BBA Challenge #12: English Muffins

I am ruined. Absolutely ruined. Between homemade bagels and now homemade english muffins, I may never visit the "baked goods" or "bakery" aisles at the grocery story ever again.

Except that I work about 30 hours a week outside of my home, have a husband and two young children to care for and taxi around to school, church, soccer, piano and various other activities; leaving time for a grand total of about one baking project per week.

Oh well. All that other stuff may not taste as good, but it is so much more important. But you already knew that.

In all seriousness, I had so much fun the day I made these English muffins. The beginning part of it was pretty ordinary with the typical mixture of flour, liquid and yeast (with some other stuff thrown in, I'm sure). But then after the first fermentation, I rolled pieces into balls and let them proof on a sheet pan.

Then came the fun part. The griddle. Oh yes. The griddle.



Let them get really brown on one side, then flip 'em over.






I don't know if you can fully grasp it from the pictures, but these English muffins were the tallest things I have ever seen.




And if you didn't know, the best way to open an English muffin (or biscuit) is not with a knife. It's best to use some device, like a fork, to poke holes in the sides and then pull it appart.

I have this tool that was originally purchased through Pampered Chef as a tool to hold vegetables (like onions) still while slicing. I have never used it for said purpose, but it works great for opening English muffins.


Just poke it most of the way through the center of the English muffin all the way around the muffin, then pull it apart.


My English muffins did not have the big holes in them that I am used to seeing from store bought ones. Mr. Reinhart says that can be accomplished by timing putting them on the griddle "on the rise." I'll have to work on that timing, obviously.



None-the-less, they were delicious.

Uses:

For several days I had an English muffin to take with me to work to toast and eat for breakfast with some strawberry preserves and cream cheese. Oh, yes... it was yummy.

Then, one night, we had brinner and made fried eggs on top of a slice of cheese and half of an English muffin all topped with roasted and diced Hatch Green chile. "Yum" does not even begin to describe it.

Overall Impressions:

This recipe was not complicated and was, in fact, fun. It was difficult flipping the muffins over without denting the sides.

Will I make English muffins again? Yes.