Bored of shop bought blandness or fancy something divine? Check out this English muffin recipe that’s fluffiness butterly glides!
Experimenting has its risks but it also has its rewards. How else would we know about muffins, piklets, pancakes or crumpets if we only stuck with the same old yeasty muffin recipe that we all love so much?
English muffin is a small round and fairly flat, yeast-leavened bread which is about 4”/10cm in diameter and 1½ “ / 3.5cm tall.
The most common way of serving it is by cutting it in half and toasting it on a dollop of butter. Unlike its counterpart that is simply known as muffin on the American side of the pond, English muffin can be part of a savory meal, accompanied by eggs, sausages, bacon, or cheese.
Sure, jam and honey isn’t far from a toasted English muffin either that give this little piece of bread greater versatility in our kitchen.
It’s interesting to note that English muffins are the original muffins, and the quick chemically leavened ones are its modern and sweetened version came to prominence once baking powder was invented.
English muffins are quite forgiving when it comes to the amount of ingredients used but it’s rather fussy when it comes to exchanging one thing to the other.
Using water instead of milk will scatter holes all over our muffins and we’ll end up having crumpets while swapping yeast to baking powder results in piklets but put them in an oven and we have the all so familiar baked muffins.
The main characteristics of English muffins is that they aren’t baked but cooked on a griddle or in a skillet. Sometimes the batter is contained by a metallic ring which will provide a more uniform shape to the muffins but its not at all obligatory.
Once the muffins are off the griddle, they can be consumed immediately but many times a second toasting process on the halved slices takes place before serving it.
Although the jury is out there to judge if the recently made English muffins are better toasted or not, shop bought, and leftover muffins can greatly benefit from a second toasting process before serving them.
Be that crumpet, piklet, pancake or muffins, one thing is for sure. No one wants to arrive to the muffin party last.
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cup / 300g Milk
- 1 teaspoon / 5g Fresh yeast
- 3 tablespoons / 50g Shortening, lard or oil
- 3½ cups / 425g Plain white flour
How to make English muffin
- Warm milk then dissolve the yeast.
- Mix yeasty milk, oil, and flour.
- Cover the dough then place it into a 68°F – 81°F /20°C – 27°C corner to double for 45 – 90 minutes.
- Take the dough out onto a well floured working surface.
- Roll the dough out about ¾”/ 2cm thick. Use a 2″- 3″ / 5 cm – 8cm cookie cutter or thin glass to cut out the muffins.
- Knead the leftover pieces together so it can be rolled and cut out again.
- Place the cut out muffins onto a lightly floured surface.
- Cover the muffins with a cloth then place it into a 68°F – 81°F / 20°C – 27°C corner to raise for 30 – 60 minutes.
- Heat skillet to medium low then place in the muffins upside down. Cooking the muffins through needs some time and getting the exact temperature and time can be a bit tricky at first. A bit of practice will make it perfect. Depending on many factors, we can get one side nicely done in 1 – 3 minutes.
- Once the bottom gets golden brown, flip the muffins over and go for the golden brown color again, about 1 – 3 minutes. When it is done first time flipping the muffins in every 20 – 30 seconds until golden brown spots start to appear will allow us to gauge the time and temperature required for the cooking better.
- Once both sides have those lovely browned color, check for doneness in the inside. If inside is not cooked through yet and the outside is burnt then lower temperature or decrease flipping time while increasing flipping frequency. On the other hand if we haven’t got golden brown color after minutes of cooking increase temperature and / or increase the time we have between two flips. To avoid burnt smoky flavor, clean the skillet from leftover flour and stuck down dough.
Enjoy!
English Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon Fresh yeast
- 3 tablespoons Shortening lard or oil
- 3⅓ cups Plain white flour
Instructions
- Warm milk then dissolve the yeast.
- Mix yeasty milk, oil, and flour.
- Cover the dough then place it into a 68°F – 81°F /20°C – 27°C corner to double for 45 – 90 minutes.
- Take the dough out onto a well floured working surface.
- Roll the dough out about ¾"/ 2cm thick. Use a 2"- 3" / 5 cm – 8cm cookie cutter or thin glass to cut out the muffins.
- Knead the leftover pieces together so it can be rolled and cut out again.
- Place the cut out muffins onto a lightly floured surface.
- Cover the muffins with a cloth then place it into a 68°F – 81°F / 20°C – 27°C corner to raise for 30 – 60 minutes.
- Heat skillet to medium low then place in the muffins upside down. Cooking the muffins through needs some time and getting the exact temperature and time can be a bit tricky at first. A bit of practice will make it perfect. Depending on many factors, we can get one side nicely done in 1 – 3 minutes.
- Once the bottom gets golden brown, flip the muffins over and go for the golden brown color again, about 1 – 3 minutes. When it is done first time flipping the muffins in every 20 – 30 seconds until golden brown spots start to appear will allow us to gauge the time and temperature required for the cooking better.
- Once both sides have those lovely browned color, check for doneness in the inside. If inside is not cooked through yet and the outside is burnt then lower temperature or decrease flipping time while increasing flipping frequency. On the other hand if we haven’t got golden brown color after minutes of cooking increase temperature and / or increase the time we have between two flips. To avoid burnt smoky flavor, clean the skillet from leftover flour and stuck down dough.
Notes
Pin now, Enjoy later!
