English Muffins

I have my brother and father coming into town tomorrow. I'm not one to have breakfast cereals laying around the house. I think after having way, way too much of it in college, I have shunned it. (One of the reasons why you'll never find Ramin noodles in my home.) With one of them liking to sleep in and the other liking to get up before the sun rises, I thought it would be better to have something on hand. Less coordination that way. About every couple of weeks, I'll make some english muffins. They always seem to hit the spot early in the morning. Now all I have to do is figure out what in the world will I be making for dinner tomorrow.

1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup warm (not hot) milk
2 tablespoons unsalted melted butter

Pour the warm water in a small bow and add the yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve and let stand at room temperature until foamy (about 10-15 minutes).

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Make a well. Add the egg, milk, butter, and yeast mixture into the well. Using your hands, mix well. The dough should not be too sticky. If so, add more flour. If the dough is crumbly, add a little bit of water. Knead well for no more than 5 minutes. (Do not overknead or the muffins will be more heavy.)

Lightly grease a large bowl and place in the dough. Cover with greased plastic wrap (I normally spray it with cooking spray). Cover with a towel and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about an hour to and hour and a half).

Take the dough out of the bowl and lightly knead for about one minute. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick and cut rounds. (I use a drinking glass since I don't have a biscuit cutter.)

Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet to low to medium heat. Lightly grease the surface. Place the muffins on the skillet. They will get larger while cooking. Cook on each side for about 2 minutes. Be careful to keep checking the bottoms so they won't burn. Enjoy with jam (pictured with huckleberry...), cream cheese (awesome with locks and capers)...


**UPDATE** Had the muffins for breakfast Saturday morning, and both brother and dad ate several each, while commenting on how they didn't know you could make english muffins without them being Thomas English Muffins from the store!