Wholegrain English Muffins
Although I love being a kiwi and am proud of our wee country, there are times that it frustrates me being so isolated and small, mainly only really when it comes to our lack of easily obtainable “good” food. Lately we’ve been seeing the likes of Nosh and Farro opening in town and it’s like heaven to me to be able to cruise the shelves and find ingredients previously only dream worthy. But these specialty items are still expensive and not the every day fare that I’d like to see in our supermarkets.
It’s not till you spend any time in Australia or USA that you realize how limited our options are for certain items. Please, don’t get me wrong, the last thing we need here is 1700 more flavours of candy or premade scone dough with peanut butter chunks in it, but the fact that we can’t buy whole grain English muffins saddens me.
I did write to Tip Top a few years back and ask why they don’t sell their 9 grain muffin splits here and they simply said the shelf life isn’t worth the trip. Which got me on another tangent of how sad it is that they would go unbought because people prefer white bread and then how white bread must have so many more preservatives to last long enough to be “shelf life worthy…” But I digress…
So, as with many things in life, if you can’t find it or buy… you make it! Finally tonight I did just that… I made wholegrain English muffins and I made them cute and little so I wont feel like a “gobbly guts” (Yes, I have children) when I eat several of them…
I have made English muffins before but for those of you that haven’t the trick is knowing that when you fry them (I like to say scorch them cos it makes it obvious you don’t use oil, and well… It just sounds awesome) that you are really just browning the outside, not cooking them through. Remember you’ll be toasting them in the toaster before you smother them in jam… or, you’ll eat one moments after it comes out of the frypan because the smell of the fresh dough is just too much to bear… if that happens I can empathise.
Whole Grain English Muffins
(Adapted from Peanut Butter and Julie)
Makes about 12 (I got 18 cos I made them cute!)
Ingredients:
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one 1/4-ounce package)
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup wheat bran
2 tablespoons flax seeds (I used LSA cos that’s what I had)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (I used poppy seeds but I think next time I’ll try sunflower seeds, and use more than a tsp)
1/2 cup well shaken buttermilk (I used natural yoghurt)
Oil for coating the bowl
Cornmeal
In a bowl (the original recipe called for an electric mixer with paddle attachment, but I really couldnt be bothered getting that out, so I just used a good ol bowl and spatula, like they did in the old days ;) ), combine the yeast, honey, butter, and warm water; stir to mix. Allow the yeast mixture to rest for 5 minutes or until it is foamy.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, whole wheat flour, oats, wheat bran, flax seeds, salt, and caraway seeds. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the yeast mixer and mix on low speed until combined.(Or with your spatula.. like I did, and then you get to work your arms too. Though it really doesnt take that much)
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Lightly oil the inner surface of a large bowl with oil and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place, and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle the parchment with cornmeal. Roll the dough out into a 1/2-inch thick circle. Using a 2 1/2 or 3-inch round cutter, cut out circles of the dough and place them on the baking sheets, spaced 1 1/2 inches apart. Re-roll dough scraps and cut out more circles. Cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap and allow the circles to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 20 minutes, until puffy. (I put mine inside my oven as I'd cooked a roast and the oven was turned off but still warm)
Heat a large dry skillet (that's a frypan all you kiwi folk) over low heat. Working in batches, cook the rounds of dough until they are golden brown and dry, about 7 minutes per side. Let the muffins cool, and then split and toast.
