14 COOK’S COUNTRY • APRIL/MAY 2019
TIME TO BUST a myth: English
muffins are not hard to make at home.
You don’t need special equipment or
even much time to turn out English
muffins that are fresher and better
than any you’d buy at the supermarket.
To develop the best possible recipe,
I first had to survey existing recipes
for English muffins. The basic process
was this: Mix flour, yeast, salt, and
milk, and then let the dough rise.
Shape it into muffins, dust them with
cornmeal, and let them rise again.
Next, sear the muffins in a pan before
finishing them off in the oven.
But there was a lot of variance
in the details among recipes. Some
call for letting the dough rise in the
refrigerator for two days to develop
extra yeasty flavor and big air pockets;
others call for complex shaping tech-
niques you’d need to be a pastry chef
to understand. I hoped to streamline
the process without shortchanging the
flavor or texture.
While I wasn’t happy with any of
the recipes I tried, a few did have ele-
ments worth borrowing. One recipe
included honey in the usual mix of
ingredients; the honey boosted the
flavor and gave the muffins a nice
Making English muffins
at home is much easier
than you think—all you
need is a few staple
ingredients and a bit
of time.
by Ashley Moore
Making English Muffins at Home Isn’t Hard—Here’s How We Do It
Portion the Dough
Using a greased 1⁄4-cup dry measuring
cup, make eight dough rounds.
Brown on the Stove
Cook the dough rounds in butter in a
skillet until both sides are browned.Bake in the Oven
Place the browned muffins on a baking
sheet and bake in a 350-degree oven.Check for Doneness
Use a digital thermometer to see if the
muffins register 205 to 210 degrees.English 0XįQV
Two rises help create
plenty of little pockets
to hold melted butter.