I have been home for the holidays…not that I am not at home every other day, but we have ALL been home. We didn’t have any other plans to leave, other than the day after Christmas. So here we are, playing with all of our Christmas presents to the max. Finnegan can’t get enough of his old school Wii…good thing we have a limit otherwise the kid would never eat or go to the bathroom. I hope the limiting also helps him realize it isn’t good just to sit and do that all day. Isla has been mostly cuddling Paul, but also jumping on her trampoline and doing many, many art projects.
Paul has entertained himself with creating a new work bench in the basement. So that leaves me…to basically bake. I have attempted a new recipe…English muffins. These have turned out really well, so I will probably be making these a lot.
This recipe is from the Kitchn website. I have simplified the directions for myself, but if you want the complete step by step…look on that website.
English Muffins
For the dough starter:
3/4 cup (3 1/3 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp active dry (or 2 tbsp active sourdough starter)
For the English muffin dough:
1 cup 2% milk
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/4 cups (13 1/2 to 14 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
Cornmeal for dusting
Make the dough starter by mixing the first three ingredients together and beating until smooth and glossy. I placed small bowl in the yogurt maker to proof for about 4 hours. They say to let the starter sit for 1 – 12 hours. The starter will become increasingly bubbly the longer it sits and will double in bulk.
When ready to create the dough, whisk together warmed milk, yeast, and starter in the bowl to the stand mixer. Make sure the starter is dissolved and it should be quite frothy. Add the sugar, butter, and salt to the bowl and whisk to combine. Put the bowl in the mixer and start the kneading. Add 3 cups of the flour and knead for 5 – 8 minutes. Transfer dough to a oiled bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
When you are ready to make the muffins. Prepare 2 baking sheets with silpats and sprinkle with cornmeal. Pull the dough out of the fridge and split ball up into 12 even pieces. Roll each piece gently into smooth, round balls. Transfer the muffins to a prepared baking sheet. Spinkle a little cornmeal on the top of the muffins as well and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warmed oven to rise for 1 hour or until puffy and doubled in size.
I used an electric skillet preheated to 325°F. I did not coat the skillet but left it dry. If cooking on the stove top, you may want to use a pat of butter to just coat the bottom of the pan.
Cook the muffins 5 to 6 minutes on one side. Watch so they don’t burn. Flip and cook another 5 – 6 minutes. You can press lightly on the top of the muffins to make them not as puffy, which I did.
Flip and cook 5 to 6 minutes on the other side: Flip the muffins and cook the other side until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. If you prefer thinner, less puffy English muffins, you can gently press the tops with the spatula to prevent them from rising too much.
I let the muffins sit for about 10 minutes before we split them and toasted them. We tried them with just butter and jam and they were wonderful. I always freeze muffins, so I did the same with these. I am so excited to able to make my own and get away from the store bought ones.