English Muffins

Growing up, I am not sure why but my parents only used King Arthur flour. I remember my daddy making waffles (recipe which needs to be posted at some point cause they are great) from scratch and out came the brown and red bag of whole wheat flour. 

When I got married, I realized when I went shopping I automatically gravitated towards certain products, mostly because those were what I grew up with. Rumford baking powder and King Arthur flour are two that stand out. These made their way to my cupboards. At the funeral of my Uncle, I spent the weekend at my cousins house and discovered this cookbook sitting on her shelf and quickly fell in love. I have always wanted to be a baker and always admired the art of forming the dough into a work of yummy art. I soon discovered that there is so much more the flour being sold by King Arthur. 

You can actually get their catalog or just shop it online. They even have a section on their website that just talks about their flours and has videos of how their flour is harvested and much more. Two Christmas' ago, my mother got me a gift card. It took me a long time to decide what to buy. Kept circling things in the catalog going back and forth. Finally I decided on their Yogurt Maker, Baguette Pan and their English Muffin Rings. I have used the first two, but even after I got them I realized my using them was probably not going to happen. They are just so easy to buy.

I recently was searching Pinterest for great breakfast recipes and discovered a freeze ahead breakfast sandwich which I can no longer find. I didn't have any English Muffins so figured why not try to put those rings to use finally!

The recipe was simple to follow and they turned out incredibly deliciously. I did learn a few things like when it says to not over fill...there is a reason to that LOL. I did check with King Arthur first and they graciously said it was ok to post as long as I linked back to them (have no fear...I love to link!) so here is the recipe and my iphone photo. The more I blog though the more I think I need to keep our nice camera more accessible. 

King Arthur English Muffins

The cookbook also gives directions for dry-frying but since I baked those are the only directions I am posting. This recipe starts on page 227 of their All-Purpose Cookbook 

Starter:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (next time I am going to try with White Whole Wheat)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/8 tsp instant yeast

Dough:

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 TB cornstarch
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 TB sugar or non-diastatic malt powder (I used sugar...one day I will buy this)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 TB butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk, warm (I used almond milk and they were fabulous)
• cornmeal for sprinkling on pans when you bake

Directions

1. Mix the starter together, til you form a smooth batter. Cover and leave at room temp for at least 4 hrs, or up to 16 hours. The starter is kind of puffy and full of holes when ready to use.
2. In large mixing bowl beat starter and dough ingredients to form a smooth batter. It needs to be beaten for 5 to 8 minutes so I used my kitchenaid, but you can always give those muscles a work out too :). 
3. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm spot until the batter has doubled about 1 hour
4. Lightly grease 10 to 12 English Muffin rings and place on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet. I used my Pampered Chef Stoneware and find it never burns and everything turns out great. Sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal into each ring. This is not needed just makes them look more store like LOL
5. If you don't have the rings, like most people, you can simply drop the batter on the pan and form with your fingers. Big hint: dip fingers in water...won't be as sticky!
6. Stir the dough, then drop a scant 1/4 cup of dough into each ring (don't heap it like I did LOL) Smooth the dough if you want (remember dip your fingers in water first so it doesn't stick all over you) Cover and let rise in warm place for 1 hour or until they have grown at least a third.
7. Preheat oven to 350. If using rings, place a pan on top to keep them flat on both sides. This makes it so they don't grow over the rings as well and can fit in toaster. Don't put a pan on top if you aren't using rings. 
8. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool and enjoy!