It's a sick day for me, so I'm working at home on some recipes. With a congested head, I made the first mistake in cooking: I didn't check to see if I had all the ingredients I needed before starting to test my winter breakfast bread wreath, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow's email for that.
I didn't have enough butter. Ouch, the yeast was already dissolving in warm water and the flour was already out. What's a cook to do? Make English Muffins.
In the interest of getting them cooked and photographed for today's post, I didn't let them rise long enough which is just to say that if you follow the recipe, you will not have hockey-puck style muffins like the ones pictured above. I'm eating one now and despite it's flat shape, it's absolutely delicious and has the nooks and crannies we all know and love.
These would make a beautiful dishtowel-wrapped Christmas morning gift, and fall very nicely, sweetly, and warmly into our Un-Gift Guide.
Whole Wheat Raisin English Muffins
makes about 8 muffins
1 packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 110° F)
1/2 cup warm milk (about 110° F)
1/4 cup canola or other mild oil
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal or semolina
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the milk, oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, sugar, raisins, sugar and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft, sticky dough.
Dump dough onto a well-floured board and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and cover. Set in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
Roll out on a cornmeal-dusted board until about 1/2" thick. Cut with a 3-4" cookie cutter or juice glass. Cover with a dishtowel and put in a warm place to rise another 15 minutes or so. Sides will expand and look cracked.
Heat a griddle (a cast-iron skillet would work well) over medium-low heat. Cook muffins on the hot griddle, about 7 minutes on each side.
Serve warm straight off the griddle, or slice in half and toast. Butter and honey would be divine.
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After all these years a professional cook, English muffins are one of the few things I've never made. I keep meaning to get to them but never get around to it. Maybe over the holidays....hmm.
How do you think these would turn out if you replaced the 1 cup of all purpose flour with additional whole wheat? Or is there any other whole grain flour that could be used as a replacement?
I made these over the weekend with two adjustments; I used cranberries instead of raisins (and I will probably double the amount I used this time in the next batch I make) and I accidentally used self rising flower instead of plain flower. They turned out like the english muffins I'm familiar with except I could not get the rather sticky dough to look nearly as neat as in the picture above so they are all very irregular looking. But they are extreamly tasting and very satisfying to have made my own. Oh also small tip I used a regular frying pan (as I don't have a cast-iron skillet) to cook mine and they turn out alright- if you do only about 5 min each side very low heat and flip them a good amount. This recipe is great!
I just made these, and they were good, but not great--yummy with Kerrygold butter and honey. They don't have a lot of flavor, even though I added about a teaspoon of cinnamon. Next time I might add more sugar and cinnamon. But they made the house smell delicious!
Yum! How many teaspoons or grams is a 'packet' of active dry yeast? (don't live in US and my yeast doesn't come in packets...)
Have you tried freezing this before cooking? Do you know if they freeze well?