English Muffins – the experiment begins: Fleishman's English Muffins

So begins my experiment to find the BEST English Muffin recipe. I began with the one from a recipe booklet of bread recipes sent to Home Economics departments around the country probably back in the 1970s or ‘80s (my copy is so old and worn that the cover is gone, hence the lack of a title or publication date). This is the one I’ve made before . . . but it’s been awhile.

While it was successful, I have a couple of others I want to try for comparison. So, as soon as this batch is gone, I’ll move on to the next recipe and eventually select the one that I think is best. Or, perhaps I’ll combine techniques, using the best ideas from each of the recipes I try.

Fleishman’s® English Muffins

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Fleishman’s margarine (I used butter)

1 cup warm water (105-115° F.)

1 package Fleichman’s Active Dry Yeast (scant tablespoon of bulk yeast)

5 to 6 copies unsifted all-purpose flour

Corn meal

1. Scald milk. (Heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edge; to about 150°F.  
2. Stir sugar, salt and Fleichman’s margarine/butter into the milk. Cool to lukewarm. (Note: the margarine/butter will soften but not completely melt.)
   
3. Measure warm water into large bowl. Sprinkle in Fleichman’s yeast; stir well until dissolved.
   
4. Stir in lukewarm milk mixture and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth.
   
5. Add enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. (I used the flat blade of my Kitchen Aid® mixer to mix the dough.)
   
6. Turn out onto floured board; knead about 2 minutes, or until dough is manageable and can be formed into a ball. (Dough may be slightly sticky.)
   
7. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
8. Punch dough down; divide in half.
9. On a board heavily sprinkled with corn meat, pat each half of dough into a ½” thickness. Cut into circles with a floured 3” cookie cutter.
   
10. Place on ungreased baking sheets about 2” apart. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about ½ hour.
    
11. Place on a lightly greased medium-hot griddle or skillet, corn meal side down. Bake until well browned, about 10 minutes on each side. (At this point the muffins need to be watched carefully and it’s a little tricky as I found that medium heat was a little to hot so had to adjust the temperature between medium and low. Also, due some hot spot heating, I ended up moving the muffins around on the griddle/skillet. Also, rather than rely on timing alone, I used a digital read thermometer to test whether the inside of the muffin was completely bakes—it should read 200°F.)
    
12. Cool on wire racks.
13. To serve, split muffins in half and toast.

Currant English Muffins: Prepare as above except add ½ cup currants with lukewarm milk mixture.

Whole Wheat Muffins: Prepare as above, substituting 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour for 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour.

Quick & Easy Breakfast Sandwich -- Spread split and toasted English muffin with sausage-cheese mixture. 

Recipe without photos . . . 

Fleishman’s® English Muffins

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Fleishman’s margarine (I used butter)

1 cup warm water (105-115° F.)

1 package Fleichman’s Active Dry Yeast (scant tablespoon of bulk yeast)

5 to 6 copies unsifted all-purpose flour

Corn meal

1. Scald milk. (Heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edge; to about 150°F.)
2. Stir sugar, salt and Fleichman’s margarine/butter into the milk. Cool to lukewarm. (Note: the margarine/butter will soften but not completely melt.)
3. Measure warm water into large bowl. Sprinkle in Fleichman’s yeast; stir well until dissolved.
4. Stir in lukewarm milk mixture and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. 
5. Add enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. (I used the flat blade of my Kitchen Aid® mixer to mix the dough.)
6. Turn out onto floured board; knead about 2 minutes, or until dough is manageable and can be formed into a ball. (Dough may be slightly sticky.)
7. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover, let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
8. Punch dough down; divide in half. 
9. On a board heavily sprinkled with corn meat, pat each half of dough into a ½” thickness. Cut into circles with a floured 3” cookie cutter.
10. Place on ungreased baking sheets about 2” apart. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about ½ hour.
11. Place on a lightly greased medium-hot griddle or skillet, corn meal side down. Bake until well browned, about 10 minutes on each side. (At this point the muffins need to be watched carefully and it’s a little tricky as I found that medium heat was a little to hot so had to adjust the temperature between medium and low. Also, due some hot spot heating, I ended up moving the muffins around on the griddle/skillet. Also, rather than rely on timing alone, I used a digital read thermometer to test whether the inside of the muffin was completely bakes—it should read 200°F.)
12. Cool on wire racks.
13. To serve, split muffins in half and toast.

Currant English Muffins: Prepare as above except add ½ cup currants with lukewarm milk mixture.

Whole Wheat Muffins: Prepare as above, substituting 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour for 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour.