Sourdough Rosemary Focaccia Muffins

Instructions

1. Pour the sourdough starter into a large bowl. Add the water, and whisk until the starter is fully dissolved in the water.
2. Add the flour and the salt to the bowl, and use a spoon to lightly mix everything together until a shaggy dough forms. The dough will be sticky and not very pretty. That's ok. Rest the dough for 30 minutes at room temperature so the flour can fully hydrate, making the next step much easier.
3. After 30 minutes, perform a series of stretch-and-folds to build the structure of the dough. This is essential to strengthen the gluten and achieve a good rise. Simply grab a corner of the dough, stretch it up and away from the bowl, and fold it across to the other side. Turn the bowl 90 degrees, and repeat the stretch-and-fold about 10 times total, turning the bowl each time. The dough will become stronger and less stretchy the more you fold it.
4. Loosely cover the bowl with a towel and rest the dough at room temperature for about 8 hours, or until just about doubled in size. Your dough may need more or less resting time depending on the strength of your starter and temperature of your kitchen, but expect about 8 hours.
5. After the dough has just about doubled in size, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge overnight, at least 8 hours. You could probably push it to 16-24 hours, according to your schedule.
6. The next day, grease a muffin pan with olive oil. Set aside for now.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge, and loosen it from the sides of bowl (it may be sticky). Turn upside down onto a lightly floured counter. Pat the dough into a rough rectangle.
8. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, divide the dough in half, and then cut six pieces from each half for a total of twelve pieces of dough.
9. Shape each dough piece into a ball, and place each dough ball inside a muffin tin. The dough does not have to be perfectly round, but it should fit snugly inside the tins.
10. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 2-4 hours. The dough will slowly puff up.
11. Meanwhile, prepare the Rosemary Topping by mixing together the olive oil and rosemary together in a small bowl.
12. Preheat the oven to 450 F (230 C).
13. Oil your hands and poke deep holes all over the top of the dough. Don't be shy - you want there to be lots of holes that touch the bottom of the pan!
14. Drizzle the Rosemary Topping evenly over each of the muffins. You may not use all of the oil.
15. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet to catch any dripping oil, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
16. Brush the hot focaccia muffins with melted butter and sprinkle with the finishing salt before serving.