English Muffins
Week #12 in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge is English Muffins! I can’t believe how much I have learned in this challenge by baking a new bread recipe each week. I’m so thankful to Pinch My Salt for organizing this challenge & for getting me out of my baking box! Well I don’t even think I had a box because the only bread I had really ever baked was banana bread. LOL If you don’t already have Peter Reinhart’s book you really should pick it up! If I can bake bread so can you!
These were actually really fun to bake! I had my concerns; I’m normally not a big English Muffin eater. They tend to be a little dry & dense for me (at least the ones I’ve eaten) but nonetheless I jumped in as I do every week. I will say that other than Marta who is indispensable, I have three other bread baking tools that I just adore & make my bread baking more enjoyable. My digital scale (because sadly everything must be weighed, precision is key here), my digital thermometer (because, yes, we must take the dough’s temperature & oh yes, the liquids must also be at just the right temperatures) No guess work allowed people! And last but certainly not least what I call my dough cutter. Which I know is not the technical name for it. LOL. It’s a baker’s bench knife but dough cutter just sounds better to me!
This was another 1 day bread, which by now you know that I love. Plus it had minimal ingredients - another big plus. The dough was very different from the other doughs we’ve used but the instructions were straight forward. No fancy schmancy braiding this week, simply rolling out a few boules (fancy talk for balls) & waiting for them to puff up (which they did oh so beautifully) This dough smelled tasty & I couldn’t wait to get it on the griddle. I actually didn’t cook mine as long as recommended (look at me not following directions - sorry Peter) but I like my breads a little on the softer side & hello I actually do eat all of the food I make so - just sayin’! After the griddle, they went into the sauna to finish off the insides. All together quick & easy.
Naturally you know me well enough to know that I didn’t wait until it cooled down completely. I like my bread warm, don’t you? It had a beautiful tan on the outside & the inside was soft & scrumptious! I decided that bacon makes everything better so I baked up a batch of spicy & sweet bacon, fried up some eggs & made a lovely fried egg & bacon English Muffin! Dee-lish!
Okay, I think by now you know the drill…dry ingredients into wet ingredients, pass off to Marta who works super hard while I check in on my emails & catch up on tweets. LOL and then she passes it back to me. But here go the step by steps…
What do you like on your English Muffins?
Sneak Peak: Next Weeks’ Challenge: Foccacia! Evviva (hooray)
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Fleur de sel butter + Nutella (!).
Goshhhh I love muffins but these look a hundred miles beyond what I’m used to - I love how fat they are! And the texture of the outside! I can’t believe I’ve made so many American muffins and never thought to make English ones; I’m ashamed, haha. Gorgeous.
Beautiful English muffins! I like them with eggs and lots of cheese, topped with a slice of tomato!
Nicely done! I loved making the english muffins and was shocked on how easy they actually were to make. The other plus is the whole 1 day bread thing I love. Of course I keep cheating and looking ahead and get more and more giddy because focaccia is almost there……..
Wow, these look great! i like how thick they are! I sometimes don’t like English muffins b/c they are too thin and fall apart when you slice them and make a sandwich like the one you made up top. But these look like they would hold nicely!!!
Yum! I could use that breakfast sandwich right about now. Great job with those
Awesome. Your muffins look so terrific.
I love mine with peanut butter, jelly or cinnamon sugar and I have made egg suemuffins before. LOL.
Great job,
Susie
Those muffins look so plump and delicious! Yum!
This look good! I’d love to see a pic of the inside. You know how English Muffins usually have holes (I’m blanking on the right wording here). Anyway, I made some once and they were not good..extremely dense. Yours look awesome! I put peanut butter or butter or jam on them usually! Wish I had one now
I just ordered the book! I can’t wait to try the recipes.
I usually smear all breakfast breads with jam. But, you are a wise person, and I think I’m going to follow your lead and make bacon when I get to these.
I’d like one with butter and jams and one with just bacon, please.
Am I missing something..? Where is the recipe?
Ooooh Ellise! Now why didn’t I think of adding Nutella
Nutella makes everything better! Great idea!
Hi Indigo! They are fat aren’t they? But in a good way
The outside crust was amazing & the inside was very light & fluffy! Dee-lish.
Ciao Kathy! Thank you. Oooh cheese! That would have been lovely as well! Melted cheese on top of the bacon, oh yeah!
Ciao Jeff! Thanks much! I know it was shocked it was so easy peasy I thought perhaps I’d done something wrong LOL & I LOVE the one day breads! Right up my alley! I’m making the Foccacia domani (tomorrow) & can’t wait! Yum-O!
Hi Niki! Grazie. I’m not a fan of the flat dense ones myself! These little muffins just kept rising & rising & well I do like my breads on the softer side & was pretty pleased with them (even if they’re not quite traditional
Thanks Nicole! I was wishing I had some more around this morning. Sadly, the bread never lasts too long in my house LOL!
Thanks Susie! I really don’t think you can go wrong with any of those toppings
& how cute are suemuffins!
Thanks Natasha! They were quite plump & happy weren’t they?
Hi Janine! Grazie. The insides were gorgeous! You’ll have to trust me on that one. They barely lasted long enough for me to grab the shots I did LOL next time I’ll try and save one & get an inside shot. I’m certain to be making these again. Will probably double the batch & hope for leftovers, who am I kidding, even with doubling I’m sure they’d all get devoured around our house LOL!
Yeah Adina
I’m so glad you picked up the book. I think you’re truly going to love it. It has fantastic recipes & tips & easy to follow instructions! Made bread making possible for this non baker 
Ciao Haley! Ah, yes bacon is a powerful thing! It does make everything tastier!
you got it Jenn
Hi Charlotte- No you’re not missing anything. Although with all of my other food posts I post the recipe, with my bread posts I do not. I am participating in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge. We are baking through Peter Reinhart’s book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice one recipe at a time. It’s a great book & I highly recommend it
Beautiful! I, too, would have preferred bacon over my sausage loving family~
Thanks Frieda! I’m sure the sausage would have been great too (but yes, I secretly prefer bacon too
Beautiful blog!
Your English muffins look and sound great! I’ll have one just the way you made it please…
Thanks Andrea! I really appreciate that! These were delicious & doesn’t bacon make everything better LOL!
wow! these look amazing.
i am really enjoying your posts, your breads always look superb! not to mention they always make my mouth water, YUM!
keep it up
Thanks Denise! I’ve really been enjoying baking through Peter Reinhart’s book! Am working on Foccacia today
Your english muffins look awesome.
Thanks Wendy! I really liked them. They were quite big & fluffy inside! Yum!
[...] This is a blog entry about how to make English Muffins. She makes them, and they look great. She puts bacon in them and they look even better! [...]
I have thought and thought about venturing out and making these this year! The pics look soooooo yummy and inspiring! I think you did a great job! =-)