Whole wheat English muffins

There is undeniably something comforting about routine. After all, we are supposedly creatures of habit. The past couple of years have been rather testy around here. And, admittedly, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a morning person even at the best of times. Since becoming a mother, usually an internal autopilot gets me through almost an hour of being awake and attending to others’ needs. Unfortunately, I never trained myself to skip breakfast and therefore sustenance is needed quite quickly. In a sense, I’ve instinctively taken inspiration from the Italian/French where breakfast is typically cappuccino and pastry. Only my adapted version is a cappuccino with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a whole wheat English muffin topped with homemade mayonnaise and a dash of cayenne pepper. Whether you are after English muffins or just easy portioned bread items, this recipe has been tried and tested over and over again.

I normally make a batch of these whole wheat English muffins, slice in half and freeze them right on the baking tray. When needed, simply heat the frozen muffin(s) in the microwave oven for a few seconds and then, if you like, toast to desired darkness. Even including simple toppings, the entire process is easily under 5 minutes. And if you always wished you could bake your own bread, then this is a great and forgiving way to start.

Since I am normally all in for time saving tips and tricks, I first mix all the ingredients for the starter and then, while it’s getting to work, I measure out and get to temperature the rest of the ingredients for the dough. Excluding the proofing and baking, the active hands on time for these muffins could be under 20 minutes.

Whole wheat English muffins ingredients:

For the starter:

• 85ml (¼c) lukewarm water
• 7g dry yeast
• 1tsp plain flour
• ½tsp sugar

For the dough:

• 315g (~2c) plain flour
• 315g (~2c) whole wheat flour
• 330ml (1⅓c) lukewarm milk
• 1 (60g) lightly beaten large egg
• 40g melted butter
• 1½tsp salt
• all of the starter

Directions:

1. Simply combine 85ml water, 7g dry yeast, 1tsp plain flour and ½tsp sugar in a small bowl, whisk lightly with a fork and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl with 315g plain and 315g whole wheat flours and add 1½tsp salt to one side. When the starter is ready, quickly pour 330ml milk, 60g beaten eggs, 40g melted butter and all of the starter into the flours. Using a fork stir the ingredients until well combined and formed into almost uniform dough.
3. Cover with a towel and leave in a warm place until well risen, about 2 hours.
4. Once risen, turn the dough onto lightly floured surface, knead until almost smooth and form into a ball.
5. Dust the entire working area and the dough with some flour.
6. Roll the dough out to 1cm thickness.
7. Using an 8cm round cutter, cut out about 11-12 muffins. Re-roll the scraps of dough and cut out enough muffins to make 15 in total. (I normally roll the last bits of dough into little bread sticks and bake them after the muffins for a shorter period of time.)
8. Place the cut out muffins onto a lightly floured baking tray. Cover with a towel.
9. Leave in a warm place for about an hour until well risen. Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 210C(410F).
10. Bake the English muffins in a preheated oven for 8 minutes.
11. Gently turn them over and bake 8 more minutes.
12. Cool to room temperature before slicing in half with a bread knife.
13. If you are going to freeze the baked English muffins then slice them all in half and freeze on the baking tray before transferring to a plastic bag.

And there you go, you made your own whole wheat English muffins! Perhaps a brioche next?

Please follow and like us: