Food Network Magazine (October 2015)
We have completely fallen for "The Great British Baking Show," which has to be the most charming thing on television right now.
If you're unfamiliar, it's a BBC show that's rebroadcast on PBS here in the U.S. It's home cooks taking on weekly baking challenges, but it's perhaps the most pleasant, drama-free reality television we've ever encountered.
Don't expect anyone to throw a pie here: It's all incredibly civil and absolutely delightful. Each episode features 3 baking challenges, and someone -- or sometimes two people, depending on the whims of the judges -- goes home.
The judges, whose names are Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood (yes, really), are keen but kind in their critiques.
In episode 2 of this season, the contestants were asked to make English Muffins (and yes, they referred to them as "English Muffins," even though they're in England). Here's what the judges were looking for: beautifully browned tops, with browned bottoms and white around the edges. Soft texture, with a good crumb structure and a muffin that's baked all the way through. As Mary put it: "I love the feel when I touch them, the sort of squidge at the sides."
We don't know much about squidge, but we were inspired. And then lo and behold, Food Network Magazine had a feature about making English Muffins at home. We dusted off our baking gloves and got to work.
Here's the most shocking thing to us about making English Muffins, which we first learned from "The Great British Baking Show": They're not made on the oven, but rather on a griddle. Or in our case, a cast-iron skillet.
Making these muffins is rather easy, actually. The dough comes together quickly, and then you let it rise for an hour or two. Then you knead it and pinch it into little balls, which you flatten into disks and then fry in the skillet. It's all shockingly straightforward for something we've always assumed would be very complicated to make at home.
Quick sidenote about this recipe: We love the way it's written. There are several helpful asides in it that teach you why you're doing a particular step. For example:
Heat the milk and coconut oil in a saucepan until a thermometer reads 110 degrees F. (If the milk is too hot when you add it to the flour mixture, it will kill the yeast.)
Not only is that useful information, it drives home just how important it is to keep a close eye on the temperature of the milk. We wish more recipes included helpful info like this.
So anyway, how did our muffins turn out?
Well, let's hear what Paul and Mary might have to say about them. (This is a real critique from the show.)
Mary: "They're overly brown."
Paul: "I'm getting parts that are overbaked ... and parts that are underbaked."
Mary: "That's a pity."
Pity or not, we loved making these English Muffins.
Were ours perfect? No.
Would they win "The Great British Baking Show"? Definitely not.
Did we like making them, and did we enjoy eating them with butter and blueberry jam? We loved them!
Give them a try, and let us know they turn out for you.
English Muffins
Food Network Magazine (October 2015), recipe by Damaris Phillips
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(This photo: Penny De Los Santos/Food Network Magazine)
Total Time: 2 hr
Yield: 16 servings
INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 -ounce packet instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons salt
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups whole milk
2 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus more for the bowl and dough
Coarse cornmeal, for sprinkling
Cooking spray
Butter and jam, for serving (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Make the dough:
Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg but don't stir it in yet.
Heat the milk and coconut oil in a saucepan until a thermometer reads 110 degrees F. (If the milk is too hot when you add it to the flour mixture, it will kill the yeast.)
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Avoid pouring it directly on the egg -- you don't want the hot milk to cook it.
Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, if needed. The dough will look a little irregular in texture.
Knead the dough:
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, soft and elastic, 3 to 4 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a large bowl lightly oiled with coconut oil; rub the top of the dough with a little more coconut oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
Form the muffins:
Sprinkle 2 baking sheets with cornmeal and set aside. After the dough rises, punch it down and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten into a 3-inch disk. Place the disks on the baking sheets.
Cook the muffins:
Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Coat the skillet with cooking spray and liberally sprinkle with cornmeal. Working in batches, cook the muffins until they are deep golden brown, 5 to 9 minutes per side. If they start to rise in a domed fashion, flatten them with a spatula. Let the English muffins cool completely, then split open, toast and serve with butter and jam.
To check for doneness, take the internal temperature of a muffin-it should be at least 200 degrees F. If it's not, finish in a 350 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes.
