Make your own English muffins — why not? While it does take a bit of time to slowly dry-fry these muffins in order to give them their signature crisp crust and moist interior, the process isn't difficult. And the result is out of this world.
25 mins. to 40 mins.
25 mins. to 30 mins.
2 hrs 20 mins. to 3 hrs 40 mins.
Note: Thanks to reader feedback, this recipe has been amended as of 1/08/13, as follows: the amount of flour has been increased to improve the dough's consistency; and the cooking time has been increased.
Combine all of the ingredients (except the semolina or farina) in a mixing bowl, or the bucket of your bread machine.
This is a very soft dough, so you'll need to treat it a bit differently than most yeast doughs. If you have a stand mixer, beat the dough using the flat beater paddle until it starts coming away from the sides of the bowl, and is satin-smooth and shiny; this will take about 5 minutes at medium-high speed. When you lift up the beater, the dough will be very stretchy. If you have a bread machine, simply use the dough cycle.
Scrape the dough into a rough ball, and cover the bowl. Let the dough rise until it's nice and puffy; this will take 1 to 2 hours or so.
Prepare your griddle(s). Using two griddles allows you to cook all the muffins at once; but since you probably don't have two griddles, you'll need to cook the muffins in shifts. Whatever you use — an electric griddle, stovetop griddle, frying pan, electric frying pan — sprinkle it heavily with semolina or farina. If you're using a griddle or frying pan that's not well-seasoned (or non-stick), spray it with non-stick vegetable oil spray first, before adding the semolina or farina.
Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball, then flatten the balls until they're about 3" to 3 1/2" in diameter.
The easiest way to handle and cook these muffins is to lay them right onto the cold surface you'll be frying them on. That way, you don't have to move them once they're risen; and they won't mind cooking very slowly as you fire the griddle up to its desired heat. If you don't have enough griddle space to do this, sprinkle a baking sheet heavily with semolina or farina, and place the muffins on the sheet; they can be fairly close together. Either way, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with additional semolina or farina.
Cover the muffins (a piece of parchment works well), and let them rest for 20 minutes. They won't rise like crazy, but will puff a bit.
Cook the muffins over low heat for 7 to 15 minutes per side, until their crust is golden brown, and their interior is cooked through. When done, the center of a muffin should register about 200°F on an instant-read thermometer. If you find the muffins have browned before they're cooked all the way through, no worries; simply pop them into a preheated 350°F oven for about 10 minutes or so, or until they're thoroughly cooked.
Remove the muffins from the griddle (or oven), and let them cool thoroughly before enjoying. Remember: use a fork to split, not a knife to cut. Fork-split muffins will have wonderful nooks and crannies; knife-cut ones won't.
Yield: 16 large (3" to 3 1/2") English muffins.
I am having a problem with over flouring. I have weighed it out according to the directions. 4 different times, now, it has been a thick dough. Although I am fairly new to baking. I can't believe I am getting it so horribly wrong. My last batch I think I was down to 3 1/2 cups of flour, and it was still so thick. I have not been measuring but rather using weight, could it be the conditions in my kitchen? Tasted awesome every time, but couldn't look further from the pictures.
I would give 5 stars but steps 7 and 8 need to be reversed. It caused some confusion and my first batch was a total failure.
Ok, so I adjusted the recipe a little... I wanted to do the sourdough version, but that recipe seemed too complicated, so here's what I changed with this one. I reduced the milk and flour by 50 grams each, and swapped in 100 grams of sourdough starter (fed like 2 hours prior). Also, did some light kneading after the first rise (I don't have a mixer so I was worried the dough hadn't been worked enough). Used corn meal to prevent sticking, and flipped the muffins a few time to even out the browning (cast iron skillets do NOT heat evenly!). These guys turned out AMAZING. Cook time was a little longer, and heat was more like a solid medium than low. Even so, some were a tad underdone inside, which is actually great because you toast them!
Have made this recipe three times now and I really love it. I spread some flour on my work space when I scoop the dough out, and use a little flour when I shape the muffins to combat the stickiness of the dough. The last two times I have subbed 5 ounces of your Rye Flour Blend and used 14 ounces of bread flour. Makes fantastic muffins! Can't find any at the grocery store with a little rye taste. Thanks, KAF, your recipes never let me down!
What kind of salt did you use? Since it doesn't change the salt quantity to grams or ounces when you click those radio buttons, and salt is not on your ingredient list that I could find, the type is really important. 1.5 teaspoons of table salt is about 3.5 grams; of Morton Kosher salt is about 3 grams. Of Diamond Kosher Salt is about 2 grams. (So if you were using Diamond Kosher salt, when I used table salt, I should have used 7/8 of a teaspoon of salt; if you were using table salt, and I was using Diamond Kosher salt, I'd need to use two and a half teaspoons.) I'm on a sodium restricted diet, so I have to both adjust and track this stuff. The results with table salt seemed pretty salty, which may just be that I'm a bit more sensitive to salt these days. Thanks!
I made this recipe before with no problems, though the stickiness was a bit of a challenge. However, this time I used KA Bread Flour, rather than the regular KA flour I used last time. Also, last time I immersed the yeast in the warm milk for 10 minutes before adding it to the mix. This time, I used the Volume measures, and plopped everything into my Kitchen Aid mixer to beat with the paddle. The dough turned into cement and would not mix. It whacked the bowl out of its lock several times, and I had to put another whole cup of milk into it in order to get any mixing going. I continued through the rest of the instructions, however, and got nice muffins at the end, regardless (to my great surprise:). I re-checked everything I did, and can see no mistake. I think maybe using volume measures for the flour might be the culprit.
Have loved this recipe for years but am in Europe now and have been unable to find semolina or farina comparable to what I have used in the USA. Is there a substitute (all I can think of is grits but I believe that is from corn)?