HOMEMADE ENGLISH MUFFINS

Crispy, crunchy, toasty outtards, give way to soft, chewy, craggy innards = Homemade English Muffins.  And not only that, they're fun and easy to make.

English Muffins and I are now on a nickname basis. It's a bit of a story that involves butter, homemade strawberry jam, and Taleggio cheese.  Oooh yes, but that's for another time. 

For now I've just got to tell you that these EM are not your ordinary EM.  No sirreebob! 

You throw the ingredients in a bowl, knead, knead, roll, circle cut, rise and cook in hot skillet.  No oven!  No fiddling.  Not only that, the cooking-in-a-skillet part of the recipe will make you smile.  Cool, right?!

And as easy as that, Ta da, you just made sooo-good EM, in your very own kitchen.  Quickly now, pull a freshly made EM open with a fork, toast and indulge.  Repeat.

The trickiest thing about homemade, toasty EM is what to put on them, besides butter of course.  A bit of a dilemma that occurs often, at our house.  Forest Grump almost always goes for peanut butter and Donna's homemade marmalade.  I like to mix it up a bit more, from Brie that kind of melts into the EM, drizzled with hot honey, to just-plucked-from-the-garden, fresh Green Zebra tomato slices.  And don't even get me started on Eggs Benny!

Moral of the story, make your own EM.  Why not?

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Very slightly adapted from The Woks of Life
food blog for The Last Wonton. Thanks Sarah!

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HOMEMADE ENGLISH MUFFINS ~ Makes 12-14

1 envelope, or 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
3  2/3 cups flour (plus more for kneading)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 - 1/3 cup fine cornmeal (for sprinkling)
2 tablespoons oil (avocado, olive, canola)

Add the yeast and sugar to 1 cup lukewarm water. Stir to dissolve, and let stand for 10 minutes to allow the yeast to activate.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and salt. Stir to combine. Add the yogurt and activated yeast mixture

Mix together with a fork or wooden spoon until the mixture forms a soft, shaggy dough. Knead for 10 minutes, dusting your hands and the dough with a sprinkling of flour if needed (the dough will get a bit sticky as you knead it).

After kneading, let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the cornmeal onto a large rimmed sheet pan.

Roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/2 an inch. Cut out circles with a 3 inch round cutter. (I use a glass.)  Re-roll any excess and form more muffins. You should get 12-14 muffins total. (I always seem to get a baker's dozen.)  Slide the muffins around on the cornmeal, a bit,  to ensure they don't stick to the pan. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, until almost doubled in size.

Heat a flat griddle pan, cast iron pan, or similar skilliet, until hot and brush with oil. Add the muffins and reduce heat to low. Cook for six minutes, then flip, and very gently push down on each muffin with spatula.  Cook another 6 minutes on this side, until firm and golden brown. 12 minutes total cooking time.  Turn only once.

You may have to fiddle with your burner heat a bit.  On my gas burners, I have to cook on very low heat.

The best way to break the muffins apart is with a fork, to make sure you get great nooks and crannies. Serve toasted with butter and jam, or of course peanut butter, or Taleggio cheese, or honey.  Simply good!