Homemade English Muffins

English Muffins cost a lot in the store.  Like over $2.00 for 6 of them.  Or...you can make twice as many for about a quarter of the price.  That seems like a good use of time to me.  So I went searching for recipes.  I found this one, which I followed pretty much exactly, and have rewritten below for your convenience.  This is her recipe, not mine.  But I didn't want to fry them in a skillet like she did, because I'm terrible at frying things that involve flipping, and I knew the boys would be awake when I made them, so hot oil and close attention seemed like a bad idea.  

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water 
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 3 cups flour, divided
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup cornmeal 

Directions:

In small bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water.  Stir to dissolve and let sit 5 minutes until foamy on top.  In separate bowl, microwave milk and butter in 30 second increments until butter is melted.

In a third bowl (I promise the dishes are worth it), combine 1 1/2 cups flour and salt.  Add in the yeast mixture and the milk mixture and stir to combine.  Add 1/4 cup flour at a time until dough forms and starts to pull away from the bowl.  Knead on lightly floured surface for 5 minutes. 

Form into a ball and put in a bowl (yes, another one) greased with non-stick spray.  Cover and let rise until double, about an hour.  Punch down, cover, and let rise until double again, about an hour.  The recipe I linked to recommended a third rise to get extra air in (to help form the nooks and crannies that are yummy in English muffins), but I didn't do that this time, since we were heading out of the house.  Next time I probably will.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll about 3/4 inch thick and cut circles out.  Use the top of a glass (just put a little flour on it so it doesn't stick.  Cover cookie sheet with cornmeal and put circles on top.  Sprinkle more cornmeal on top of them.  Let rise 5 more minutes and pop them in the oven.  Flip them over after 8 minutes, and bake 5-7 more until they're golden brown. 

The Result:

Here's what I did wrong: I had shorter rise times and cut out the 3rd one, which, while optional, probably would have helped.  I also rolled them out too thin and used a slightly small glass to cut my circles, so my English muffins ended up on the small side.  Otherwise, the baking in the oven worked well, and they tasted okay.  I might see if I can play with the recipe a little bit to make them tastier (it will probably involve more butter and/or honey), but overall they were pretty good, and I will definitely be making them again.

And, for reading this far, here is a picture of our snack from yesterday: Crazy Crabs!  These were more fun for me than for the kids, but still a mostly healthy snack, so we all win.