There is no better start to your weekend than cooked breakfast served on freshly made English Muffins. Although muffins can be made a couple of days in advanced we usually start the ritual at 7am, happily returning to bed whilst proving the dough for the first time.
Despite common belief, the muffins are easy to make and do not need skills of an experienced baker to be a proper show stopper. They are freezable too – just cut them lengthways before popping to the freezer and slot still-frozen halves to your toaster for 1.5min before serving.
Ingredients:
- 500g unbleached white bread flour
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 350ml lukewarm milk
- 15g fresh yeast (or 7g fast acting, dry ones)
- 1tbsp melted butter
- 0.5 teaspoon caster sugar
- semolina for dusting
Method
Sift flour & salt into a big bowl and make a well in the centre.
Blend milk, yeast, sugar and melted butter together and beat the mixture into the flour. Then work it out until smooth and elastic. The dough should be soft but hold it’s shape when being stretched.
Leave covered in a warm place for 45-50min or until doubled in size.
Turn out the dough onto a well floured surface and knock back gently. Then roll out to about 2cm thick & cut muffins using 7.5cm cutters.
Dust muffins with semolina and leave to raise for about 20min on a baking tray sprinkled with semolina.
Heat the griddle (or a non stick pan) with a teaspoon of oil. Cook muffins over a medium heat for about 6min on each side or until golden brown.
Tip
Take your time cooking your muffins and don’t try to rush. If the pan is too hot they will burn whilst the centre is still uncooked.
Go for a nice golden brown colour on both sides and leave for 20 minutes to cool down (if you can resist the smell!).