English muffins just aren’t English muffins if they don’t have the nooks and crannies. The English muffins
I made the first time had the texture of plain dinner rolls. Good, but…boring.
So I did some research and found out why it turned out the way it did: I needed really, really wet dough. Like dough so sticky you may need to spoon it out of the bowl. Whoops. So the second time I made English muffins, I used closer to 1 cup of water instead of the 3/4 I used the first time, and I got the results I wanted. Mission accomplished.
see all photos »
Recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice »
1: Mixing and Kneading
I used all purpose white flour with a little bit of wheat flour.
Adding yeast…
…and milk to the mixing bowl.
Mixing up flour, sugar, salt, yeast, melted butter, and milk.
I had to play with the water amount because it’s easy for the dough to become too wet…
…too dry… (this is the dough where my muffins made no nooks and crannies)
…and finally, I got it just right. While the recipe calls for 3/4-1 cup of milk, I used closer to 1 cup (but not quite). It stuck a little bit at the bottom.
2: Fermentation
The dough comes out of the mixer lumpy and ugly…
…but after giving it
some time to rise to double…
…it came out wonderfuly soft.
3: Shaping
Now it’s time to cut it up!
The pieces pillowy, and so easy to work with.
Shaping the bread was just a matter of pinching the bottom to create a ball – so that when it rises again, it rises up instead of out.
4: Proofing
I sprinkled eight little circles of cornmeal on the pan, one for each muffin. The first time I made them, I made six and they turned our huge! Eight made just the right sized muffins.
A little cornmeal goes on the top, too.
Baby english muffins incubating under a damp towel
5: Griddling and Baking
English muffins are griddled, to brown the two sides, and then baked to cook the inside.
I cooked them in a lightly oiled, (miniature) cast iron pan.
The come out nice and toasty.
Into the oven it goes, to cook the raw inside. It’s only in here for 5 minutes or so. (I burned this one, can you tell?)
6: Eating
Splitting open the finished English muffin for ultimate “nook and cranny” goodness.
Success! Nooks and crannies everywhere.
All you need is a little butter…
…to make a delicious breakfast.
From Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp shortening or butter (at room temperature)
*3/4 – 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
cornmeal for sprinkling
1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix in the shortening and 3/4 cup of the milk. Add the remaining milk if the dough is too dry.
2. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and roll to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape into balls. Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and spray or lightly coat with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Move the dough balls to the baking sheet evenly spaced apart (giving them room to rise more). Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for another hour.
3. Heat the oven to 350 F and heat up a skillet on medium heat on the stovetop. Brush the skillet with oil and gently transfer the dough balls to the skillet a few at a time. Allow them to cook on the skillet for 5-8 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned. Carefully flip and cook the other side for about 5-8 minutes more. they should flatten as they cook.
4. When the muffins look as if they are about to burn, remove them from the skillet with a spatula and transfer quickly to a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes. Do not wait until all of the muffins have been cooked on the skillet before moving them to the oven – as the first batch is baking, move the second batch of muffins to the skillet.
5. Transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving. Serve with lots of butter and jelly. Store them as you would muffins you buy in the store – in a sealed ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer.
*I used closer to 1 cup of milk to get those nooks and crannies!
see all photos »
Recipe from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice »
Wonderful pictures- it makes me wish i was there eating one right now!
English Muffins are my absolute favorite bread for breakfast. seem reasonably easy to make at home. Thanks.
@Stephanie
You’re welcome! Let me know how it turns out.
@justine
Thanks, Justine!
Wow paula. You put so much time into the simple things. I think its pretty cool how you can actually take the time and enjoy the things that most of us dont take the time to appreciate.
@Byron
Thanks, Byron. It’s the little things in life…
Hi Paula,
I just made these and they are cooling off and looking quite beautiful.
Thank you for the tips. I made my muffins on my George Foreman grill.
Thought I’d see how it would work with heat cooking both sides at once.
I had to make tin foil spacers so the grill wouldn’t completely flatten the muffins. They look so cute with grill marks.
Thanks again,
Tina
Tina – You’re very welcome! I never thought of making them on a George Foreman grill; that sounds like a really interesting idea. I’m glad they came out well. If you don’t have the Bread Baker’s Apprentice book by Peter Reinhart, it would be worth getting – his writing is fantastic.