Tea Time! (English muffins)

I found this recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks, a British book called Baking: a Common Sense Guide. There's a whole series of them, we have Cooking and 30-Minute Meals. They are great cookbooks, with lots of interesting recipes. The only downside has been that they do a lot of measuring by weight. However, I recently got a very nice kitchen scale so that's not a problem any more! Woo!

So. I figured, English cookbook-English muffin recipe. Must be a good one! And they weren't bad.

However, they weren't what I think of as English muffins. I would say they were excellent flat white buns. They did end up crisp, which was nice, but they were lacking in the bubbly, full-of-holes-to-catch-the-butter-ness that I associate with English muffins. Granted, I've never had anything but store-bought before, so I don't know what "real" ones are supposed to be like, but I was a bit disappointed with these.

Willow was fascinated by the mixer. So am I, usually

I did some more reading and discovered that many people cook these on a griddle. Maybe I'll try that next time. 

On the plus side, they were the perfect size to make tiny sandwiches for the kids, so despite my disappointment they got eaten up pretty quick!

Note: I took all the pictures for this one with my phone, sorry about the terrible quality...

ENGLISH MUFFINS

Preparation time 20 minutes +
Total cooking time 15 minutes
Makes 15

Ingredients:
 2 teaspoons dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
530 g (1 lb 3 oz/41/4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
350 ml (12 fl oz) lukewarm milk
1 egg - lightly beaten
40 g (11/2 oz) butter - melted

1. Lightly dust two 28 x 32 cm baking trays with flour.
2. Put the yeast, sugar, 1 teaspoon of the flour and 60ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) warm water in a small bowl and mix well. Leave in a warm draught-free place for about 10 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the
surface. The mixture should be frothy. If your yeast doesn't foam, it is dead.
3. Sift the remaining flour and 1 teaspoon salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the milk, egg, butter and yeast mixture all at once. Using a flat-bladed knife, mix to a soft dough. (I used my mixer with a dough hook. Maybe that's why they weren't bubbly, perhaps?)
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea
towel (dish towel) and leave in a warm place for 11/2 hours, or until well risen.
5. Preheat the oven to 210°C (415°F/Gas 6-7). Punch the dough down and knead again for 2 minutes, or until smooth. Roll to 1 cm (1/2 in) thick, then cut into rounds with a lightly floured plain 8 cm
(3 1/4 in) cutter and place on the trays. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave in a warm, draught-free place for 10 minutes.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cold.

Source- Baking: A Common Sense Guide