Homemade English Muffins

Who knew you could make these so easily?

This recipe is from "The Old Farmhouse Kitchen" cookbook. They were super easy! Tonight I was thinking, 'why are they so good? Why would I prefer them to the store-bought kind that takes you 5 minutes to get (in and out of the store)?' It's like everything else homemade; because they are FRESH and that is no comparison to something that was cooked 2 weeks ago or longer! You know how good homemade bread is -hot out of the oven with butter melting through?? Ya... it's good.

By the way, have you ever thought about a package of cookies? They were baked and then they sit on the shelf in a store for MONTHS sometimes! EEWW! I wouldn't eat my own cookies that were that old! ha ha And if the cookies have to have preservatives to stay "fresh", they are probably not fresh! LOL Anyway, I hope you are inspired to make something homemade- even if it's not these! (Please do not think that I NEVER buy things from the store because I love Oreos or Nutter Butter cookies too! This is just a fun challenge to 'do things the way they used to' and I enjoy doing baking!)

Homemade English Muffins


Scald:
1 cup milk


Stir in:
2 T sugar
2 tsp salt (The recipe called for 3 tsp but I thought that seemed like SO much and I didn't want to ruin them. Try it if you'd like- these were not very salty with the 2 tsp.)
1/2 cup butter

Add:

1/2 cup cool water
Dissolve 2 pkgs yeast in 1/2 cup warm water (takes about 5 minutes to get frothy)
6 cups flour (I exchanged some of the white flour for wheat. I think I would add other flours to make them more "whole grain" next time.)

When milk mixture is lukewarm, blend in yeast mixture. Mix in flour a little at a time. Knead several times until dough is smooth and elastic. let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size. (I set in a greased bowl with a non-fuzzy towel over it and warm it next to the wood stove) Punch down; roll out on cornmeal. (Set 1/2 of your round on cornmeal, lightly sprinkled on the counter and then roll it out to about 1/2 thickness, maybe a little less.) Cut with a 3-inch cutter (or large drinking glass). Let stand for 30 minutes. Cook on griddle on top of stove, not oven (medium heat is what I used). Turn when bottom is browned.

Cool on a wire rack then cut in half with a serrated knife and toast! Also good just hot our of the oven with butter and jelly or plain!



I made breakfast sandwiches out of them with ham, farm eggs and a bit of Havarti cheese. Comfort food!