English Muffins (King Arthur Flour's Rolled Version)

Mom's down for the weekend, and when I mentioned I was going to the store to purchase English muffins, she convinced me to stay home and make them from scratch.  I'm glad I did!  These muffins tasted so fresh and delicious.  I'm not sure I can ever buy them again!  I love that this recipe requires no special equipment (rings) to cook them!

English Muffins

1 3/4 cups milk, warm (we used a heaping 1/3 cup powdered milk + 1 3/4 cup warm water)

3 T. butter, melted

1 1/4 tsp. salt

2 T. granulated sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 - 4 1/4 cups flour (bread flour is great if you have it; if not, all-purpose worked fine for us)

2 tsp. yeast

Mix 2 cups flour with powdered milk (if using), sugar, and yeast.  Add warm water or milk, egg, and butter, and whisk well.  Add 2 additional cups of flour with salt.  Mix until flour is incorporated.  Add additional flour as needed to make a VERY SOFT dough.  Knead in mixer for 3-4 minutes.  Cover mixing bowl with sprayed plastic wrap, and let dough rise for approximately 30 minutes.

Sprinkle cornmeal thickly on a board or flat surface.  Gently remove dough from mixer bowl, trying not to break bubbles that have formed.  Gently pat out to 1/2-3/4", and use a 3" cutter to cut into circles (we used a cup, but a clean tuna-fish or water chestnut can would work well).  Let rise for another 10-15 minutes, until dough has begun to "puff" again.  Bake on a 300 degree preheated griddle, sprinkled with cornmeal, 7 minutes per side.  Adjust heat if needed if it's browning too fast or not fast enough.

When the muffins are brown on both sides, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.  If eating them hot, use a fork to pry apart (otherwise, you'll ruin all the air holes on the inside of the muffin; you must have air holes to hold all the butter and jam you'll be spreading on the muffin!).

This made 23 English muffins for us, although the original recipe said it would make only 16.  I think our circles were only 2 1/2" rather than 3", and we patted the dough to 1/2".

WW PointsPlus:  2 points (if you make 23 or 24); 4 points if you make only 16