Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Honey Oat English Muffins and English Muffin Bread


Today is National Homemade Bread Day! These English Muffins, (the next recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge) are perfect for today.

Until I started baking bread I would have never thought of English muffins as candidates for home baking. Back in January, the King Arthur no-knead English Muffin bread was the first loaf bread I baked, but I didn't expect that I'd ever be baking the muffins themselves. To be honest, when I set out to bake this recipe I wasn't sure if they would turn out like "real" English muffins. I love a good chewy English muffin with a sturdy crumb, and from reading early reports I learned that other bread bakers were finding the muffins surprisingly soft (but delicious).


n.o.e.'s notes:

- I figured if I used flour with increased gluten content I might get a sturdier crumb, but I couldn't help adding a bit of whole grain flour. For the white flour I used a high gluten flour (that I'd bought for bagels). I thought about adding some vital wheat gluten, but couldn't find it in my kitchen that day, so abandoned that plan. Here's what I used for flour:
7 oz high gluten flour
1 oz white whole wheat
2 oz oat flour
- I had recently bought some honey crystals (and some molasses crystals, too) from preparedpantry.com With the honey in granular form rather than being liquid, it is added like sugar, so requires no special adjustments to the recipe. I decided to try it in out in this recipe, replacing the sugar.

- I formed half the dough into English muffins, and the other half into a loaf to bake into English muffin bread.

- The BBA English muffins are made by forming the dough into balls, letting them rise and then cooking on a griddle (or, in my case, a frying pan). The muffins flatten and brown as they cook (and are finished in the oven). And then they look just like English muffins!


the verdict:

These were delicious English muffins. They were a little softer than commercial English muffins, but had a wonderful flavor. The honey and oats were very subtle, but pleasant, in the finished product. We enjoyed the loaf sliced and toasted - it was delicious. All in all, this was a fun experiment in making homemade bread.

8 comments:

Leslie said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed making these, I did too. I never expected to take such a liking to them but the technique was so fun that I'm smitten. I can't wait to try with the flours you used.

natalia said...

Ciao Nancy ! They are gorgeous !!I made them monday and they were such a hit ! I'll have to open a bakery !Am I wrong or in the U.S. you can find raisin and cinnamon english muffins ??

Sarah said...

Your English Muffins are beautiful! I made mine weeks ago, but never photographed them because they were so unattractive... I've been meaning to re-make them, I just haven't had the chance yet... I'm intrigued by the KAF English Muffin bread, might have to try that one out... I love the idea of using oat flour, what wonderful flavor that must have added!

NKP said...

So glad you liked them!
I loved them too, high time to make them again. Yours look delicious. Damn, I have to stop visiting people when I am hungry.

Anonymous said...

Your English muffins look great. I'm glad they are a success. I want to make the loaf version one day.

Audrey said...

They look gorgeous! The honey and oat flavors sound wonderful, too.
Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving...I'm going to make our crsnberry celebration bread this year.

Di said...

I like your idea of adding the whole grains. I really need to try making these again--my first attempt was rushed and didn't turn out quite the way I would have liked.

Kayte said...

Your combination of flavors here sounds wonderful, and they certainly look wonderful as well! I just love being able to make these, don't you? We are huge fans of the English Muffin around here, and it is great to be able to make them. The boys like to make mini-pizzas with them so I put some Italian herbs in the dough of one batch and some parm cheese and those were really great as pizzas!