So I’ll be honest here. I was never an English Muffin fan growing up however one of the things I had to learn real fast once Mr. Fantabulous and I became a couple some 100+ years ago I swear is that he LOVES them. So like the good wife I would buy them every 2 weeks, pre-packaged, no muss/no fuss. Right?
Well one day he said to me “Honey, you can bake and cook anything so um why are do you keep buying them? Haven’t you ever tried making them?” Frankly no I hadn’t. Like I said, I was never really a fan. They were just ‘ok’ for me which is funny considering how much I LOVE bread. So since I had no clue how to make them a-Googling-I-went. The ingredients are pretty basic when it comes to making bread except the whole making them on a griddle. This kind of scared me as I was so sure the dough would stick. But then thinking about it, pizza dough doesn’t stick on pans or stones so I decided to give it a shot.
This recipe is literally a make it up as you go. Sometimes, it’s those types of recipes that turn out to be some of the best. Right?
Get up a little early this weekend and make them for the family. Once you make these, you will NEVER buy pre-made again!
Now I know someone of you are still pretty intimidated when it comes to making bread but honestly, these are so easy they practically make themselves! Give it a shot! You are going to LOVE these!!!
- 2 1/4 cup bread flour
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 tsp yeast
- 1 Tbl vegetable shortening
- 1 cup Buttermilk - Just make your own!
- 3 Tbl unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature
- Cornmeal for dusting
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
- Add shortening and 3/4 cup buttermilk. Mix in your stand mixer. fitted with a dough hook.
- Add remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk, a little at a time, until dough comes together.
- Knead dough in the stand mixer for 7 minutes.
- Add in the butter and mix for 1 minute until it passes the window pane test. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky.
- Lightly coat with vegetable oil a large bowl and add dough.
- Turn dough in bowl to coat in oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap, lid or clean linen.
- Let dough sit until doubled in size, it should take about 60 to 90 minutes.
- Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle with cornmeal.
- Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.
- Shape pieces into balls and place on prepared baking sheet. *Now if you want them uniform in shape, spray muffin rings with Pam and place the dough in them.
- Spray with Pam and sprinkle with cornmeal.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let the muffins rise for about an hour.
- Heat a griddle to medium heat and preheat oven to 350F.
- Add 4 muffins to the griddle and cook for 5 minutes on each side. ~10 minutes total.
- When those 4 are done, place on the sheet pan and bake for 6 minutes.
- When you remove them from the oven, allow to cool for a minute then gently remove the muffin ring (if you use one).
- While those are baking, place the remaining muffins on the griddle and cook for 5 minutes each side. ~10 minutes.
- When the remaining ones are done on the griddle, place them on the baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes.
- When you remove them from the oven, allow to cool for a minute then gently remove the muffin ring (if you use one).
Once they are done… well, sit back and enjoy! I know we both did!
Just LOOK at all those nooks ‘n crannies!!!
The post Buttermilk English Muffins – nooks ‘n crannies out the wazoo! appeared first on The Kitchen Whisperer.
