English Muffins

One sunny Saturday morning the hubby mentioned that he had a craving for Eggs Benedict.  On Sunday’s we generally have something a bit more flash than cereal or toast so I said I would make it for him for breakfast the next morning.  A few weeks previous, I purchased the Le Cordon Bleu set of 20 The Original Masterclass cookbooks.  One of the books was Muffins and in it a recipe for English Muffins.  As I couldn’t be bothered going to the supermarket (a whole 10 minutes away), and had all of the ingredients, I decided to try my hand at making a batch.

Into the trusty stand mixer, with the dough hook attached, the flour, salt and caster sugar are sifted.

Then the yeast (which had activated in some warm water) and the melted butter are added.

This was kneaded until it was smooth and put into a clean bowl to rise until it was doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Previously I used to use the heating pad the hubby has for his home-brew liquor to provide some warmth, but our new oven has a handy little function aptly called “rise dough” and this is the result…

The dough was then kneaded until smooth and rolled out to 1cm thick and cut using the pastry cutter from our pie machine (10.5cm in diameter).

The muffins are set aside for another 15-20 minutes to rise slightly and then put into the oven at 210°C for 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking time.

I must say we were quite impressed with the result, and they tasted very similar to the English Muffins you are used to buying from the supermarket.  These were done just in time for lunch and were delicious topped with pan-fried pumpkin, baby spinach and cheese.

Print Recipe

English Muffins

Adapted from The Original Masterclass: Muffins by Le Cordon Bleu.

Course

Breakfast

Servings

muffins

Ingredients

• 2 tsp dried yeast or 10g fresh yeast
• 225 ml warm water
• 400 g plain/all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly

Course Breakfast Servings muffins Ingredients 2 tsp dried yeast or 10g fresh yeast 225 ml warm water 400 g plain/all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly

Instructions

1. Add the yeast to the warm water and stir until it has dissolved, then set aside.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and add the yeast mixture and the melted butter into a well in the centre. Mix together well and then turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth (approximately 2-3 minutes).
3. Dust a clean bowl with a little flour, or coat with oil, and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to double in size.
4. Once risen, turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to approximately 1cm thick and using a round cutter of your preference (at least 7cm in diameter), cut the dough and place on a lightly floured baking tray.
5. Preheat the oven to 210°C and set the muffins aside to rise slightly for 15-20 minutes.
6. Cook the muffins in the hot oven for 15 minutes, turning once during the cooking time. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool.