English Muffins, Part 3

The verdict: homemade English muffins make a lovely, tasty breakfast, whether toasted or untoasted, buttered or jammed.  I will definitely be making more English muffins soon.  But not too soon, since I learned this morning that my little brother doesn't like English muffins unless they are piled with an inch-thick layer of lemon curd or chocolate cream cheese.  Oh, well.  You can't please everyone all the time, right?

Look at my teeny tiny English muffins! :)

Buttermilk English Muffins
Recipe found HERE

Makes about 8-10 muffins [or 17 2 1//2-inch mini-muffins, in my case]

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1-2 tablespoons water [I only used 1 tablespoon of water]
Extra Flour and cornmeal for dusting
Cooking oil [I used canola oil]

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, active dry yeast, salt, and baking soda, and mix well.  Add buttermilk and water and mix with a wooden spoon until liquids are incorporated and start forming a dough.  On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, soft, and pliable.  (If the dough is too wet, add a little bit of flour.  But be careful not to add too much, or the dough will be too tough.)  [I didn't add any extra flour.]  Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover, and let it rise at the room temperature for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.

Prepare a couple of flat plates and sprinkle some cornmeal [I used two wooden pizza peels].  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.  Cut out the rounds using a 3-inch round cookie cutter.  Place the cut our pieces on the plates.  (Avoid working too much with the dough, or it will get tough.)  You can gather the leftover scrap pieces and combine together, but you shouldn't do this more than once.  Sprinkle some cornmeal on the tops of the dough rounds and let them rest for about 50 minutes.

Brush a large flat skillet with cooking oil.  Heat the skillet over medium.  When the pan gets hot, place 4-5 muffins (or however many fit without touching each other) and cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.  (Try checking the bottoms every couple of minutes and adjust the heat accordingly.)  Flip the muffins to the other side and repeat the procedure.  Cook both sides for another 2 minutes each.  [Mine only took about 2 minutes total per side.]  Remove from heat and let them cool.  Repeat the same procedure to finish cooking them all.

*NOTE: The English muffins may be placed in a zip-lock storage bag after they have cooled for overnight storage.  I suggest placing the bag in the refrigerator if they will be stored any longer than overnight.

Split open and ready for toasting!