Homemade English Muffins

I grew up eating English muffins for breakfast! I always loved toasting them until the nooks and crannies became crispy and they held the butter and jelly in place! There are so many things you can make with English muffins including an egg and cheese sandwich or how about Eggs Benedict? They are also great as the bread for a cheeseburger or for any kind of sandwich. The possibilities are endless! Now I will show you how easy it can be to make them at home. I am happy to have you follow along with this Instructable!

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached flour

1 cup water

1 tablespoon plain yogurt

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

extra butter for greasing the rings

extra flour for dusting the rings

1 1/2 teaspoons yellow cornmeal

stand mixer or electric mixer

medium mixing bowl

spatula

rubber scraper

1 cup glass measuring cup

candy thermometer

spoon

4 baking rings

1/4 cup dry measure

griddle pan

1/4 sheet baking pan

plastic wrap

Place 1/4 cup of the water in a 1 cup glass measuring cup. Microwave at 100% power for 25 seconds. Check the temperature with a candy thermometer. It should read 110 to 115 degrees F. Continue microwaving at 15 second intervals until it reaches that temperature.

Water that is too hot will kill the yeast, but if it's too cold, the yeast won't be activated.

Add 2 teaspoons active dry yeast to the warm water and stir. Add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar and and 1/4 teaspoon flour.

Stir well. Let the yeast mixture rest for about five minutes. It should begin to foam.

Now the yeast is foamy and ready to use.

Combine the dry milk, sugar, salt and flour in the bowl of the stand mixer.

Place the butter in a small microwavable bowl. Microwave on 50% power for 40 seconds, or until melted.

Add the melted butter, remaining 3/4 cup water, yogurt and proofed yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. Using the paddle attachment, set the stand mixer to medium low speed. Let it mix for 5 minutes.

Here is how the dough will look. It is well blended and fairly loose.

Spoon and pour dough into a medium mixing bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and leave it overnight to rise in the refrigerator.

The next morning, remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Take off the plastic wrap and you will find that the dough will be nice and puffy!

Generously grease the inside of the baking rings with butter.

Lightly dust the rings with flour. Tap to remove any excess.

Generously butter the surface of the griddle pan.

Sprinkle the cornmeal over the butter on the griddle pan.

Butter the inside of a 1/4 cup measure so that the dough will not stick.

Set prepared rings onto the griddle pan. Turn heat on the burner to low.

Using the buttered 1/4 cup measure, spoon dough into each of the 4 rings. This should use about half of the dough.

Place a baking sheet on top of the rings to cover.

Allow to cook on the first side for 6 to 10 minutes, depending on the temperature of your griddle.

You can check the bottom by picking up the edge with a spatula to check for doneness.

Using the spatula, carefully flip each ring over. Cook on the second side for about 6 minutes until browned on the bottom. Be careful not to burn them.

While the muffins cook on the second side, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using the spatula, place the cooked muffins on a baking sheet. Carefully remove the muffins from the rings. If they stick, run a knife around the edge. Quickly press down each muffin with the spatula.

Place pan with the muffins in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes to make sure the muffins are fully cooked in the center.

There should be enough dough left to make 4 more English muffins. Repeat steps 17 to 23 with the remaining dough.

Allow English muffins to cool completely. Using a fork, split each muffin. Push the tines of the fork into the side of the muffin across the center. Rotate the muffin and push with the fork until the muffin splits. Fork splitting helps to make the nooks and crannies that we like to see. If you would prefer, you could cut it across with a knife instead of using the fork.

And that is how you can easily make your own English muffins from scratch in your kitchen!

Toast each half in your toaster or toaster oven. Top each muffin any way you like. Pictured here I used lots of butter and grape jelly. Sit back and enjoy the crispy goodness of what you have made!!!