Thick English Muffins Recipes

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.

THICK ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except semolina in a large bowl. Mix well to combine, then beat on high (with flat paddle, if using stand mixer) for 5 minutes. Dough should be sticky and glossy. Scrape down bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 90 minutes, or until about doubled in volume.
• Heat an ungreased griddle over very low heat (300* F for electric griddle). Grease English muffin rings.
• First, make a test muffin as follows: Place one greased ring on griddle and sprinkle a bit of semolina on griddle inside of ring. Wet fingers and a 1/2 cup measure with a little water, and scoop out a scant 1/2 cup of dough. Shape dough into a circle approximately the size of the ring, place inside of ring, and sprinkle top with a little more semolina.
• Cook for 7 minutes, then carefully lift and check bottom, which should be a nice, medium golden-brown. If not, turn up heat a little; if too dark, turn heat down. Cook an additional 10 minutes.
• With a pair of tongs, grab the ring and lift it off, then flip the muffin over (if ring doesn't release, flip it over, ring and all, and gently wiggle until it comes off). Cook second side for 12-18 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
• Remove and split muffin; should be cooked through. If so, cook remaining muffins in the same way; if not cooked through, then turn heat down a little and proceed to cook remaining muffins for a little longer time than test muffin.
• Cool muffins completely before storing in a plastic bag.

ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise.
• Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour.
• Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split and toast. Great with orange butter, or cream cheese and jam.

CLASSIC ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• Scald the milk:
• In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat just until it starts to steam and a skin forms on the surface. You might see some tiny bubbles form around the sides, but don't let the milk come to a full boil. Maintain the milk at this temperature, decreasing the heat slightly if needed, for about 30 seconds, then remove it from the heat. Whisk in the butter and honey and set aside, whisking occasionally, until the mixture is warm but not hot, 10 to 15 minutes (you're going to use the scalded milk to proof the yeast, and if it's too hot, the yeast will die; it should feel lukewarm and register around 105°F on an instant-read thermometer).
• Proof the yeast:
• Combine the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the milk mixture in a small bowl and stir to dissolve the yeast. Let sit until the mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.
• Mix the dough:
• In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, milk mixture, and yeast mixture and mix on low just until the flour is incorporated into the liquid. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to mix, occasionally scraping down the sides with a flexible spatula or scraper until the dough is smooth, elastic, and climbing up the hook but still very wet and sticky, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Let the dough rise:
• Generously oil the inside of a separate large bowl and scrape in the dough. You want it to slide around freely, so shake the bowl and loosen any areas where the dough is stuck to the sides. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until the dough is doubled in size and filled with big air pockets, 1 to 1½ hours.
• Prepare the baking sheet:
• While the dough is rising, line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and generously brush the surface with more oil. Dust with cornmeal and set aside.
• Flatten the dough and chill:
• When the dough has risen, use a dough scraper or spatula to gently loosen the dough from around the bowl and let it gently slide out onto the prepared baking sheet. Try not to knock out too much air as you do this. Generously brush another sheet of parchment paper with oil and place it oiled-side down on top of the dough, then use the palms of your hands to flatten it down into a thin, even slab measuring about ½ inch thick. Leaving the top layer of parchment right where it is, cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 12 (cold dough will not only be easier to handle, but the English muffins will taste better, too).
• Form the English muffins:
• Remove the baking sheet from the refrigerator, uncover, and peel off the top layer of parchment. Use an oiled 3½-inch round cutter to punch out as many rounds as you can from the slab, fitting them close together for as little scrap as possible.
• The dough will be sticky, so oil your hands as well if needed, and press down firmly with the cutter, twisting once you hit the parchment. Depending on the shape of the slab and how tightly you cut out the rounds, you could get anywhere from 7 to 9 English muffins-if you have large pieces of scrap dough, pinch them together and cut another round. Discard any scraps and make sure the rounds have a little breathing room between them.
• Griddle the muffins:
• Transfer as many rounds as will fit to a cold griddle or large skillet, spacing them ½ inch apart (in a skillet, you'll have to cook them in batches). Heat the griddle or skillet over medium-low heat and cook until the muffins are puffed, the bottoms are crisp and deeply browned, and the surface has gone from shiny to matte, 7 to 10 minutes. Flip the muffins gently, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the second side is deeply browned, another 5 to 7 minutes.
• If the muffins are cooking faster, reduce the heat-you want them to cook slowly to help form interior nooks and crannies and to ensure that the centers are cooked through. If you're using a skillet, cook the remaining batches over low heat the entire time.
• Let cool and then split: Transfer the English muffins to a wire rack as they're done and let them cool completely. Stab the tines of a fork into the pale sides of the muffin at the midway point, puncturing the dough all the way around, then slowly pull the halves apart. Eat fresh or toasted.
• DO AHEAD: The English muffins are best eaten the day they're made but will keep, stored airtight at room temperature, up to 3 days. English muffins can also be frozen up to 2 months.
• Cooks' Notes
• Don't let the dough sit in the refrigerator for longer than 12 hours. Past this point the gluten network will start to break down due to the dough being very wet, resulting in muffins that are flatter and denser.
• If you don't have a cutter, or if you don't want to discard any scraps, use an oiled bench scraper to cut the slab into freeform pieces measuring about 3-inches across. The muffins won't be round, but they'll be just as good.
• Move the muffins around the skillet or griddle to promote even cooking, as sometimes the browning can be a little spotty. If you're using a skillet, you can rotate it around the burner as well.

ENGLISH MUFFIN TOASTS

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cut muffins crosswise (not horizontally) into 1/3-inch-thick strips. Arrange muffin strips, cut sides down, in 1 layer on a large baking sheet, then brush strips evenly with all of butter. Bake, moving darker toasts to center and paler toasts to edges of sheet, until tops are pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn slices over and bake until toasts are golden on both sides, about 10 minutes more. Sprinkle buttered sides of toasts with salt, then serve warm or at room temperature.

HOMEMADE BUTTERY ENGLISH MUFFINS

Steps:

• Heat the milk and butter to blood temperature.
• Test a drop on your wrist-- it should feel barely warm.
• Beat in the egg.
• Dissolve the yeast in the milk mixture.
• Measure the flour into a bowl and stir in the salt.
• Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk mixture.
• Mix well.
• Turn out the dough and knead it until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Put the dough back into a clean, oiled bowl and turn it over (so it is coated in the oil.) Cover it with a damp teatowel and let it rise for about 2 hours, until doubled in volume.
• Punch it down, then turn it out and roll it into a cylinder, about 1 1/2" in diameter.
• Cut it into 16 equal slices.
• They should be 1/2" thick; flatten them slightly if required.
• Arrange these on an oiled cookie sheet or on waxed paper.
• Cover them with the damp towel and let rise another 2 hours, until doubled in size again.
• Bake them in a heavy, ungreased, cast iron skillet at a temperature just slightly lower than for pancakes.
• (Medium-low heat.) They should be lightly browned.
• Turn them once, and bake the other side.
• Each side should take 3 to 5 minutes.
• To serve the muffins, they should be split and toasted.
• (They will be just barely cooked in the middle otherwise.) These can also be made in a bread machine on the dough cycle.
• Put the wet ingredients in first, and follow with the dry ingredients.
• Run the dough cycle.
• Let rise for the first time, then follow the instructions above from that point, step ten.