English Muffins

This year, I entered many contests at the Houghton County Fair.  It was a lot of fun to do!   I entered 21 things and won 7 blue ribbons: food preparation: English muffin (only entry so that was an easy win!), food preservation: Dill Pickles, Salsa and Floriculture: dahlia (only one entered), succulent, dracaena, terrarium.  I had never made English muffins before, and I have to say they were kind of a pain to make, but they came out so good.  I probably will make them again, so I want to remember how I did it.  I found a recipe on the King Arthur website, but it was fraught with errors. 

Here's how I actually made the recipe.  I used the electric griddle that Jane bought me for Christmas years ago to make pancakes for all the grandchildren she thinks her brother will give us!

English Muffins

1 3/4 cups (397g) milk, lukewarm
3 tablespoons (43g) butter, softened
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, to taste
2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 1/2 cups (540g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
corn meal for sprinkling the griddle

Weigh your flour;  Combine all of the ingredients (except the cornmeal) in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the dough using the flat beater paddle until it starts coming away from the sides of the bowl, and is satin-smooth and shiny; this will take about 5 minutes at medium-high speed. When you lift up the beater, the dough will be very stretchy. 

Scrape the dough into a rough ball, and cover the bowl. Let the dough rise until it's nice and puffy; this will take 1 to 2 hours or so.  Gently deflate the dough, and divide it into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball, then flatten the balls until they're about 3" to 3 1/2" in diameter.  Place on a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal.  Cover both sides with corn meal.  Let them rest for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, h eat electric griddle to 350F, and then sprinkle it heavily with corn meal.

Cook the muffins about 5 minutes per side, until their crust is golden brown, and their interior is cooked through. When done, the center of a muffin should register about 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.