Bake: Homemade English Muffins

I tried these muffins as a little experiment. We tend to go through English Muffins quite quickly here - Abbey has a newfound love for them, and we do love to eat them with fresh poached eggs. Yum.

So, I made a batch - and was so impressed with them that I'll be making double batches regularly from now on. No more buying them from the supermarket.

Once cooked as per the instructions below, you can freeze them as use them as needed just like you would with the bought product. Chop in half and toast or grill.

Homemade English Muffins

350ml (12fl oz) milk
2 teaspoons caster sugar
7g (1/4oz) sachet fast-acting yeast

500g (1lb 2oz) bakers flour

1 teaspoon salt

Flour, extra for dusting

Heat the milk, stir in the sugar and yeast. Stand for 5 minutes or until the mixture is frothy.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.
Pour most of the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix to a soft but not wet dough.
Knead for 6 to 8 minutes by hand, until the dough is smooth and slightly springy.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
Knock back the risen dough and knead again for 2 to 3 minutes, then leave on a dusted work bench covered with an upturned bowl or tea towel for a further 30 minutes.
Without knocking back the dough, roll it into a log about 20cm long. Cut the log into 10 slices, each about 2cm thick, and place on a baking tray dusted with flour, cut side down.
Dust the top with flour, then flatten them slightly so they are about 1.5cm thick.
Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Place a frying pan or grill pan on a medium heat. When the pan is moderately hot, reduce the heat to very low and cook the muffins (using no oil or butter) in batches for 10 minutes on each side. When they are cooked they will be golden brown on both sides and will sound hollow when tapped on the base.
Wrap cooked muffins in a clean tea towel.
Cooked, cooled muffins are freezable.

Enjoy!