Honey-Wheat English Muffins

Recently I have been having these English muffins almost daily as part of my lunch.  I got the recipe from King Arthur Flour (their website is a gold mine for great baking recipes!) and I adapted it just slightly.  I am probably strange in that I don't prefer these English muffins toasted.  I like them nice and warm and soft slathered with maple cinnamon almond butter.  SO GOOD!!  

There are some weird ingredients and tools required for this recipe.  For ingredients, you can get vital wheat gluten from most grocery stores wherever they have the Bob's Red Mill items.  Probably this will be in the baking aisle and/or organic section.  The Hi-Maize Fiber and non-diastatic malt powder are King Arthur Flour products that I actually buy from them.  I haven't tried it, but you could probably just substitute a bit more flour for the fiber and a bit of sugar for the malt powder if you don't want to buy those items.  The non-diastatic malt powder is a good ingredient to have for making bagels as well.

The English muffin rings I also got from King Arthur Flour, but you can probably get them from other kitchen supply stores as well.  If you don't have the rings, you could still make these.  The shape of the muffins would just be more free-form.  Don't let a lack of rings stop you from trying these!

Honey-Wheat English Muffins

Yield:  12 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

Note:  I have provided the weights for most of the ingredients because when I bake I prefer to measure my ingredients by weight in order to get a more accurate result.  If you don't have a good digital scale, use the volume measurements.

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons (2 1/4 ounces) honey  
• 2 tablespoons (1 ounce)  butter 
• 2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) non-diastatic malt powder 
• 2 cups  (8 ounces) white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) rolled oats 
• 3/4 cup  (3 3/8 ounces) Hi-maize Fiber
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) nonfat dry milk powder 
• 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cornmeal to dust the griddle

DIRECTIONS:

1) Add all of the ingredients except the cornmeal to the bowl of your mixer. Beat with the paddle attachment until the dough is glossy, about 6 minutes.

2) Cover the bowl, and let dough rise at warm room temperature until doubled in size, about 80-90 minutes.

3) Preheat both the oven and a griddle or heavy skillet to 350°F (medium high heat). Place 6 rings on the griddle evenly over the heat sources and grease the rings and griddle with cooking spray. Sprinkle a little cornmeal into the center of each ring.

4) Wet your fingers to help prevent sticking and scoop 3 ounces of dough (about 1/3 cup of dough) into each ring to make the first 6 muffins. Spread the dough to the edge of the ring.  Sprinkle the tops with more cornmeal.  Note:  If you don't have rings, form the dough into a rough circle before placing it on the griddle.

5) Cook the muffins for 5 minutes, until the edges look set and the bottom is golden brown. Flip the muffins, and cook the second side for 4 minutes.  

6) At this point, check the internal temperature of the muffins.  If it is at least 200°F, then the muffins are done.  If they aren't quite that hot, remove the rings, place the muffins on a baking sheet and place into the preheated oven for 5 minutes.  Check their internal temperature again.

7)  Repeat steps 4-6 with the second half of the dough.

8) Once muffins have reached an internal temperature of 200°F, transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

9) If you will not be eating within a day or two, store in the freezer in an airtight bag.  When ready to eat, defrost in the microwave and toast if desired.

(recipe slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour)