Name: English Muffins - An Easy Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups Warm milk - 110ºF; 3 tbsp Butter, softened; 1 1/2 tsp Salt; 2 tbsp Granulated sugar; 1 ea Egg - beaten; 4 1/2 cups Bread flour; 2 tsp Instant yeast; Corn meal for sprinkling

Features:

Cuisine:

America

Medium

Directions

English Muffins - An Easy Recipe

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 1

Proofing: 2 20

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bread, breakfast, english muffin

Servings: muffins

Author: Ian Cooks

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups Warm milk - 110ºF
3 tbsp Butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Granulated sugar
1 ea Egg - beaten
4 1/2 cups Bread flour
2 tsp Instant yeast
Corn meal for sprinkling

Instructions

Put everything except the corn meal into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Wait until the milk is in before adding the yeast and starting the mixer so the yeast does not sit on the salt.
Mix the dough on medium speed for about 5 minutes, The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl and be smooth and quite elastic. This is a very slack and sticky dough but it needs to be to get that English muffin texture. It can be a bit hard to handle but it is worth it.
Scrape the dough down into a rough ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours until risen and puffy.
After the rise, gently deflate the dough. This dough will be soft and sticky. Turn it out onto a surface that has been dusted with the corn meal, and form it into 16 pieces. Option 1 cut the dough in half, then cut each half in half, and again and again until you have 16 pieces of roughly equal size. Option 2. Weigh the dough and divide by 16 then weigh out each piece and roll into a ball. Mine came in at about 72 grams each or 2.5 oz.
Shape the dough pieces into rounds, then lightly pat them into disks about 3 inches in diameter. Place on a large baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Dust the tops with the cornmeal.. Cover loosely with cling film and let rest for about 20 minutes. They will puff slightly.
Heat an electric griddle or heavy skillet to 300ºF. I use the griddle as it is important not to get the temperature too high. Sprinkle your griddle or skillet with a little corn meal. Cook the muffins on a low heat for about 15 minutes on each side, until they are golden browned and done. They will puff up initially, and as you flip them the softness of the dough will allow them to take on the shape of the traditional English muffin.
Test for doneness with an instant read thermometer. The inside should register 200ºF when they are completely cooked through. If they are browning too much before getting thoroughly done on the inside, transfer them to a 350F oven to finish cooking for 5-10 minutes.
Use a fork to split the muffins before toasting to bring out that famous English muffin texture. A knife tends to flatten out the nooks and crannies that hold your butter.