Nooks and Crannies - English Muffins

Jennifer Garner made these during the pandemic on her Pretend Cooking Show. I’ve made them a couple of times since then, and they never disappoint. My local Safeway sold me a pack of English muffins this week that looked delicious, but when I picked one of the muffins out, I saw that the entire middle of the package was covered in mold. So, going homemade this week! Try them too - you won’t regret it. 

---

Ingredients:

3 cups buttermilk

2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

3 Tablespoons butter room temperature

3 Tablespoons honey

6 cups bread flour

1/4 cup sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup cornmeal

---

Prepare the buttermilk. On the stovetop, watching like a hawk, heat 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk to 105 degrees (don’t be like me - I scalded the buttermilk in the microwave and it separated, so I had to start over). In a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the remaining cold buttermilk. In the standing mixer with the cold buttermilk, pour in the warm buttermilk followed by the yeast, butter, honey, bread flour, sugar, and salt.

Mix dough. Mix ingredients on low for 1 minute, then increase speed and continue mixing for another 2 minutes until a sticky but smooth dough forms.

Let dough rise in the fridge. Put the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for one hour.

Prepare baking sheets and work surfaces. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cornmeal, and set aside. Sprinkle half of the remaining cornmeal (~⅓ cup..ish) on a sanitized work surface.

Shape dough. After an hour, remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a clean work surface. Turn the dough and sprinkle the top with the remaining cornmeal. Press the dough out to about a 1-inch thickness. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut out the rounds, cutting out as many as possible (dough cannot be gathered and pressed back out). Place the muffins on the sheet pan, 1" apart, and cover with plastic wrap. (At this point, you can cover the rounds on the sheet pan and place them in the fridge until the morning.)

Let dough rounds rise again at room temperature for one hour.

Cook muffins. Preheat oven to 350°. Once preheated, heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat. Place the muffins in the hot pan. Cook muffins, one minute per side, until golden brown. Depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to work through this step in batches. Arrange the par-cooked muffins on the same sheet pans and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. 

When you eat, make sure you fork split so you get all the fun crags and crevices. (Fork splitting means you jab your fork deeply into the muffin all around the edge, until you go full circle and it comes apart). 

Enjoy!