My love affair with English muffins began and was pretty much sealed during my time in Sydney. Muffins and Muesli the breakfast of choice before a long swim in waters of Coogee bay. When peeps speak of Sydney beaches, almost everyone raves about Bondi (pronounce Bon-dai) but I have always loved Coogee.
The salt water stone pool, the view sitting on the benches on the grassy knoll that overlooks the bay, I love it all.
Sydney was the beginning of so many good things for me – my introduction and love of some GREAT cuisine, friendships that began and are going on 2 decades, a first class education and memories that will last a lifetime. No question!
No English muffins, fork split, toasted TWICE to a golden brown and slathered with European butter was pretty much a great staple breakfast for me. I continue to buy the Thomas muffins at the supermarket here in the US but have for some time now been working on a recipe for really good, plump, buttah trapping English muffins.
I love Alton Brown but I found his recipe giving me not quite the desired result. I tried several recipes with egg but didn’t like the texture. This final recipe is a sort of mix of ‘jambalaya’ if you will that has come together from scribbled, over written, batter stained and dog eared recipe book. I will forever be grateful to my friend Beth who gifted me a blank recipe writing book a decade ago that I still use dedicatedly. My little treasure house!
So this English muffin recipe begins with a starter. It's basically a yeast loving mess – flour, water and some dry active yeast so they can eat the sugar in the mixture (from the starch), release carbon dioxide, multiply exponentially until the batter is all pock faced by morning.
The starter is then mixed up with the usual suspects – flour, milk, yeast, baking powder blah blah blah to make a soft gooey dough which turns not so gooey after the first rise 90 minutes later. The dough is divided into portion which are cast iron skillet toasted to a golden brown on both sides.
Once fork split (not knife split) and toasted TWICE for my toaster you end up with the marvelous, rich bodied English muffin that tastes better than eating cardboard with pock marks and slathered with butter.
I also like that homemade ones are slightly larger and I find the slight imperfections of shape, endearing. Which is hint to all you OCD kitchen divas, don’t sweat the shape too much. As long as they are roundish and don’t look like something out of Dragon tales, you’re fine!
I do recommend 2 qty 10” cast iron skillets or 1 large electric griddle which will make life much easier. Since I’m not so gung-ho about shape perfection, I’m not going out and investing in rings and what not. Not unless you plan on fixing this every single week in which case, I say your investment will pay off!
Either way, what a fun little Sunday project!
I turned mine into Sunday Brunch with Eggs Benedict with roasted red peppers and Asparagus and a side of homemade sausages.
All in all a lovely way to spend the day as as a Sunday baker.
warmly,
Dev
Recipe for:
Homemade English Muffins
Makes 9 qty 3" English Muffins Recipe adapted by trial and error from various sources; Alton Brown, King Arthur Flour Recipes & Delia Smith
Note: Begin preparation the day before serving.
Shopping list
1 tsp sugar to proof yeast
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup semolina
Starter:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
Dough:
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour (+ 1/4-1/3 cup of all purpose flour to knead after 1st rise)
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp. regular white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup warm milk
Also required, 2 qty 10" cast iron skillets or a large electric griddle, non-stick baking spray and some parchment paper
Preparation:
The night before:
Starter: In a bowl add all the ingredients, whisk to combine and set overnight at room temperature for use in the morning. The starter should be puffy and full of holes the next morning.
Next day:
Proofing the yeast: Once you are ready to begin the next morning, warm the milk in a Pyrex cup in the microwave until warm. Stir in 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp yeast. Stir with a spoon to combine and set aside for about 10 minutes until the yeast with be frothy.
Cook's Note: Due to the minimal quantity of the yeast as well as the milk, the yeast will not rise and bubble like it normally would. You will just see signs of some expansion and frothing.
Method:
In the bowl of the electric stand mixer, combine the starter with all of the ingredients for the dough including the proofed yeast and milk. Process to form a sticky soft dough.
Lightly oil a large Pyrex or stainless steel mixing bowl. Remove the dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place and let it rise until doubled which will take about 90 minutes.
Add about 1/4 cup flour or more as needed and lightly stir the risen dough to form a elastic dough ball.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F and get a baking pan ready.
Meanwhile, spray the cast iron pans with non-stick baking spray and spread about 1/4 cup semolina all over each of the bases. Do the same if using a electric griddle pre-heating it at 325 deg F.
Divide the dough ball 9 sections. Roll each of the sections into a ball and flatten to 3" diameter. Place on the cast iron pans not allowing them to touch. Set aside for 30 minutes or so until they puff up slightly.
On medium-high heat (about 6 gas mark) cook the muffins for about 10 minutes or so until a bottom golden brown skin has formed.
Cook's Note: 5 Minutes into the cooking, it helps to place a piece of parchment on the muffins and place a metal plate or small roasting pan to flatten the muffins. The semolina will continue to brown and smell toasty but don't let that bother you.
Flip each of the muffins over and cook for another 5-6 minutes until the 2nd side is golden.
To ensure that the muffins are cooked (internal temp 200 def F), remove to a baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove and allow the muffins to cool on a rack.
Cook's Note: When ready to use, fork split the muffins so you get all the nooks and crannies to trap the yummy buttah. Use a knife and you'll lose the buttah catching craters!
Toast in a toaster until golden brown which may require toasting twice - watch so it doesn't burn! Slather with Irish butter and slap on your favorite Jam or use for yummy Eggs Benedict.
Enjoy!
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