Rejoicing in Recipes: Homemade English Muffins

I have been meaning to make these all week, and I am finally getting to them today! They look very yummy for breakfast sandwiches. I didn't realize, though, until I started that I am out of cornmeal....so, mine are dusted with flour instead of cornmeal. Oh well. Hopefully, they'll still be great; I can't imagine that the cornmeal sprinkled on the outside really makes that much of a difference.

I found this recipe through The Pioneer Woman. Her site is amazing for finding homemade foods. She takes recipes from all over the place, so they're not all her recipes. This particular recipe isn't hers, but it's found HERE from the Tasty Kitchen portion of her blog.

Here's the recipe:

Homemade English Muffins

• 1 cup Milk
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 cup Warm Water
• ¼ ounces, weight Yeast
• ¼ cups Cornmeal
• 5-½ cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Combine milk, butter, and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Warm until butter starts to melt, then whisk briefly. Remove pan from heat and allow liquid to cool to lukewarm.

Pour water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Stir gently with a fork. Set bowl aside for 10 minutes, or until yeast has dissolved.

Line baking sheets with waxed paper and sprinkle with a generous amount of cornmeal.

Pour cooled milk mixture into yeast mixture and gently stir until well blended. Add 3 cups flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Beat in remaining flour and salt until the dough is no longer sticky. Scrape the dough onto a floured surface and dust with flour. Flour hands and knead dough for 3-4 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes.

Roll out dough with rolling pin to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the dough into circles (a tumbler or mason jar does well). Transfer muffins to prepared baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover with a dry, lightweight towel and let rise until doubled in height, 35-45 minutes.

When muffins have risen, heat a skillet over medium heat. Carefully lift muffins from the pan and place on the ungreased skillet. Cook about 10 minutes on each side, using a spatula to flip them. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before splitting (with a fork) and toasting them.

These are time-consuming, but I imagine they will be worth it! I have mine almost ready to put on the skillet. They are rising now. I plan to use them tomorrow for bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches (using Chihuahua cheese! yum!) and then will take the rest to my parents' house tomorrow to share with my siblings.

They don't take quite as long to make as a loaf of bread, but if you're new to any kind of yeast bread making you might find that it takes a while. Try it, though. I'm sure homemade will be so much tastier than store-bought.....isn't that how it always is?! :)