English Muffins

I love, love, lovvvvve great English muffins. Love them. Really. I tried a store bought GF product a while ago and it was inedible as far as I was concerned, it was so dry we could have painted it black and sold it as a premium hockey-puck. Hey! There's an idea, we could make and sell those! No? 

So I decided to try making them, and I'm so happy with the results!

I had bought English muffins rings at Sur la Table, 4 for $6.00. That's it, six bucks. I bought two sets. When I first bought these they were for making hamburger buns. There are several fast food places that have regular wheat English muffins. These would triumph in fragrance, taste, appearance and cost. They are very airy-like an English muffin should be, very, very wonderful taste and the appearance is foolproof!

When I made these I was so excited to have them. Lela and I split one of the very first ones and we were stunned at how good they were. We had them toasted in the toaster, then with butter and strawberry preserves. Fabulous I must say! Since then we've had them toasted with plain extra crunchy peanut butter, and then added preserves with the peanut butter. Any way we've had them is wonderful.

I also had one as a Egg Benedict English Muffin Sandwich - that I was inspired to make by a magazine photo. I actually started out tonight by giving you the Eggs Benedict Sandwich recipe, and decided that you'd really benefit from having the English muffin recipe to start. This recipe is inspired by the ATK English Muffin recipe in their new cookbook - The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook. This is a great little book, very informative with some new skills to improve the cooking and baking of all GF products!

I used an electric griddle to pre-cook/toast the two sides of each muffin. Some recipes have you do the entire cooking on the stovetop, but this can make gluten free muffins to hard and tough to eat. One minute on each side was plenty to get them started on their way.

So, as normal here we go! 

I used the Americas Test Kitchen flour blend, and this bulk recipe makes about 42 ounces = about 9 1/2 cups

24 ounces white rice flour (which is a whole bag of Bob's Red Mill brand)

7 1/2 ounces brown rice flour

7 ounces potato STARCH - not flour!

3 ounces tapioca starch or flour, as they are the same thing

3/4 ounce nonfat dry milk powder

Whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Transfer to an airtight container. If you won't use it with in a 3 month period, keep it refrigerated. Mine doesn't usually last more than 24 hours!

English Muffins            Makes 8-10 muffins

Ingredients:

4 ounces cornmeal

2 cups warm water

3 medium eggs (or two large ones)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

14 ounces ATK GF flour blend (above)

4 ounces gluten free oat flour, if you have old fashioned gluten free oats on hand, just whirl it in your blender until they are ground finely - don't use instant or quick oats

1 1/2 ounces nonfat dry milk powder

3 Tablespoons powdered psyllium husk (Sprouts, Whole Foods...) This ingredient is essential to the GF baked goods structure - do not omit!

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons or 1 packet of rapid rise yeast

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 teaspoons Kosher salt, *if using table salt cut amount in half 

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

**This recipe is using 8 English muffin rings. If not using these you will measure out approximately 4 oz. for each muffin dough ball.

Directions:

1. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cornmeal evenly over a rimmed baking sheet (jelly roll pan) which you have lined with parchment paper then lightly oiled/buttered, reserving 1/4 cup for the tops of the muffins. Next, generously oil/butter the inside of the English muffin rings, if using and place them on the parchment paper.

2. Whisk water, eggs and melted butter together in a bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour blend, oat flour, milk powder, psyllium husk powder, sugar, yeast, baking powder and salt together on low until combined. slowly on low speed add the water mixture and let the dough come together, about 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Increase the speed to medium high and beat the dough until sticky and uniform, about 6 minutes, it will resemble cookie dough.

3. Using rings - working with a large (3.5 oz.) portion scoop (cookie scoop), scoop a generous portion of the dough into the center of each ring. Once all of the rings are filled, spray a sheet of plastic wrap with non-stick spray and cover the muffin pan greased side down. Gently push on each muffin to spread them equally around each ring. Let them rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about an hour.

**If not using rings - you will wet your hands and form each 4 oz. dough measure into a ball and plop onto the prepared baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Cover with greased plastic wrap and press down to form a 3-4 inch somewhat flattened mound. Let them rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

4. Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and heat the oven to 350ºF. Remove the plastic wrap and using a greased spatula, press the dough mounds to about 3/4 inch thickness. If using rings press the dough down to be even with the tops of the rings. Dust the tops with the remaining cornmeal.

5. If using rings you will do step 5 with the rings on, and bake the muffins in the rings. 

Using a pan on the stove top: Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a 12 inch heavy skillet, or spray with non-stick cooking spray, and heat on medium heat until the oil is shimmering. Wipe out the skillet with paper toweling, leaving a thin film of oil. Using an oiled spatula, quickly scoot under each muffin and place 3-4 in the skillet at a time, toasting each side for about 1 minute, pressing down on each side to prevent doming. Transfer the muffins to a clean baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Using an electric griddle or frying pan: Heat the electric griddle/frying pan to 350ºF, and spray with non-stick spray, or light oil. Using an oiled spatula, quickly scoot under each muffin and place 4 on the electric griddle/frying pan at a time, toasting each side for about 1 minute, pressing down on each side to prevent doming. Transfer the toasted muffins to a clean baking sheet lined with parchment paper.                                                                                        Repeat step 5 until you have toasted all the muffins and they are lined up on the baking pan.

6. Bake muffins for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and firm, rotating the sheet half way through the baking time. Transfer the muffins to a cooling wire rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes before splitting with a fork, toasting and devouring!

**English muffins split with forks fare better than cutting with a knife. Only split the one(s) you are going to use right away otherwise they will dry out faster due to more surface exposure to the air. The more rustic looking the better.

7. Muffins can be stored about 3 days in a zip lock baggie. OR, they can be wrapped individually with plastic wrap and frozen together in a zip lock baggie or lock tight freezer container for no more than 2 months. 

Enjoy!