MAKE TRADITIONAL ENGLISH MUFFINS WITH JAMIE OLIVER'S EASY 16P RECIPE

English muffins are loved for their soft, doughy texture and perfectly rounded shape, but few people try making them from scratch.

While bread of all kinds can seem tricky to bake at home, this recipe by makes it easy to whip up a batch of traditional English muffins in under an hour.

Sharing a recipe on his website, the chef claimed that the muffins are "not too tricky" and require just 50 minutes of your time. Plus, they cost just 16p per serving when you buy the ingredients from Tesco.

The origins of this British bakery staple have been credited to a man called Samuel Bath Thomas, who emigrated from Plymouth to New York and started making thinner, pre-cut crumpets while he worked in a bakery.

Now the muffins are a staple in supermarkets and have become world-renowned as a popular range on the breakfast menu.

English muffin recipe

Ingredients

  • 300 ml milk, plus extra
  • One 7g sachet of dried yeast
  • 25g white caster sugar
  • 50g shortening or lard
  • 425g plain flour, plus extra
  • 20 g polenta (optional)
  • Unsalted butter to serve

Method

Start by gently warming the milk in a pan until lukewarm, around 37C. Next, add the yeast and sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set this aside for a few minutes until the mixture is creamy and starting to froth.

Melt the shortening or lard in a separate pan or microwave, then in a large bowl, mix it in with the yeast, flour, and a pinch of sea salt to form a soft dough. Add a little extra milk or flour, if needed.

Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, then transfer it to a greased bowl, cover it with clingfilm and set aside in a warm place to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

After the proving time is up, knock back the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm thick. Finally, using a round cutter or thin drinking glass, cut out circles of 5cm to 8cm.

Now lightly sprinkle a piece of baking parchment with a little flour, or polenta (if using). Transfer the muffins to the paper and sprinkle over a little more flour or polenta.

Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 45 minutes to one hour to rise. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3 and heat a heavy non-stick pan over medium heat.

Brown the muffins in the pan, in batches, cooking them for a few minutes on each side. Then turn the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer the browned muffins to a baking tray and finish with five minutes in the oven, or until cooked through. Cool the cooked muffins slightly on a wire rack then split each one open and spread with melted butter, or keep in an airtight tin for later.

2024-04-23T03:21:24Z dg43tfdfdgfd