September 17th, 2008

english muffins

english muffins 1

i’ll be honest, i’m not much of a morning person. i’m much more likely to be up until 3 or 4 in the morning and then sleep until lunchtime - except for weekdays, in which case I go to bed around 3 or 4 and drag myself out of bed for work at 8:30. it doesn’t sound too healthy, but it works for me. on days when i actually wake up early enough for breakfast, i’m still not very hungry for it. but one of the few things that can interest me in the morning is an english muffin.

english muffin dough

there’s something about melted butter flooding over the crispy toasted peaks of warm nooks and crannies that is completely irresistible. even commercials for thomas’ english muffins have me salivating. luckily, this recipe was even easier to tackle than i thought, and i probably won’t ever buy them from the store again.

english muffin on griddle 1english muffin on griddle 2

it’s so rewarding to see a recipe come out to look and taste like the real thing. there was a moment when i was cooking them on the skillet and i got giddy seeing the perfectly toasted cornmeal crusted english muffins really take shape. it’s a moment that makes you think “why isn’t everyone making their own bread?” please, please, please try these out this weekend.

english muffins 2

is there anything better than smothering an english muffin (or three) with butter? maybe adding delicious grape jelly is your thing. or topping with a fried egg. or maybe you want an open face ham and cheese sandwich? i forgot how little self control i have around these little fluffy muffins. i’m going to have to make more before the week is out.

english muffins 5

english muffins 4

english muffins
you won’t ever buy thomas’ again. recipe from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp shortening or butter (at room temperature)
3/4 - 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
cornmeal for sprinkling

1. in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. mix in the shortening and 3/4 cup of the milk. add the remaining milk if the dough is too dry.

2. transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. place in a lightly oiled bowl and roll to coat. cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape into balls. lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and spray or lightly coat with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. move the dough balls to the baking sheet evenly spaced apart (giving them room to rise more). cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for another hour.

3. heat the oven to 350 F and heat up a skillet on medium heat on the stovetop. brush the skillet with oil and gently transfer the dough balls to the skillet a few at a time. allow them to cook on the skillet for 5-8 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned. carefully flip and cook the other side for about 5-8 minutes more. they should flatten as they cook.

4. when the muffins look as if they are about to burn, remove them from the skillet with a spatula and transfer quickly to a baking sheet. bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes. do not wait until all of the muffins have been cooked on the skillet before moving them to the oven - as the first batch is baking, move the second batch of muffins to the skillet.

5. transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving. serve with lots of butter and jelly. store them as you would muffins you buy in the store - in a sealed ziploc bag in the fridge or freezer.


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25 comments so far ↓

  1. Y | Sep 17, 2008 at 7:43 pm

    Those certainly look like the real deal :)

  2. barbara | Sep 18, 2008 at 7:29 am

    Nice looking muffins. Here’s a recipe you could try where you make the dough the night before and shape and cook the muffins in the morning.
    http://www.winosandfoodies.com/2005/06/english_muffins.html

  3. IMR | Sep 18, 2008 at 8:09 am

    Hi Pete,

    For the yeast, is the measurement 1 1/4 tablespoon or teaspoon?

    I plan on trying these out this weekend. I’ll serve them with burgers.

  4. rhyleysgranny | Sep 18, 2008 at 8:56 am

    These look wonderful. I love to make my own bread but to date have not tried muffins. I’ve printed off the recipe and I will be trying these. Thank you

  5. petebakes | Sep 18, 2008 at 9:01 am

    @IMR - it’s teaspoon, thanks for the catch! i’ve updated the recipe.

  6. Zoë François | Sep 18, 2008 at 9:07 am

    These look perfect. I’m going to make them for breakfast tomorrow!

  7. Zach @ The Bitten Word | Sep 18, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Amazing! I never imagined English muffins could be easy to make at home! I’m definitely trying this over the weekend. Thanks!

  8. Graeme | Sep 18, 2008 at 9:45 am

    I’m just glad to see Cornmeal sprinkled on the top. It’s just not the same without.

    Those are beautiful.

  9. jo | Sep 18, 2008 at 11:18 am

    These look wonderful! Just by looking at the pictures, an image of McDonald’s sausage McMuffins comes to mind.

  10. Samantha | Sep 18, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    These look utterly amazing! I am going to surely try this recipe! Thanks for sharing!!

  11. Alex | Sep 18, 2008 at 2:04 pm

    They look fantastic.

  12. chiff0nade | Sep 18, 2008 at 3:47 pm

    I love English muffins. I think I would have loved your post about English muffins.

    But, I can hardly read it because you chose NOT to use capitalization rules.

    Why is that? Are you trying to make some kind of political statement????

    GEEZZZZ.

    Louise, (”therealchiffonade”)
    Clearwater, florida
    Senior Adviser, the SeriousEats Website.

  13. Lori | Sep 18, 2008 at 6:22 pm

    Wow those look fabulous. I have this cook book. I am kicking myself for not trying them sooner. They look amazing.

  14. Hillary | Sep 19, 2008 at 11:52 am

    We sound so similar! I rarely eat breakfast because I’m never hungry for it in the morning and always have to run out of the house for work but the other day, my mom was toasting up some English muffins and they looked sooo good!

  15. Judy | Oct 2, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    You inspired me to give english muffins a try - but I use the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day dough - All I can say is OH…….MY……..GOD!!! I actually got nooks and crannies!!

  16. Judy | Oct 2, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    You inspired me to give english muffins a try - but I use the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day dough - All I can say is OH…….MY……..GOD!!! I actually got nooks and crannies!!

  17. Gillian | Oct 4, 2008 at 11:51 pm

    I just made them this evening and ate one…it was delicious, and I can’t wait to try another one toasted with jam. I remember making english muffins when I was little, but I don’t remember them being that easy to make. Also, the dough was such a great consistency to knead… much denser and silkier than the dough of the raisin bread I made recently. I just might try your recipe for wheat bread next…my fiance doesn’t seem to be impressed with my bread-making explorations unless it means that I can make him bread for sandwiches.

    Tell The Girl I said hi :)

  18. Bread Baking « Tea and Scones | Oct 17, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    [...] next day I made English muffins from Pete BakesI won’t put the recipe here. Just follow the link. These were [...]

  19. bake, craft, clean, repeat « we’re a happy family | Oct 24, 2008 at 5:22 pm

    [...] to make english muffins. dunno why, they just sounded good to me. so i surfed around until i found this, and tried the recipe. yum. [...]

  20. Aisha | Oct 30, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    I was looking for the easiest to make English Muffin and I’m so glad I found your site. My husband loved it and I just want to thank you for sharing this recipe. :) Made me so happy! You’re the best!

  21. john y | Nov 7, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    I’m trying the bread and muffins
    I’ll let you know how they turn out.

  22. Giddy | Nov 17, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    I came upon your site while surfing for English Muffin recipe. It’s the one thing not in the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book. Lordy, I love that book. I just took the European Peasant bread out of the oven and we’re having that for lunch! I’ve bookmarked your site and will check in often. Will try the Pete Thins recipe next, but I think I’ll try it without the sugar.

  23. john y | Nov 17, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    Baked the muffins twice looked and tasted great both timesbut no nooks and crannies:(.

  24. Recreating McDonalds’ Egg McMuffin « Singapore Peasant Cook | Dec 23, 2008 at 8:54 am

    [...] Pete Bakes’s Recipe [...]

  25. Singapore Peasant | Dec 23, 2008 at 9:10 am

    Hi, I tried your recipe and my muffins turned out perfect! Just rougher-looking than yours.Thanks!

    You can peep at my blog for a pic if you are interested.
    http://sgpeasant.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/recreating-mcdonalds-egg-mcmuffin/

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