English Muffins

They're just like the store bought ones. Look at the insides!

I got this recipe from this book. It's really been worth the $6.00 I spent on it. 


Ingredients:
Vegetable oil for greasing and cooking
3 1/4 cups white bread flour (I used all purpose and it worked fine)
plus extra for dusting pans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp superfine sugar (granulated worked too)
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used vanilla)
1/4 cup semolina


1. Grease a bowl and dust a baking sheet with flour. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and salt together and stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the center and add the water and yogurt. Stir until it becomes dough-like. Knead until it comes away from the side of the bowl. Place on a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.


2. Shape the dough into a ball and place in the greased bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise in a warm place 30-40 minutes.


3. Knead the dough on a floured surface, 2-3 minutes, the roll it out until it's about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Sprinkle both sides of each round with semolina. Place the rounds on the baking sheet, cover, and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. (Don't buy cheap generic plastic wrap. Stretch-Tite really is worth the money.)


4. Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat and brush with oil. Add half the muffins and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side, until golden brown. (Mine actually only took about 5 minutes. Check them every few minutes to make sure they're not too brown.) Cook the remaining muffins the same way.


The book says this makes 12 but I actually made 16 and they were a pretty good size. We ate some for breakfast and we made pizzas with the rest.