[updated 8/8/2010: edited, and now with photos!]

It took me a while to actually follow through on the comment from this post, but I finally made my own English muffins.

The dough for English muffins is softer and stickier than your usual bread dough. During the second rise, you form the muffins and let it rest on a baking sheet covered in corn meal, which prevents them from sticking to the sheet. The corn meal doesn’t readily come off when cooking them, but that’s okay by me. You can brush most of it off, as Ace suggests.

I adapted the recipe from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 13th edition.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm milk (heated to 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted shortening (I used peanut oil, but I imagine melted butter would be great as well)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (approximate)

Proof the yeast with the warm water and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar in a large bowl. It should bubble in about 5 minutes– if it doesn’t, throw it out and start over with a new packet of yeast.
Add salt, sugar, milk, 2 cups of the flour, and oil. Stir to mix well. Add the remaining flour and blend– the dough will be soft and a little sticky.
Cover the bowl, rest in a warm place until it has doubled in size– about an hour.
Flour a flat surface and your hands. Knead the dough a few times, then pat the dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick.
Use a 3-inch cutter to cut the dough into rounds.
Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal, and place the rounds onto the sheet, about an inch apart. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Heat a griddle or a skillet at medium heat and grease lightly.
Grease the cutter and set on the griddle, put the muffin inside the cutter. [I skipped using cutters on the skillet and just did them free-form.]

Cook over medium-low heat until bottom is browned, about 3-5 minutes, then flip over and repeat.
Let cool on racks.
Split the muffin with a fork. Serve warm right off the skillet with butter and jam, or toast them first if you prefer.

Tags: cornmeal, flour, milk, salt, shortening, sugar, vegetable oil, water, yeast