Weekend Project: Homemade English Muffins

Make a batch of these thick-cut English muffins this weekend, and you’ll be rewarded with tender, slightly chewy treats that taste nothing like what you buy at the grocery store. With the rich tang of buttermilk, they’re delicious straight out of the oven or toasted during the week, with plenty of butter and jam.

 

Homemade English Muffins

 

2 cups (16 fl. oz./500 ml.) buttermilk

3 3/4 cups (1 lb. 5 oz./620 g.) bread flour, plus more as needed

2 packages (4 1/2 tsp.) instant dry yeast

2 Tbs. sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. kosher salt

2 Tbs. honey

1 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature

 

In a saucepan, warm the buttermilk over low heat to 120 degrees F (49 degrees C). Set aside.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the bread flour, yeast, sugar and salt and mix together on low speed. Add the buttermilk in a steady stream, then add the honey and butter, and mix on low speed until the dough is almost smooth but still a little shaggy, about 3 minutes. Add a little more flour if the dough is very sticky.

 

Form the dough into a ball, place it back in the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

 

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the dough onto a work surface generously dusted with cornmeal and roll it out to about 3/4 inch (2 cm.) thick. Using a 3-inch (7.5 cm.) biscuit cutter (or a glass or empty can), but the dough into rounds (you’ll have to knead the scraps together and re-roll the dough to cut the last few). Transfer the dough rounds to the prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, about 45 minutes.

 

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a large dry skillet or griddle, preferably cast-iron, over medium heat, brown both sides of half the dough rounds, then quickly return them to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds. Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, then split and serve with plenty of butter and jam. Makes about 8 muffins.