English Muffin Recipe
Delicious English Muffin
The quintessential English muffin recipe warms the heart and satisfies the mind’s quest for fresh baked and buttered bread. It is worth your while to make English muffins from scratch. Not only is the texture lighter and crisper, homemade muffins taste better too — yeasty, wheaty, complex. The dough will seem wet when shaping into rounds, but the high hydration is key to forming those nooks and crannies we all love.
1 cup warm water
1 envelope of dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup buttermilk, warmed, option (1/2 cup sourdough starter plus 1/2 cup buttermilk)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
Nonstick spray
Fine cornmeal, for dusting
Whisk yeast, sugar and 1 cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add buttermilk, butter, oil, salt, and 3 1/2 cups flour and beat on low speed until shaggy dough forms. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but is very wet and sticky about 5 minutes.
Spray a medium bowl with nonstick spray, transfer dough to greased bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill overnight, the cold rise makes the dough easier to handle, produces better flavor, and creates more nooks and crannies.
Dust 2 parchment-lined baking sheets generously with cornmeal. Spray a clean work surface with nonstick spray, turn out the dough, then spray dough. Using a bench scraper, divide dough into 12 pieces, approximately 3 0z. each. Working with 1 piece at a time and using bench scraper, fold dough inward onto itself on 4 sides. Turn dough over with bench scraper so that folds are underneath and transfer to the prepared sheet.
Sprinkle each piece with cornmeal. Spray plastic wrap with nonstick spray and loosely cover baking sheets, oiled side down. Let sit at room temperature until the dough is nearly doubled in size, 1 hour. Heat a large skillet or griddle, preferably cast iron, over low. Place another rimmed baking sheet in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Working in 2-3 batches and keeping remaining dough covered, slide 2 thin metal spatulas from opposite sides underneath the dough, also getting underneath cornmeal to avoid sticking or deflating the dough, and transfer to skillet, don’t crowd.
Cook until bottoms are dark golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Turn and cook until other side is dark golden brown also 5-7 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer muffins to preheated sheet in the oven and bake until cooked through and sides are dry to the touch but still spring back 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with remaining dough. Let muffins cool at least 30 minutes before splitting with a fork and serving.
English muffins can be made 1 day ahead. Let cool and store in a resealable plastic bag at room temperature. Toast lightly before serving.