English Muffins

Because Dusty and I are such party animals, we did something wild and crazy for our Saturday night.....we made English Muffins. Yeah, I know. Kinda lame. But hey, it was fun to bake together and they turned out delicious!

Here is what you are going to need for 10 English Muffins:
-1/2 cup Milk
-1-1/2 tbsp Butter
-1 tbsp Sugar
-1/2 cup Warm Water
-1/2 package of Dry Active Yeast (1/8 oz)
-1/8 cup Cornmeal
-2-3/4 cup Flour (plus more for kneading and rolling dough)
-1/2 tsp Salt

In a saucepan, combine the milk, butter and sugar over medium heat. Warm until the butter melts, whisk briefly and then remove the saucepan from heat and let it cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl, pour in the warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Stir the yeast around with a fork and set the yeast aside for 10 minutes until the yeast dissolves into the water.

Meanwhile, while you are waiting for the milk mixture to cool and the yeast dissolve, cover a baking sheet with wax paper and generously sprinkle with cormeal.

Pour the milk mixture into the large bowl of yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add 1-1/2 cups of flour and stir vigorously until the batter is smooth. Then add the rest of the flour (1-1/4 cup)  and the 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough onto a floured surface and flour your hands so they don't stick to the dough. Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes and then let the dough rest for 5 minutes, because it's tired from you working it so hard ;)

Roll the dough out to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness and cut the dough into circles using either a biscuit cutter or you can even use a drinking glass. Place the muffins onto the baking sheet and sprinkle more cornmeal on top of each muffin. Cover the muffins with a clean towel and allow them to rise for 1-2 hours.

*Dusty and I thought it would be a good idea to let them rise overnight. After rising for 2 hours they were huge and beautiful, we were so excited! But then they deflated overnight and weren't as puffy as they were before. So make them the morning of, not the night before. Those are my words of wisdom!

After the muffins have risen to their puffy gloriness, heat a skillet over medium heat. Using a spatula, carefully transfer half the muffins to the ungreased skillet (so they don't loose shape) and bake for 8-10 minutes on each side. Flip the muffins over with a spatula. Repeat with the other half of muffins and transfer the cooked muffins onto a cooling wrack to cool.

Split them in half and toast them in your toaster so you can enjoy them for breakfast! Dusty said, "It's not an English Muffin until it's completely smothered in butter!" and I have to agree! I also love having some Huckleberry Jam on mine too!
I'm so glad I tried this recipe from the TK Blog! Gotta love Tasty Kitchen!