English Muffins

I found this awesome magazine at Costco the other day. It is called Homemade Bread. It has some amazing sounded breads to make from scratch. I'm going to try many of them, and then you can have the recipe and my review of it. This week I made English Muffins from this magazine's recipe. It was different than my other English Muffin recipe so I was intrigued to try it out. I however, needed to make a triple batch as the original recipe said it only made 18 English Muffins. I am prepping for a week long trip to California with my in-laws, and we are bringing our food for the trip. I know it's a lot of work, but it will save us a TON of money on food that way. So, feeding 7 people for 7 days (making sure they have enough choices and food) is the hard part. My family LOVES English Muffins with cream cheese. So instead of purchasing TONS of English Muffins, I decided to save money and make them. They are easy to make and way healthier for you. No preservatives which is really nice. My kids keep snitching these, which is a good sign. Meaning, make extra, your gonna want them. They also freeze well.  I will post the original batch, and then my tripled batch amounts. (my triple batch made 70 english muffins). The directions are the same no matter if you make the single or triple batches.

English Muffins
Ingredients (single batch-makes 18 english muffins)
1 2/3 cup milk, scalded (180 degrees F)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
Cornmeal for dusting

Ingredients (Triple batch-makes 70 English muffins)
4 2/3 cup milk, scalded (180 degrees F)
12 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp honey
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (I used powdered eggs, as I was all out of eggs)
2 pkg yeast (4 1/2 tsp) yeast
12 cups all-purpose flour (I used Lehi rollermills unbleached flour, can use bread flour)
3 cups whole wheat flour
Cornmeal for dusting

Directions:
Pour scalded milk into a large mixing bowl. Stir in butter, salt and honey, and mix until the butter is melted. Let cool to 105 degree F. Stir in the egg and yeast. Stir in both flours, and mix to form a rough ball.

Turn dough out onto a floured board, and knead for five to eight minutes until smooth. Place dough into a large bowl, and cover with a clean cloth. Let the dough rise for one hour in a warm, draft-free area or until doubled in bulk.

Turn out the dough onto a floured board, and roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Use a 3-inch-round cookie cutter to cut dough into circles. place the circles on a baking sheet, and sprinkle lightly with corn meal on one side. Let the circles rest for 20 minutes.

Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over low heat. Gently place muffins in the skillet or griddle, cornmeal side down. Cook the muffins for six to eight minutes, then turn them over and cook for another six to eight minutes. Monitor them carefully to make sure they're browning and not burning. (turn heat down if starting to brown)

Slice the muffins lengthwise, and toast them. Serve with butter and jam or make a breakfast sandwich with eggs and bacon. My family likes cream cheese. Leftover muffins can be sliced and frozen. Place frozen muffin halves in the toaster to thaw.

**For a sweet change of pace, add 1 cup of raisins or dried fruit to the dough before kneading.

Homemade English Muffins

My family LOVES English muffins. I find it funny that sometimes I buy them and they don't realize I have them until they've been in the fridge for a long while, but they are still good. :) They they are gone in a blink of an eye. Yesterday I decided to make some homemade ones. I saw on Diner's Drive-in's and Dives that a place in California makes their own English muffins and they didn't look too hard. So, I decided to take the challenge of making my own homemade ones. I looked up in my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook and found a recipe. It looked easy enough. So I decided to make a single batch... (I should have made a double, since I have 3 left out of 17). I was hoping they would last longer, so I didn't have to make them every day... but they may need to be doubled and some stored in the freezer.. So I can make them every other day. Here is the really easy, amazing recipe... (Mind you,... my husband said they were the BEST he's ever had). He's the English Muffin Authority in our house. :)

English Muffin Recipe (found in Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook)

Prep time: 45 Min Rise: 1 1/5 hours Cook: 25 Min

5 1/4 to 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 pkg active dry yeast

2 cups milk

1/4 cups butter, margarine, or shortening

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Cornmeal

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of the flour and the yeast, set aside. In a medium sauce pan heat and stir milk, butter, margarine, or shortening, sugar and salt just til warm (120F to 130F) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to the dry mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes total). Shape the dough in to a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface, Cover and let rise in a warm place til double in size.

3. Punch dough down. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough to slightly less than 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 4-inch biscuit cutter, cut dough into rounds, dipping cutter into flour between cuts. Reroll dough as necessary. dip both sides of each muffin into cornmeal. (If necessary, to make cornmeal adhere, lightly brush the muffins with water). *Cover and let rise in warm place til very light (about 30 min) (*I missed this part...)

4. Cook muffins, four at a time, in an ungreased electric skillet at 325F for 25-30 min or until golden, turning every 5 min. (keep any remaining muffins in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours) Or, cook over low heat on an ungreased large griddle or in several skillets for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown, turning frequently.

Cool on wire racks. Split muffins horizontally. To serve, toast or broil muffin halves... - Makes 12 muffins.

Final Verdict...

I didn't let mine rise until very light... (I didn't notice any difference) Also, I used the large griddle. My first batch wasn't as thick as the rest, probably due to the fact that the dough was not risen as much and it was rolled a little thinner. The muffins turned perfect.

This is a great activity to do with your kids. They will love helping flip the muffins, cutting them out, and helping with everything. :) Enjoy!