English Water Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine flour, tepid water, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and beat thoroughly.
Cover the bowl and let the mixture rise overnight.
Shape and bake
In the morning, flour a clean surface and roll out the dough very thin, using minimal flour.
Cut out muffins using a small tin pail cover, aiming for 5 inches in diameter.
Lightly butter a griddle, place the muffins on it, and let them rise for a short time on the back of the stove.
Move the griddle forward and bake the muffins slowly, turning them often to keep both sides flat.
Once baked, tear the muffins apart, butter them, and serve three together, cut across the center.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chewy texture.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the overnight rise, making the dough airy and lifting the muffins.
- Tepid water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and activates the yeast gently.
The step that matters
Bake slowly and turn often. Slow heat with frequent turning lets the muffins cook through and dry evenly without scorching. Turning keeps both sides flat, so the muffins do not puff unevenly or brown too fast on one face.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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