English Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Heat the water until it’s blood warm.
Dissolve the yeast in ⅓ cup of cold water.
Add the dissolved yeast and salt to the warm water, then gradually stir into the flour.
Beat the dough thoroughly, cover it, and let it rise in a warm place until spongy (about 5 hours).
Shape and cook
Sprinkle flour on a bread board and shape the dough into balls about twice the size of an egg.
Drop the balls on the floured board, then roll them into cakes about ⅓ inch thick.
Place the cakes on a lightly greased warm griddle and let them rise a little.
Cook the cakes slowly on the griddle, turning often to maintain their flat shape, for about 15 minutes.
Tear them apart, butter them, and serve.
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
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the muffins their structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes it rise and turn spongy.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour and dissolves the yeast, forming the dough.
- Salt
- Controls yeast activity and adds flavour to the dough.
The step that matters
Cook the cakes slowly, turning often. Gentle heat lets the centre cook through before the outside browns too much. Frequent turning keeps the cakes flat and evenly cooked, so they do not puff up unevenly or scorch.
“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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