Recipe: Basic Homemade English Muffins

Feb 2, 2014 by The Bald Gourmet    No Comments    Posted under: Bread Recipes, Breakfast Recipes, Easy Recipes, Other Recipes, Recipes

English Muffins

Here’s a little gem of a recipe I’ve had on my cookbook shelf for years but never got around to making until today.  Homemade English Muffins!  How cool!  But can they actually taste like the tasty toaster treat I grew up on from the store?  I’m happy to say that they do, but with a better yeast flavor.  And with the added “cool” factor of making them at home, these muffins blow anything store-bought away.  They are extremely easy to make, but do take a while.  Definitely worth the time and early morning rise to make though.

Ingredients Needed to Make English Muffins from Scratch

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 2/3 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• semolina flour for dusting

How to Make English Muffins at Home

Place the flour and salt together into an electric stand mixer and mix briefly to combine.  Pour milk into a large measuring cup or other vessel, and microwave on high for a minute until lukewarm.  Add sugar and yeast to milk and allow to bloom for about a minute.  Then add melted butter and add everything to the flour in the stand mixer.

Using the dough hook attachment, beat in mixer for 4-5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  The dough will be soft but just hold its shape.  Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise, in a warm place, for 60 minutes or until doubled in size.

Once risen, turn out the dough onto a well floured surface and punch down.  Roll out to 1/2-inch thickness.  Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 9 rounds.  Roll remaining dough together again and cut out additional rounds.  You should be able to get roughly 16 muffins out of the dough.

Raw English Muffins Ready to Cook

Dust with semolina flour and place on a prepared baking sheet.  Cover and let rise, in a warm place, for 30-minutes.

Warm the griddle over medium-low heat.  Carefully transfer the raised muffins in batches to the griddle.

English Muffins Cooking on a Griddle

Cook slowly for 7-10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Cooked English Muffins on a Griddle

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  To serve, puncture around the sides with a fork and split open.  Fork-split muffins will have wonderful nooks and crannies to pool melted butter in; knife-cut ones won’t. Toast and top with your favorite toppings.

English Muffins with Butter and Jam

Original Recipe by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter, as published in “Bread” – published by Hermes House in 2003.  Modified by The Bald Gourmet, February 2014.

The Bald Gourmet makes English Muffins at home, and couldn’t be happier about it.

Recipe: Basic Homemade English Muffins

 

Print

Prep time

90 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

1 hour 50 mins

 

Here’s a little gem of a recipe: homemade English Muffins! How cool! But can they actually taste like the tasty toaster treat I grew up on from the store? I’m happy to say that they do, but with a better yeast flavor. And with the added “cool” factor of making them at home, these muffins blow anything store-bought away. They are extremely easy to make, but do take a while. Definitely worth the time and early morning rise to make though.

Author: Jothan Yeager – The Bald Gourmet

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Bread

Servings: 16 muffins

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1⅔ cups milk
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• semolina flour for dusting

Instructions

1. Place the flour and salt together into an electric stand mixer and mix briefly to combine. Pour milk into a large measuring cup or other vessel, and microwave on high for a minute until lukewarm. Add sugar and yeast to milk and allow to bloom for about a minute. Then add melted butter and add everything to the flour in the stand mixer.
2. Using the dough hook attachment, beat in mixer for 4-5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. The dough will be soft but just hold its shape.
3. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise, in a warm place, for 60 minutes or until doubled in size.
4. Turn out the dough onto a well floured surface and punch down. Roll out to ½-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 9 rounds. Roll remaining dough together again and cut out additional rounds. You should be able to get roughly 16 muffins out of the dough.
5. Dust with semolina flour and place on a prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise, in a warm place, for 30-minutes.
6. Warm the griddle over medium-low heat. Carefully transfer the muffins in batches to the griddle. Cook slowly for 7-10 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
7. To serve, puncture around the sides with a fork and split open. Fork-split muffins will have wonderful nooks and crannies to pool melted butter in; knife-cut ones won’t. Toast and top with your favorite toppings.

3.2.2265

I love hearing from my readers, so please go ahead and leave a comment!