English Muffins

The weather has been in the high 20s, and even made it up to 35 with the humidex one day last week. That’s nothing compared to most of the country, even the rest of the province. But for Saint John, cooled by the Bay of Fundy, that’s warm.

I decided to take advantage of all this nice warm weather by making English muffins. I like the yeasty smell of rising bread, and these are dry cooked on a low heat in a frying pan for only a few minutes on each side, so they don’t add a lot of extra heat to the house or make you feel like a galley slave. They’re good toasted with jam and honey, but they’re also good for sandwiches. Here’s my mum’s recipe that I grew up with:

Mother's English Muffins
3 Tbsp butter
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 C milk
1 Tbsp yeast
¼ C lukewarm water
2 eggs, beaten (3 for a double batch)
4 C flour

1. Scald milk.
2. Add butter, salt, and sugar to milk and cool to lukewarm.
3. Combine half of flour and yeast (quick rise; or dissolve yeast in water).
4. Add eggs and all wet ingredients with the flour. Stir in remaining flour.
5. Roll to about 1.5 cm. Cut out into circles.
6. Let rise on a floured or cornmeal dusted surface.
7. Cook on a low heat in a frying pan (dusted with cornmeal, if using), a few minutes on each side. 8. Let cool on a cooling rack. This is important to avoid becoming doughy.