recipe | homemade english muffins

top of the muffin to you... I have been wanting to try my hand at baking up some English muffins for over a year now. I used the excuse that I didn't have any baking rings as to why I haven't baked a batch yet, but truth-be-told, I think it stems more with the lack of preplanning. The recipe I wanted to use requires a starter, and well, I always have good intentions when it comes to starters and you know how effective good intentions are. But there is something about the happy nook and crannies that cradle the tiny pools of butter and jelly that is too good to wait any longer to try.

My order from the Baker's Catalogue arrived yesterday and in it was my long awaited muffin baking rings. The wait was over and my good intentions finally came through as I prepped my starter with plenty of time to spare. I actually only had eight baking rings and my recipe was for 12 muffins so I went freeform on four of the muffins. Ironically, I actually preferred the casual shape of the freeformed muffins over the perfect forms of the baking ring muffins. The ring-formed muffins were gorgeous, but I'm not used to making things so uniformed. Regardless, the results were absolutely delicious! Enjoy!

English Muffins

from King Arthur's Flour Baking Companion

makes 10-12 muffins

starter

1 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup water

1/8 tsp instant yeast

dough

1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar or non-diastatic malt powder

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp butter, melted

3/4 cup milk, warm

1-2 tbsp cornmeal, for sprinkling on pan

making the starter... Mix the flour, water, and yeast in a medium-sized bowl to form a smooth batter. Cover and leave at room temperature for at least four hours, or up to 16 hours. The starter should be puffy and full of holes when ready to use.

making the dough... In a large mixing bowl, beat together the starter and all the dough ingredients to form a smooth batter. The batter needs to be beaten for 5 to 8 minutes. Cover the bowl and place in a warm spot until batter has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

prepping for baking... Lightly grease 10 to 12 English muffin rings and place the rings on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet that has been sprinkled lightly with cornmeal. If you do not have rings, simply drop the batter onto the pan and shape with your fingers.

Stir the dough then drop a scant 1/4 cup of dough into each ring. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal. Smooth the dough, if desired, with your fingers, dipped in water first. Cover the pan and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until the muffins have grown by at least a third.

baking... Preheat the oven to 350ºF. If you used muffin rings, place a clean baking sheet atop the muffins, which keeps them flat on both sides so they will fit better in the toaster slot. Bake the muffins for 35 minutes, until they are lightly browned on both sides. The muffins may be fork-split and eaten immediately or cool completely, split and toast.