The English Muffin jungle
I just started making my own English Muffins, using Thomas' commercial English Muffins as the standard. The results have to have holes just the right size and the texture has to be just right.
This is proving to be a challenging task. I've tried about six variations and all were rejects. The most promising variation is a thick batter raised with yeast to have lots of holes in it. The results of my first trial with it were to pasty inside and they were too thin because they did not rise in the muffin rings as I thought they would.
Back to the kitchen!
I'll post the recipe after I get it figured out.
Noteworthy is that I tried the Alton Brown recipe but the results were not that good and it uses dry milk, which contains oxidized cholesterol (this won't be on the ingredients list, it's just a side effect of drying the milk.)
Sourdough English Muffins from Susan at WildYeast: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/09/11/sourdough-english-muffins/
I think these are great! The holes and texture are just like Thomas' (only better ;o).
They are leavened with an overnight sourdough sponge and just enough baking soda so they rise up on the griddle like nobody's business. You can watch them rise and they get little "waistlines" exactly in the middle so you know exactly where to fork split them. I make these on Sunday and my kids gobble them up by Tuesday.
The dough is firm enough that english muffin rings are not needed, though it is a bit tricky to work with the dough at first because it is very sticky and soft, as Susan points out in her recipe.
The recipe calls for fluid milk, you can probably use skim or a substitute if necessary for your dietary concerns.
Wish it was Sunday--I'd rather be making a batch than what I'm doing right now!
I tried the Wild Yeast recipe and thought they were ok for a whole wheat muffin, but personally don't care for whole wheat in my English muffins. The recipe for sourdough muffins on the Kingarthurflour.com works pretty well. It uses sourdough starter and commercial yeast, so you get a pretty good rise. The flavor is good. There was a recipe posted here that called for vinegar, I think, that got pretty good reviews, but I can't find it.
There's not too much whole wheat in that recipe--so little that my picky teen who wouldn't touch whole wheat with a 10 foot pole doesn't perceive it. I use white whole wheat anyway, if that makes any difference. It's truly not noticeable to us.
If so, check this one out:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/8344/dan-lepard039s-cider-vinegar-english-muffins
Happy baking!
Al
I've been meaning to try it, and now I can. But I have some sourdough discard that needs to get used up first.
and reminded me of those popular Thomas brand muffins only better. I made these from a recipe posted on http://www.northwestsourdough.com site.
Sylvia
Those look absolutely ideal! That crumb is amazing.
Sylvia, those look absolutely delicious! Al
Thank you MFrost and Al..I have only been able to get the open crumb 'nooks and crannies' when making the 'sourdough' version of English muffins.
Sylvia
I am a serious, long-term bread baker and I also tried English muffins quite a number of times. Generally with poor success. They were edible but did not compare to commercial varieties. I eventually gave up.
With bagels I have good success--in fact, they are excellent though I cannot quite make them look as good as a bagel bakery kinds.
George (author of What Recipes Don't Tell You)
The coarseness of the crumb is hard for me to get also. I make whole wheat & white muffins & they taste great but I don't get very big nooks & cranys. I use active dry yeast, would rapid rise fix my crumb?
Charlie
Hi,
I don't know if it's of interest to you, but I posted on these on my blog at the end of January.
This is the link: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15953/crumpets-and-muffins
I'm UK based, and realise now that an English Muffin in the USA seems to be a cross between what we think of as a muffin, and crumpet.
Best wishes
Andy
While I'm generally happy with the KAF recipe, I still have to try the Lepard recipe, and the Momofuku recipe looks good too (a little bit too much work, tho), but I couldn't find Sylvia's recipe on the site she linked to. Perhaps she can provide a direct link to the recipe?
Edith the recipe has been removed because it is going to be in her new book. Though I have not tried it... there is a very nice recipe posted for sd enlish muffins at http://www.sourdoughome.com/englishmuffins.html
Sylvia