English Muffins
By request of on of Jen's friends, I'm going to make a post about my English muffins. In an attempt to save some money, I started making English muffins for breakfast. I wasn't sure how they would turn out at first, but they are quite easy to make, and can be completed in one day, which is always nice.I'm using a recipe from A Bread Bakers Apprentice. It has a handful of ingredients, and is very easy to complete. I've made three batches of muffins, and they get easier each time. No special equipment is needed, well.. you will need a cast iron griddle or skillet to cook them, besides that, it's all straight forward.
Ingredients are flour, butter, milk, yeast, salt, sugar, and corn meal.
The recipe makes six large English muffins, the tops and bottoms are crispy, while the center is soft and full of nooks and crannies (if you open them correctly). The corn meal is used for dusting, otherwise, they would never release from the parchment paper when you go to cook them.To cook them - warm up a griddle and oven to 350 degrees. Once it is up to temperature, drop three of the muffins on the griddle and cook for seven to eight minutes. Flip them over and cook fro the same amount of time. When you put them on the griddle, you may hear they crackle and pop, this is normal and nothing to be concerned about. The goal is to get a nice dark crust on the bottom before flipping. They will come to a medium brown in two to three minutes, but may take up to eight minutes to get the nice rich brown you are looking for. They are very resilient to burning, so if you keep an eye out for the color after 5 minutes, you should not have any problems.
Once cooked on both sides, place the muffins in the oven for 8 minutes to insure the centers are cooked through. Then cool on a rack until room temperature. We keep ours chilled, and fork separate them before toasting in the morning. To get the expected texture when toasting, you really need to use fork to separate them, otherwise, you get a uniform smooth cut with no where for the butter/lemon curd/cheese/etc to go.These can easily be completed in an afternoon. When the little chef gets a little bigger, I think he would have fun helping me make these. Since everything is done on the griddle, they are easy to shape, drop, and flip.
Recipe after the break ---
English Muffins
mix the try ingredients together, then stir in 3/4 cup of milk, and the butter. Mix with spoon until they form a ball. If flour remains loose, add more milk until everything comes together.
Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough. Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes. the dough should be tacky, not overly sticky. Control the amount of flour, and wash your hands if they get goopy. It should pass the windowpane test.
Oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Spray with spray oil and cover. Let rise for 90 minutes.
prepare a sheet of parchment. - Spray with spray oil and generously dust with corn meal.
Wet the counter with a cloth and transfer the dough out. Form an even log with the dough and cut into six pieces. Shape the pieces into boules (small balls) and place on the parchment a few inches apart. Mist with spray oil and dust the tops with cornmeal.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 60 to 90 minutes (doubled in size)
Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet to 350 degrees. Warm oven to 350 degrees.
Spray the griddle with oil and place three of the muffins on the griddle. They will brown quickly, but take along time to burn. I find that 6 to 9 minutes per side works well. Once both sides are cooked, place on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 8 minutes. When the first three are in the oven, griddle cook the next batch.
Let them cool ona rack for 30 minutes before forking into them.
- 2 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 to 1 cup milk (room temperature)
mix the try ingredients together, then stir in 3/4 cup of milk, and the butter. Mix with spoon until they form a ball. If flour remains loose, add more milk until everything comes together.
Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough. Knead dough for 8 to 10 minutes. the dough should be tacky, not overly sticky. Control the amount of flour, and wash your hands if they get goopy. It should pass the windowpane test.
Oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Spray with spray oil and cover. Let rise for 90 minutes.
prepare a sheet of parchment. - Spray with spray oil and generously dust with corn meal.
Wet the counter with a cloth and transfer the dough out. Form an even log with the dough and cut into six pieces. Shape the pieces into boules (small balls) and place on the parchment a few inches apart. Mist with spray oil and dust the tops with cornmeal.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 60 to 90 minutes (doubled in size)
Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet to 350 degrees. Warm oven to 350 degrees.
Spray the griddle with oil and place three of the muffins on the griddle. They will brown quickly, but take along time to burn. I find that 6 to 9 minutes per side works well. Once both sides are cooked, place on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 8 minutes. When the first three are in the oven, griddle cook the next batch.
Let them cool ona rack for 30 minutes before forking into them.
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I love English Muffins. I have a recipe that I frenquently do.
Yours are very soft.