English Muffins

[NCPaul]

As they are known as is the US (I know they are different in the UK and are closer to crumpets ). I've wanted to make these for some time but I couldn't bring myself to buy muffin rings. Then I came across the tip that the rings from canning jars works as well; I have plenty of those, why didn't I think of that. I've tried two recipes from the web:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/ ... ins-recipe

I prefer the one from Alton Brown. I let the dough/batter rise for 2 hours until it looked like this:



I cooked them in an electric frying pan at 300F (easier I think than on the stove).



The rings are sprayed with oil and semolina flour is added.



Six minutes per side with the lid on.



Split (Alton Brown's recipe).



Split (King Arthur Flour's recipe).



Both had good hole structure and tasted fine. Alton Brown's recipe is more like the commerical product sold here and used by McDonalds. Enjoy your breakfast.

[wheels]

NCPaul - they look more like Muffins than Crumpets - and bloomin' good ones at that.

Phil

[Oddley]

NCPaul, they look bloody lovely.

[tinca]

theres nothing nicer than muffin and bit of crumpet

[Snags]

boom tish

[Snags]

They are Muffins and well done they look excellent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffin_%28English%29

[DanMcG]

They look perfect Paul, thanks for sharing the method. One more thing I need to try...Dang

[corromant]

Just had a look at these recipe's & on the Alton Brown one it asks for "1 tablespoon shortening" I would assume this is fat of some sort, can someone enlighten me please.

.

[Gill]

When a recipe calls for 'shortening' it means to add the fat of your choice, usually either lard or butter.

The reason for this is that shortening helps yeast-based products to stay fresh for longer and it can improve the texture. I always add a knob of lard to my dough whenever I bake bread.

[salumi512]

Just had a look at these recipe's & on the Alton Brown one it asks for "1 tablespoon shortening" I would assume this is fat of some sort, can someone enlighten me please.
.

Shortening is the vegetable version of lard. Crisco is the most popular brand in the US.

[franyanne]

I think Trex would be a good option in the UK as a substitute, but lard would probably do. They look good, I am in the middle of trying my first batch of Wheels soft rolls, might have to give these a go too.

[corromant]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[SweetCharly]

They look amazing!