Just so we're clear, English Muffins are not my new years resolution.
That would just be weird... and wouldn't even make sense.
Now that we have that taken care of,
My resolution is simple, to make more foods from scratch that are already staples of my daily diet, but I always grab from shelves of supermarkets without a second thought.
Oh, and to share them here:)
Turns out a lot of my every-day foods are really, way simpler to make then I would have ever thought. For instance, these English Muffins.
Super.Duper.Easy.
The only part that takes more than a few minutes to do is the rising. And it's not like you need to sit and stare at the bowl while the dough rises.
in fact... that'd be kind of weird.
These are perfect to make on a day when you have some errands to run or cleaning to do. You can just throw the dough together in the morning, shape them when you come back in the afternoon, and cook 'em that night!
English Muffins
From CheeseCakeForAll
the recipe serves 18 muffins.
Ingredients
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/4 cup melted shortening (I used butter)
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Milk & Sugar // Melted Butter // Yeast
On a medium heat warm the cup of milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the sugar, and keep stirring until all the sugar dissolves. Let the mixture cool till lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in a warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In another large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and the rest of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let it rise at least 2 hours. *I used my dough hook instead of kneading by hand (I'm lazy:) and I also had to add a few extra spoonfools to my dough to get a good consistency - the dough should still be sticky, but stay together on its own well*
Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with biscuit cutter, drinking glass, or empty tuna can, whatever you have and give you a round shape. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Dust tops of muffins with cornmeal also. Cover and let rise 1/2 hour. *I used the lid of a mason jar as my cutter & let my rounds rise for 2 hours*
Top: Before the rise // on the griddle Bottom: browning
Heat greased griddle. Cook muffins on griddle about 10 minutes on each side on a medium heat. Keep baked muffins in a warm oven until all have been cooked. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. To use, split with fork and toast.
the whole recipe makes way more than I need, so I halved it and got 8, but now that I know how good it is I probably will make a whole batch at a time and freeze some plus they're way cheaper than the store-bought kind, and I already had everything in my cabinets to make them!
Happy New Year!
I love your New Years resolution! I will definitely be checking back for more recipe sharing, these look amazing. I will be trying this stat. Thanks for the share. Bekuh
Posted by: Bekuh | January 1, 2012 at 01:28 PM
Its amazing how much healthier it is to make your own food - this is a fantastic resolution! The recipe looks fantastic too, can't wait to see what else you rustle up!
Posted by: Vic | January 1, 2012 at 02:59 PM
What a great resolution! I might have to count that as one of mine!
Can't believe how awesome and easy these look!
Posted by: Heather | January 1, 2012 at 05:14 PM
Wow! Those look professional. Awesome job!
Posted by: Kate | January 19, 2012 at 04:13 PM
Those look amazing!! I'm completely behind your resolution, and I've been trying to bake more bread and generally eat foods that I know the ingredients of. Keep these coming!
xo
Mel
Posted by: Mel | February 18, 2012 at 09:25 AM