english muffins

We eat a lot of eggs. We eat them so often, in fact, that my kids are pretty tired of them. I am always trying to think of new ways to serve them, or more exciting things to pair them with. I don't know about you, but at our house, english muffins are pretty darn exciting. I don't buy them very often, but when I do, they are gone in a snap. I decided to try making them today, and was pleased with the results.

I found this recipe in my favorite bread book. If you own a bread machine, then you really should own The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. All of our favorite recipes seem to come from it.

English Muffins

1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (I used salted, not-melted)
1 large egg
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons SAF yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast
cornmeal

Place all of the ingredients in your bread machine pan according to the manufacturer's instructions. Use the dough cycle.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a work surface that has been lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle the top of the dough with cornmeal, too. Cut out the muffins with a 3-inch biscuit cutter or with the rim of a glass. Roll out the scraps and cut the rest of muffins. Cover with a clean towel, or place them in the fridge if they are rising too fast while the others are baking.

Preheat an electric griddle to 350 degrees. Immediately place the muffins on the hot griddle. Cook for about 10 minutes on each side (they will be quite brown). They will get very puffy while baking. On the second batch, I smooshed them down flat after turning. This made them look a little more like a store-bought english muffin. The recipe didn't call for the smooshing, but without it, they were a little too round.

I ended up with 22 muffins! Quite a bit more economical than the 8 that come in the package from the store.

This afternoon is our busiest. We go straight from piano lessons to little league, and won't be home til well past dinnertime. I think these muffins will make the perfect after school snack. And you know what? We'll probably eat them with scrambled eggs for a late dinner, too.