How to Make English Muffins by Erica

If you were given the option of choosing between toast and English muffins, which would you pick? Sorry, that’s a really difficult choice, I know. They are both sublime breakfast treats. But I would have to say that English muffins would probably be my first choice.

 
 

The main advantage that English muffins have over toast, in my opinion, is their butter-trapping ability. Toast is amazing, don’t get me wrong. But English muffins can be simply saturated in butter without it dripping out the other side. This is because of the way English muffins are cooked. Instead of simply being baked, they are first cooked on a griddle. This results in a “seared” outside. Kind of like the end pieces of a loaf of bread. A slice of bread is porous on both sides, so there’s nothing to keep melted butter from leaking through.

English muffins also have a lovely, distinct taste because they’re griddled. And, since they’re coated in cornmeal, they’re tinged with a toasty corn flavor. Yum!

Do I have you convinced yet? Let me show you how to make English muffins at home! It’s a fun process that I think you’ll really enjoy.

 
 

First, let’s discuss the ingredients.

While I was developing this recipe, I noticed that nearly all recipes for homemade English muffins called for milk and eggs. So I wrote my initial recipe to include them. I found that the resulting English muffins were delicious, but not quite the texture I was going for. I was going for something lighter that had larger air holes. So after several attempts to adjust the milk/egg recipes to my liking, I decided to go basic and just use water for the liquid. And it was a success! I decided to use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour so the dough would have more strength. I wanted it to be quite wet so that the crumb would be open, but I also wanted it to be strong enough so it wouldn’t deflate too much.

 
 

Since you’ll be using active dry yeast, it needs to be activated with warm water and honey. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water, then whisk it in to incorporate. Make sure your water is warm, not hot, otherwise it will kill the yeast. 105°F is a safe bet.

 
 

Let the yeast sit and activate for about 5–10 minutes.

 
 

Dump the yeast mixture and the remaining ingredients into a stand mixer. Knead with the dough hook on low speed (I set mine to speed 2) for 8 minutes.

Resist the urge to add more flour. You want the dough to be quite wet. It won’t completely clear the sides of the bowl. If the dough doesn’t even form a dough, you could add a little bit more flour.

 
 

See how sticky the final dough is? But it should also be quite stretchy from all that kneading.

 
 

Scrape the dough out of the bowl of the stand mixer with buttered hands and a buttered spatula. Form into a ball and place in a generously buttered bowl. Cover and set aside in a warm spot for 2 hours.

 
 

Meanwhile, cut out twelve 4-inch squares of parchment paper.

 
 

Place the squares of parchment paper on a baking sheet. You might need to use more than one baking sheet. You don’t want the pieces of parchment paper to overlap. Cover generously with cornmeal.

 
 

Let’s check back on our dough.

When I made these English muffins for the photos, it was a very warm day. I think I slightly over-proofed my dough. If your kitchen is quite warm, you may want to check on the dough at the 1 1/2 hour mark.

 
 

Turn the dough out onto a greased work surface. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. 

 
 

Grab a piece of dough and pinch the edges together for form a ball.

 
 

Place the ball seam-side down on an ungreased portion of the work surface. Gently start to tuck the edges of the dough under itself, creating tension on the ball. Do this several times to continue building the tension. 

 
 

You can also achieve this by cupping your hands around the ball of dough and moving your hand in a circular motion across the work surface. It sounds complicated, but it’s really simple once you do it.

 
 

Place each ball of dough onto the prepared pieces of parchment paper.

 
 

Cover and set aside in a warm spot for 1–2 more hours. You want the dough to be quite puffy.

 
 

Preheat a griddle on medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Gently transfer the dough onto the dry griddle. You can simply invert the dough onto the griddle and remove the parchment paper. This is the easiest way to transfer the dough, but it does deflate it a good bit.

 
 

You can also gently slide the dough off of the parchment paper onto the griddle (a metal spatula works really well to get the dough off of the parchment and onto the griddle). This is more tedious, but the muffins do stay puffier.

 
 

Cook for 5–8 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook for another 5–8 minutes. Transfer to a baking pan and bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. This ensures that the muffins get cooked all the way through. 

If you don’t want to use the oven, you can griddle the muffins on low (instead of medium-low) and increase the time to 10 minutes per side.

 
 

Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes before spitting.

 
 

A lot of people will tell you that the ONLY way to open an English muffin is with two forks.

 
 

This results in a more uneven surface texture, which supposedly traps butter better. I’m going to be sacrilegious and say that I don’t find it necessary. A serrated knife does the job quickly and efficiently. But I still split mine with a fork occasionally, just for fun.

 
 

Butter is an absolute must in my book when it comes to English muffins. Well, it’s a must with most things in my book if I’m honest.

 
 

Add a spread of jam, and it elevates it to make-your-taste-buds-die-of-happiness quality.

 
 

So that’s my method for how to make English muffins in your own kitchen! Please let me know if you try them out—I love it when you guys tell me how much you enjoyed a recipe!

 
 

from The Pioneer Woman https://ift.tt/2mfRjXD
https://ift.tt/2mbQGOC