English Muffin Recipes

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
• Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
• Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split and toast. Great with orange butter, or cream cheese and jam.

Steps:

• Make the dough.
• Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg but don't stir it in yet.
• Heat the milk and coconut oil in a saucepan until a thermometer reads 110 degrees F. (If the milk is too hot when you add it to the flour mixture, it will kill the yeast.)
• Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Avoid pouring it directly on the egg-you don't want the hot milk to cook it.
• Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, if needed. The dough will look a little irregular in texture.
• Knead the dough.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, soft and elastic, 3 to 4 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a large bowl lightly oiled with coconut oil; rub the top of the dough with a little more coconut oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
• Form the muffins.
• Sprinkle 2 baking sheets with cornmeal and set aside. After the dough rises, punch it down and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten into a 3-inch disk. Place the disks on the baking sheets.
• Cook the muffins.
• Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Coat the skillet with cooking spray and liberally sprinkle with cornmeal. Working in batches, cook the muffins until they are deep golden brown, 5 to 9 minutes per side. If they start to rise in a domed fashion, flatten them with a spatula. Let the English muffins cool completely, then split open, toast and serve with butter and jam.

Steps:

• In a bowl combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let cool. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the griddle to 300 degrees F.
• Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Using #20 ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops into each ring and cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork and serve.

Steps:

• Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and leave in a warm place.
• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm milk.
• Let froth, then mix in the butter.
• Stir all the liquid into the warm flour and beat well until smooth and elastic.
• Cover and proof in a warm place for 50 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
• Turn onto a well-floured board and knead, working a little more flour if necessary to make the dough easier to shape.
• Round up the dough, roll into a thick sausage shape and slice into 8 to 10 portions, each about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch thick.
• Shape each one into a round with straight sides.
• Put onto a greased baking sheet.
• Cover (use greased plastic wrap) and put in a warm place to proof for 30-40 minutes or until springy to the touch.
• Leave room for expansion and be careful not to over-proof, as the muffins will get flabby and lose their shape.
• Warm and grease the bakestone lightly.
• Lift the muffins carefully onto the bakestone and cook over very moderate heat (about 350-degrees) for 8-10 minutes until pale gold underneath.
• Turn and cook the other side.
• Wrap in a cloth and keep warm if cooking in batches.
• To serve, insert a knife in the side, pull the top and bottom slightly apart, and insert slivers of butter.
• Apple butter ain't bad either.
• Enjoy.

Steps:

• Place 1/4 cup flour, yeast, and 1/2 cup water in a mixing bowl. Whisk together and set aside for about 10 minutes to see if thin layer of foam develops to ensure yeast is active. Drizzle in vegetable oil; add salt, egg white, remaining 1 3/4 cup flour, and remaining 1/4 cup warm water. Mix together until dough is very wet and sticky. Cover. Set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
• Pull dough gently from sides of bowl, stirring slightly, and turn out onto a well-floured rolling surface. Work in just enough flour until dough is easily handled and can be cut into 6 pieces, about 1 minute. Cut dough into 6 equal portions. Form a seamless ball of dough, adding a pinch of flour to keep it from sticking. Flatten to make thick disks. Transfer dough onto a lined baking sheet sprinkled generously with cornmeal. Let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Add clarified butter to skillet over medium heat. Carefully transfer muffin disks to skillet. Cook in batches to avoid overcrowding. Brown on one side, 5 or 6 minutes. Turn, and brown the other side, 5 or 6 minutes. Continue turning to get muffins evenly browned and cooked through, 7 or 8 minutes total per side. Transfer to a cooking rack and cool completely (this is key as you can't split the muffins unless they are cooled).
• Split cooled muffins with a fork, inserting tines all the way around edges so the 2 sides can be pulled apart. Toast and serve with jam.

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let it cool until it's lukewarm.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, butter and 1/2 of the flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
• Knock back. Roll out to about 1/2 cm thick. Cut rounds with a plain cutter or glass. Sprinkle a baking tray or greaseproof paper with polenta and put the rounds on this to rise. Dust the tops of muffins with polenta also. Cover and rise 30 minutes.
• Heat a greased heavy frying pan or griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. To use, split and toast.