We love English muffins for breakfast and they are very hard to find outside the U.S. Experimenting with various recipes convinced me that it was practical to make English muffins aboard. I don’t go to the trouble all the time, but about once a month we treat ourselves to a batch.
This recipe makes about 8 large, thick “Wolferman” style muffins or 12 – 14 smaller, thinner muffins.
This recipe makes 8 large muffins or 12-14 smaller ones.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons 105°-115° water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened
Directions:
Dissolve yeast in 2 tablespoons of warm water. Combine 1 cup water, milk, sugar, salt, and yeast mixture. Gradually beat in 2 cups flour to make a sponge. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the sponge rise in warm area for 2 hours or until dough collapses back into the bowl. The timing isn’t particularly critical. You just want to make sure that the sponge is nicely bubbly and light.
Next, you will beat in the butter. Beat or knead in the remaining flour. The dough will be very, very soft. Add more flour if you need to, but only enough to allow you to handle the dough. Press dough to a thickness of about ½ inch and cut out with muffin rings, a biscuit cutter, or a glass. Your yield will vary a great deal based on how thick you roll the dough and the size of your cutter. I use muffin rings, but that’s not something that most folks have aboard. You can make your own with empty tuna cans if you like. However, instead you can just cut out the muffins with a biscuit cutter or glass. To keep them from spreading as they rise, wrap a narrow strip of plastic wrap or foil around the edge of each muffin and place them side by side in a lightly greased 9 x 13 pan.
Two skillets makes the cooking process go faster.
Let the muffins stand until the dough has doubled in bulk. Carefully slip a thin pancake turner under the muffin, remove plastic wrap or muffin ring, and transfer to a medium-hot, well-buttered griddle or skillet. Cook until light brown on the first side, turn and cook until light brown on the other side, a total of about 8 minutes. I use two skillets to make the cooking go more quickly.
Cool the muffins on a rack or on a clean dish towel. Split muffins with a fork before toasting. We love them spread with butter, peanut butter, or jam.
Happy Toasting!
Heather, The Cruising Cook
| Illustrated English Muffins | |||
 Dissolve yeast in 2 tbsp. of warm water. |
 Combine yeast mixture with milk and other ingredients. |
 Allow the sponge to rise until doubled. |
 Sponge should be light and bubbly. |
 Mix or knead in rest of flour. |
 Cut dough with muffin rings, biscuit cutter or glass. |
 Let muffins rise until doubled without spreading. |
 Allow muffins to cool on rack or clean dish towel. |