Ever make your own English Muffins?

[Little Bit]

I was browsing the Not-So-Foreign Foods article on the CL site, and came across this recipe for English Muffins.

Has anyone tried to make their own before? I've always been tempted to make them, but never have.

Anybody tried this recipe yet? :) I probably won't be doing much baking til the weather cools off, but it's fun to think about. :)


English Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (100 degrees to 110 degrees)
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS:

These freeze well or can be stored for a day at room temperature inan airtight container. They look a little different from store-boughtEnglish muffins, but we think that adds to their appeal.

1. Cook milk in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180 degreesor until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove fromheat. Pour milk into a large bowl. Stir in oil, sugar, and salt. Coolto about 90 degrees.

2. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes.Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Addyeast mixture, 3 cups flour, and egg to milk mixture. Turn dough outonto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time,to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning tocoat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees), free fromdrafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers intodough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punchdough down. Divide in half. Working with one portion at a time (coverremaining dough to keep from drying), roll each portion to 1/4-inchthickness. Let dough rest about 5 minutes. Cut with a 4-inch biscuitcutter into 8 muffins. Place muffins on a large baking sheet. Repeatprocedure with remaining dough. Cover and let rise 30 minutes oruntil doubled in size.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Turn muffins over; bake anadditional 7 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.


NUTRITIONAL INFO:
CALORIES 142 (22% from fat); FAT 3.5g (sat 0.8g, mono 1g, poly 1.4g);PROTEIN 3.9g; CARB 23.4g; FIBER 0.9g; CHOL 15mg; IRON 1.4mg; SODIUM195mg; CALC 25mg

[doggerham]

I haven't tried that recipe, but I might have to now.

Here's a recipe for English Muffin Bread that my mom used to make. It's best toasted, like all EMs.

English Muffin Bread

5 1/2 - 6 C flour
2 pkgs dry yeast
1 T sugar
2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
2 C milk
1/2 C water
cornmeal

Combine 3 C flour, yeast, sugar, salt and soda. Heat milk & water to 120-130. Add to dry mixture. Beat very well. Gradually stir in enough flour to make a stiff batter.

Grease 2 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pans. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Put dough in pans, sprinkle with cornmeal and cover. Let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. Bake at 400 for for 25 minutes. Remove from pans & let cool. Use toasted.

Amy

[slawrence]

Little-Yes, I have made English muffins before-it was YEARS ago, the same year I was making homemade bagels (22 years ago before bagels were 'it'). It was fun, not so sure it is worth the time to do it often, but definitely a fun project. Good luck! Let us know how they turn out-Sue

[wallycat]

I have only made one batch of them....
can't recall the recipe now (it came off of a PBS cooking show) but it was really easy...yeast, flour, salt....more a batter than dough ....and made in a skillet.

[KimKelly]

I made them only once about 2 months ago. My recipe was a sour dough recipe, I'll have to look for it, and they were awsome! Way better then the store. I'd say give it a try. It was fun, my kids had a good time cutting them out with a cup and they were really good.

Kim

[vbak]

I haven't made these for years, and I "baked" them on an electric griddle. Family thought these were great and the kids were amazed. Vicky

[AD]

I've seen several recipes for English muffins, and all are usually very different. I remember Gale Gand saying on Food TV that English muffins were a lot like crumpets. The only difference was that English Muffins are baked in an oven, and crumpets are cooked on a griddle or skillet. Whatever they're officially called, I do think the idea of cooking an actual bread (besides pancakes) on a griddle sounds unique, and I will have to try that sometime.

[Little Bit]

Just bumping this thread up, since I've been practicing with a recipe I got from Food TV. I’ve made these three times now, and I must say, cooking them is easy. I haven't gotten around to trying the other recipes yet.

This recipe suggests using tuna cans with both ends cut out as a baking form, but I’m not sure it’s essential. In fact, since I couldn’t find the sort of tuna cans that can have their tops and bottoms removed easily, (the newer ones nest on top of each other, which is tidy in the pantry, but not useful in this instance, since the bottom edge is apparently impossible to remove with a Swing A Way can opener.) I used some slightly taller pineapple cans instead of tuna cans. They worked okay, but if you try it, don’t forget to grease them the way I did the first time out, and be careful not to burn yourself on the hot cans.

It seems to me that the muffins you can make by simply spooning a bit of batter (maybe 1/3 cup, scrape the batter out with a small spatula) onto the griddle are just as tasty, almost as pretty, and much easier to cope with, since I prefer not having to worry about burning myself on the hot metal, or having the muffins stick inside the forms.
The English Muffins you make just by spooning batter out onto the griddle will not be quite as tall, and not perfectly round as the kind made with a form, but they taste fine. :)
Remember, you want the batter to be slightly thick, not as thin as a pancake batter. It should be sort of gloppy, so you can scoop it up into a mound, not runny. Just make sure, that as you spoon the batter onto the griddle, that you mound the batter up, don’t smooth it down into a nice round. The muffin you make will be much taller that way. The other kind is still edible, but because it’s thin, it’ll be harder to split when you get ready to toast it.
Also, make sure to flip them when the top is still damp all around. If it’s cooked more than that, it’s okay, but what you’re aiming for is flat smooth surfaces on both sides.

When I’ve made these, I used butter instead of shortening, and flip them at about three minutes, to make sure that both sides are smooth. After you flip them, cook them five minutes, then flip them and cook them two minutes more. (That way, both sides have cooked five minutes each, but the first side is cooked in two stages.)

These need to be split and toasted, since the middles are done, but not crisp. They refrigerate well in a ziploc bag for several days, but we’ve eaten them so quickly it’s hard to know how long they might last.

English Muffins (Alton Brown)

1/4 Cup warm water
2 teaspoons yeast

1 Cup Very HOT Water
1 Tablespoon Shortening
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Milk Powder (dried milk)
2 Cups A.P. Flour

Mix the yeast and water, let proof. ( I always mix a pinch of sugar into the warm water, and then stir in the yeast.)
Combine the Very HOT Water, the Shortening, the Sugar, the Salt and the Milk Powder (I use a Tablespoon of Butter instead, and not quite that much salt.)
Combine the proofed yeast with the wet ingredients, and then blend with the Flour.
Let Rise at Room Temperature, 1/2 hour.
Cook on a 300 degree griddle, in metal circles (old tuna cans with top and bottom removed) half filled with batter. Cook 5 minutes to a side (Covered) , lift and gently, quickly flip with a spatula.
Let cool on a wire rack.