Romain made english muffins from scratch! It took 2 days and they came out pretty rustic, but they were delicious! There is something really amazing about making your own breads from scratch. I think all the work that you have to put into it makes it that much more delicious.

Romain used this no-knead recipe from the BraveTart cookbook. The dough was a bit sticky and we didn’t use any kind of molds, we just went for the rustic shapes. We made some bacon and used the bacon fat, just to keep things extra healthy. 🙂 Then we made bacon, egg and cheese muffins for brunch!

This took a few days to make the dough – so Romain made the dough on Friday evening so it would be ready for Sunday brunch.

3 2/3 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 cups milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cornmeal  – next time we might try semolina instead (the cornmeal was a bit big and coarse)

2 tablespoons butter or bacon fat

 

The dough:

Sift flour, stir in sugar, salt and yeast, followed by milk and melted butter. Cover with plastic and let it sit on the counter at room temp until it’s tripled in volume (10 to 12 hours).

Shape & Second Rise:

“Dollop” twelve portions of the dough onto a cornmeal covered baking sheet (don’t stir). Sprinkle with cornmeal, cover with plastic and put in the fridge for another 10 to 12 hours. Romain recently bought these DoughMate trays for bread making (because you know he loves his pizza) and they are really handy in these situations!

Make the muffins:

We cooked the muffins in our cast iron over medium heat in bacon fat and added a little butter as needed. Cook until golden brown on both sides (about 8 minutes). Our first batch were a little more than golden brown, but I think the trick with english muffins is to experiment with your heat and timing until you get it right. So just keep an eye on them. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes and then split by hand – this is what creates those nooks and crannies. Pop them in the toaster before serving!

Add in doggies and some good music and you have the perfect Sunday morning! 🙂

 

I really enjoy an english muffin with just butter and jelly – it’s just such a treat!!