Easy Whole Wheat English Muffins
English muffins rising in homemade rings
I always find it cool how changing even a single variable can significantly change the outcome. That is as true in baking as it is in many other domains.
English muffins are a great example of this. They are just regular bread dough that is cooked on the griddle rather than baked in the oven… simple enough right – but would you have guessed how easy their preparation was before now?
Certainly they are sold in stores at a premium – but you can turn them out easily at home.
Whole wheat English Muffins in the frypan
English muffin rings are certainly not necessary, and personally I would never have purchased them. Rather I have two dozen that I made up from salvaged stainless steel sheets. They are nice in that they give uniform muffins, but the real reason I enjoy using them is that I get a kick out of having fabricated them myself from scrap.
Click on the title post for the instructions.
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp white vinager
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour we grind ours fresh with the homebuilt mill
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Mix the water, eggs, vinegar and oil together in the bread machine pan
- Add the flour, sugar, yeast and salt
- Set the bread machine to dough, and observe as it starts to mix the ingredients. You may need to add up to 1/4 cup more water depending upon the moisture content of your flour and the size of your eggs. We've got a video out showing what consistency you want your dough to have at this point.
- When the dough has completed its cycle dump it out on a floured surface. Cut into about 18 to 24 pieces, roll into balls and pat out into disks around an inch thick.
- If you have English muffin rings you put them in the rings and they will adopt a uniform shape. The rings are nice but certainly not necessary. The only reason I have two dozen is because I welded them up from scrap stainless steel sheets I salvaged.
- Once doubled in bulk place them on a skillet heated to medium heat. Fry for about a minute and then flip. You'll need to do this for about a total of ten minutes. If you find the muffins burning turn down the heat.
- Let cool at least a bit before you break them open. Do so not with a bread knife but by sticking a fork in midway all around the circumference of the muffin which will then allow you to easily pull them apart.