Homemade English Muffins
Pantry staples, a bowl, and a wooden spoon is all you need!!
With Mother’s Day tomorrow, I wanted to make something extra special for my mom this year. My mind immediately went to breakfast as that is a little tradition we do each year. But this year I decided to take my hand at recreating my mom’s favorite breakfast item - a toasted English muffin with some jam.
While this is something we typically just buy from the store (shoutout to Thomas English muffins,) I figured how hard could it be to make at home? The answer is easier than you may think. Initial research led me to think I needed to have a stand mixer and let it rest for 24 hours, but then I channeled my ancestors who:
1 - did not have the luxury of a stand or hand mixer and
2 - we’re not going to have days to wait to eat
Thus, as with many of my recipes, I conducted research and then decided to carve my own way through it. The result was an incredibly tasty muffin I made completely from scratch using only a bowl, spoon, tray, and skillet along with a few pantry staples in under 3 hours… NOT bad!!
So if you’re looking to treat your mom to a special recipe or even just take on a fun little project for yourself you can find my full recipe below. It makes about 14 muffins, leaving room for extras to store in your freezer for the week. Because once you taste a fresh muffin, you won’t want to go back!!
Homemade English Muffins
Yields about 14 muffins
Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
1/2 water
2 tbsp honey
7 g (1 packet) dry active yeast
330 g (2 3/4 cup) AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup Semolina flour, for dusting and coating pan
Steps:
Prepare the dough
In a glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, water, and honey. Microwave (for 45 seconds) or heat up on the stove until it reaches a temp of 110-115 F. Add the yeast, mix well to combine, and set aside for 5 minutes. Once the yeast milk mixture is active and foamy, add the egg and melted butter. Stir well.
Grab a large bowl and combine the flour and salt. Begin slowly pouring in the milk mixture while stirring the flour to form a wet dough. Mix the dough for about 5 minutes until it becomes smooth and lump-free. The dough should be loose but connected and stretchy when lifted.
Grease a medium-sized bowl with nonstick spray, then add the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm counter spot for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
Shape the dough
Prepare a sheet tray with parchment, a tbsp of flour, and 2 tbsp semolina flour. Flour your work surface and then release air from the dough and transfer it onto the surface. The dough will be wet, so make you flour your hands and begin carefully rolling it and lightly kneading until it is no longer wet on the exterior.
Carefully roll the dough out until it is 1 inch thick. Use a circular cutter or round glass to begin cutting out the muffins (mine was about 3.5 inch wide.) Bring the scraps together to continue forming muffins. Carefully transfer onto the sheet tray and cover with a towel for a second proof of around 25-30 minutes.
Cook the muffins
Bring a cast iron or hybrid pan to the stove over low heat. Once you feel the heat with your hands hovering, sprinkle some semolina flour and then carefully transfer as many muffins as fit the pan without touching. Cover with a lid and cook for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Flip, cover, and cook for another 6 minutes.
Transfer the finished muffins onto a wire rack to cool. After a few minutes dig in and enjoy!! I recommend using a fork to pierce the sides before pulling it in half to maintain all those nooks and crannies. Warm muffins are great as is or toasted to a crisp and slathered with butter and jam…or even a breakfast sandwich!!
ENJOY!!
Here is a PDF printout version for you:
As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask away! And if you recreate this beauty please take pictures and share them with me!!! I LOVE to see your recreations