Monday, July 4, 2011

English Muffins


Not bad for my first try and although this was really good, it still was not the consistency that I wanted.

I know that this can be improved upon and the first thing that I will do is use 1 ½ cups all purpose and 1 ½ cups of wheat. Also, use cornmeal lavishly. I also need to find something to cut the muffins with other than my biscuit cutter. The ones I really loved were huge and thin.

Round two is coming soon. Stay tuned.

Bon Appetit!

1 Tablespoon Dry Yeast
¼ cupsWarm Water (110ºF)
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour, Plus More For Kneading
1 cup All-Purpose Flour, Or You Can Use All Whole Wheat But It Will Make A More Dense Muffin
1-½ teaspoon Salt
1 cup Milk
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 whole Egg
Cornmeal, As Needed

Sprinkle yeast over warm water (110ºF) and let stand until foamy, about 5–10 minutes. I did this in the bowl of my Kitchen Aid mixer. If you don’t have one, you can just make this recipe by hand.

In a large bowl, mix flours and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix milk, oil, and honey. Add egg and stir until well-blended. Add into the yeast mixture.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in your stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and let the mixer mix it for 8 minutes. (If you are mixing by hand, once you’ve incorporated all ingredients together, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.) If dough is too sticky to knead, add flour one tablespoon at a time.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Turn risen dough out onto a work surface that has been liberally dusted with cornmeal and pat or roll to about 1/2″ thickness. Cut into approximately 3″ rounds. If you wish, combine the scraps of dough into more muffins, handling as little as possible. Cover muffins with a towel and let rise for 20–30 minutes.

Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat. Sprinkle with corn meal. Using a spatula, carefully transfer muffins to a hot griddle. Cook about 5 minutes on each side then add to a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350ºF for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool.