English Muffins Or Crumpets Recipes

ENGLISH MUFFINS OR CRUMPETS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, and yeast. Allow to sit until mixture is foamy. Add warm milk and salt, then stir in flour. Beat mixture hard for 5 minutes, then cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 3 hours or until very bubbly. It's okay if it rises and collapses; just proceed to next step.
• Dissolve baking soda in 1/4 cup water. Gently stir into batter. Cover again and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Grease griddle and English muffin rings (a.k.a. crumpet rings). Heat griddle over low heat for 10 minutes. Place rings on pan and spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each. For English muffin batter, spread slightly with spoon to fill ring (crumpet batter will do so on its own).
• For English muffins, allow to cook for about 5-8 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Flip and cook other side, removing rings as you do so, for another 5-8 minutes or until both sides are nicely browned. Remove from pan. Continue until all batter is used.
• For crumpets, cook for about 8 minutes without flipping, until tops are pale but dry and full of holes and bottoms are golden brown. Remove from pan and rings. Continue until all batter is used.
• Cool on wire rack.
• To serve English muffins, split and toast. To serve crumpets, toast without splitting. Serve either with plenty of butter and jam or other desired toppings.

ENGLISH CRUMPETS

Steps:

• Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Combine water and milk in a separate bowl and quickly whisk the milk mixture into the dry ingredients until batter is thick and smooth. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until spongy, about 1 hour. Stir dough to reduce sponginess.
• Place a rack into the oven and preheat to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C).
• Spray a skillet and round metal open-top cookie cutters or crumpet molds with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium-low heat, place the metal cutters or molds into the skillet, and let the molds heat up. Spoon batter into the molds, filling them about halfway. Let the crumpets cook until the bottoms are browned, the tops appear nearly dry, and popped bubbles appear on top, about 5 minutes.
• Use tongs to lift molds out of the pan; remove molds from the crumpets. Flip and return crumpets to skillet to cook the other sides until browned, 1 to 2 more minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Keep cooked crumpets warm on rack in the preheated oven while you cook remaining crumpets.

EASY ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• Place 1/4 cup flour, yeast, and 1/2 cup water in a mixing bowl. Whisk together and set aside for about 10 minutes to see if thin layer of foam develops to ensure yeast is active. Drizzle in vegetable oil; add salt, egg white, remaining 1 3/4 cup flour, and remaining 1/4 cup warm water. Mix together until dough is very wet and sticky. Cover. Set in a warm spot and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
• Pull dough gently from sides of bowl, stirring slightly, and turn out onto a well-floured rolling surface. Work in just enough flour until dough is easily handled and can be cut into 6 pieces, about 1 minute. Cut dough into 6 equal portions. Form a seamless ball of dough, adding a pinch of flour to keep it from sticking. Flatten to make thick disks. Transfer dough onto a lined baking sheet sprinkled generously with cornmeal. Let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Add clarified butter to skillet over medium heat. Carefully transfer muffin disks to skillet. Cook in batches to avoid overcrowding. Brown on one side, 5 or 6 minutes. Turn, and brown the other side, 5 or 6 minutes. Continue turning to get muffins evenly browned and cooked through, 7 or 8 minutes total per side. Transfer to a cooking rack and cool completely (this is key as you can't split the muffins unless they are cooled).
• Split cooled muffins with a fork, inserting tines all the way around edges so the 2 sides can be pulled apart. Toast and serve with jam.

OLD FASHIONED HOME-MADE ENGLISH CRUMPETS FOR TEA-TIME

Steps:

• Note - you will need 4 crumpet rings, or egg rings or 7.5cm (3in) plain pastry cutters, greased.
• Place the flour and salt into a large bowl and stir in the sugar and yeast making a well in the centre. Pour in the warm milk and water and mix to give quite a thick batter. Beat well until completely combined and cover with a tea towel or cling film.
• Leave in a warm place to rise for about an hour until it's a light, spongy texture. Stir well to knock out any air, add the bicarbonate of soda and pour into a large jug - mix well and allow to stand for a further 30 minutes.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan, or a greased griddle, over a very low heat with a drop of oil or butter. Wipe the pan with kitchen paper to remove excess oil/butter. Sit the greased crumpet rings in the pan and leave to heat up for a couple of minutes.
• Pour in enough mixture to fill the rings just over halfway up the sides. Leave to cook until lots of small holes appear on the surface and the batter has just dried out. This will take about 8-10 minutes.
• Remove the rings and turn over the crumpets to cook for a further minute or two on the other side. Sit the first batch of crumpets on a wire rack whilst continuing to cook the remaining crumpets.
• Serve the crumpets warm, generously buttered. If you are making crumpets in advance, then reheat them by toasting lightly on both sides before serving. (Prep time includes rising time for the yeast dough.).