allows for more nutrient bioavailability and it is so fun to make! You let these ferment overnight and the next morning you don't bake them in the oven. Instead, you heat them up on a griddle or pan. You will love them for breakfast and everybody will be so impressed at the fact that you made your own English muffins. It feels like a great accomplishment but it's super easy.