English Muffins

I've never been a big fan of English muffins. I went through a phase in my early 20s where I ate them instead of bagels (less calories, I think), but I didn't like it. My husband, however, loves English muffins. I am happy to buy them for him, but they are expensive and it's hard to find an organic version. I looked in to making them, but every recipe I saw called for English muffin rings and I just didn't see the point in buying something I could only use for one thing (well, I could use them for hamburger buns, too).

I was pretty excited when I found this recipe -- no rings and basic ingredients. English muffins are "baked" on the stove top in a frying pan or skillet. They are super simple to make, but they take some time so don't start them if you are in a hurry. They taste absolutely nothing like the store bought brand. They are much better!

English Muffins
1 3/4 cup warmed milk
2 teaspoons yeast
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
4-4 1/4 cups flour (white, whole wheat or any combination thereof)
Corn meal

Put milk, yest, sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow butter to mostly melt. Add rest of ingredients. Mix until well combined. Remove bowl from stand mixer and fold dough over a few times while in the bowl. The dough will be sticky so you may need to use a tad of flour. Either grease bowl of stand mixer or lightly grease another bowl and allow dough to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Punch down dough. Roll dough in to a rectangle on surface lightly dusted with corn meal. Using a 3" round cookie cutter, cut out dough. Re-roll and re-cut as needed until all the dough is used up. Place cut dough on cookie sheets and cover with a wet towel. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Warm a large pan (with a top) over low heat on stove top. Sprinkle pan with corn meal. Cook muffins for 6-7 minutes on each side, covered. Be gentle when turning so as not to deflate the muffins too much. Cool on a rack. These are freezable!

Adapted from Utah Deal Diva.