Sourdough English Muffins

Sourdough English Muffins

Another recipe stolen from the net. This time, it's Jo-Ann who provided this stunning English Muffin Recipe. The taste is awesome. My son, who doesn't like English Muffins had 3 of them for breakfast. The next day we made Eggs Benedict, and he announced he liked the English Muffins better "without all that stuff on them".

The Night Before:
(Recipe from: Bake Your Own Bread & Be Healthier-Stan & Floss Dworkin)
1 C starter
2 tablespoons honey
2 C reconstituted powdered skimmed milk (or whole milk)
4 C unbleached white flour

Mix starter, honey and milk in mixing bowl until smooth. Add 4 C flour, 2 C at a time, and mix in. There's no need for gluten development now, so do not whip-just get all the flour thoroughly wet. Cover with clean towel and leave at room temperature in a draft free place.

The Next Morning:
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1-2 C unbleached white flour
2 tsp sea salt
cornmeal for sprinkling.

Stir down mixture (it will have risen considerably). If it has risen too high and fallen, no problem, just stir down the rest of the way. Sprinkle a scant teaspoon baking soda and 2 teaspoons sea salt over the surface of the dough and work in.

Flour your board with 1 C flour or more (up to 2 C), until dough is medium stiff - enough to roll out. Once you have enough flour in (I go by feel-never too dry and always moist) and the dough longer sticks to your hands, give it a 5 minute kneading.

Get 2 baking sheets or jelly roll pans and line with waxed paper-sprinkle corn meal over both.

Flour board again and lightly roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Take a 3 inch round cutter ( a bit larger diameter, different shapes, OK) and cut as many rounds as you can-rolling the left over dough out and cutting more until the dough is all used up. Try to keep them very uniform in thickness and diameter.

As you cut each round, place on cornmealed wax paper-don't allow raw muffins to touch--they will stick. When all rounds are cut, sprinkle corn meal over tops of muffins.

Allow to rise in warm place, covered, for about an hour or until risen again.

Now Comes The FUN Part!
Preheat a griddle (I used a non stick T-Fal 12 inch griddle pan) with a TINY bit of butter, until butter sizzles. Use a low flame or heat setting so the inside of the muffin bakes and outside does not burn. Pan bake one side for about 4 minutes and turn. Squish down a bit with spatula and pan bake other side for about 4 minutes. Turn only once so be sure the one side is cooked before turning. While you can skip the butter if you have a non-stick skillet, they won't taste as good without it!

They look like store bought, and taste supreme!

Enjoy and have fun.
Jo-Ann

Mike comments... while the muffins taste great, they don't have the texture I usually associate with English Muffins - no big holes. I figure, maybe it's me, so I'm still working on it.

It's 2008, if only barely, and I STILL haven't gotten back to this recipe. However, I have received a number of emails in regards to this recipe. And the common theme is, "don't be in a hurry, let the muffins rise a bit longer and you'll get the big holes you're looking for!" Another message I received was from an English lady who told me that in England the muffins don't have holes as large as I seem to be expecting, so the muffins are probably right on target.