I made these this morning. They turned out really good. I won’t be buying English muffins from the store any longer. It takes about an hour to make a dozen. That’s about 20-minutes kneading in the bread machine, 30 minutes rising time and 15 minutes cooking in a skillet or on a griddle.
Buttermilk Whole-Wheat English Muffins (Bread Machine Manual Dough Cycle)
To make without a bread machine, knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook.
1 1/4 cups (170g) whole-wheat flour*
2 cups (275g) all-purpose flour*
2 1/4 teaspoons (7g) or 1 packet bread machine or instant yeast
1 cup (245g) lukewarm buttermilk (90-F to 100-F)*
1 egg, beaten (50g)
2 teaspoons (10g) white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon (3g) table salt
1/4 teaspoon (1g) baking soda*
3 Tablespoons (40g) melted butter
1 Tablespoon (10g) cornmeal
*To make regular English muffins; omit whole-wheat-flour and use 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour,
omit baking soda and omit buttermilk and use 1 cup of regular milk instead.
-
In a mixing bowl, stir together the flours and dry yeast. Mix well
and pour dry flour mixture into bread machine. Make a depression in center
of flour to pour liquid into. -
In a small mixing bowl, stir together the warm buttermilk, beaten egg,
sugar, salt, baking soda and melted butter. Mix well. Pour liquid into
center of the depression you made in the flour in the bread machine. -
Set bread machine to MANUAL DOUGH CYCLE. Monitor dough as it mixes for
the first few minutes and add more flour or water as needed, a tablespoon
at a time, to form a smooth ball of dough. It should be firm enough to hold
its own shape and not sticky. It should not be so dry that it is crumbly.
To make without a bread machine, knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook. -
When the bread machine completes its mixing and kneading cycle,
turn it off and remove the dough. Don’t allow it to rise in the bread
machine. -
Dust a bread board with about 1/2-tablespoon of corn meal.
If you need to, you can dust the dough with a little dry flour, if
it’s too sticky to handle. -
Place dough on bread board and divide dough into 12 equal sized pieces.
-
Take each piece of dough and roll into a ball, then flatten it into a
disc about 3-inches across and 1/4-inch high. -
Dust a cookie sheet with 1/2-tablespoon of cornmeal and lay each
flattened piece of dough on cookie sheet, about 1-inch apart. -
Place in a warm place to rise, (like oven that is off, with the oven
light turned on) and allow dough to rise for 1/2-hour. -
Heat a griddle or skillet to medium heat, as if you were making
pancakes. If using an electric skillet or griddle set it to 275-F to 300-F.
Don’t add oil to the griddle. A non-stick surface or cast iron
works well.
-
The dough will look slightly puffy, like large cookies, that’s okay,
they will puff up a lot more during cooking. -
Carefully pick up each piece of risen dough and place it on the hot
griddle. Trying to move them with a spatula will deflate them. -
Reduce heat slightly on griddle and cook the dough for 5 to 7 minutes
on each side. They can be turned with a spatula once they are cooked on
one side. -
They are done when they are golden brown on the top and bottom.
Split them using a fork. Toast them and serve with butter and/or jelly.
When cool, they can be stored in a plastic bag.
Makes 12 Buttermilk Whole-wheat English muffins.