Today I found some striking similarities between the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge and marathon running. Dedication, endurance, and (most notably today) repetition. Turning the page in the book for the challenge this week I saw yet another sweet celebration bread. It was like turning the corner on a long run to see ANOTHER hill to climb. Although i have enjoyed all of the breads so far, Joe doesn’t really like the sweet ones and we have had a hard time trying to finish them. It seemed like a waste of flour to make (essentially) the same thing twice. So i skipped it.
On to challenge #12: English Muffins
These English muffins were really fun to make. The dough was simple – after making 10 other Rinehart recipes I have a pretty good handle on mixing and kneading dough. This time i even did my windowpane test!
I was, however, a little intimidated by the cooking process. The idea of frying dough in a pan was foreign to me. I ended up using our square and round cast iron skillets simultaneously to get as many muffins cooked at the same time as possible. It felt like juggling; frying and immediately baking as many muffins as possible. I’m not sure why my muffins were so puffy, but at least they were nice and fluffy inside. I think baking for 8 minutes was just right.
After fully following the recipe, the only thing i would do differently is to make 7 or 8. As you can see, I made 6 as the recipe called for, and they are pretty big. There was no temperature control on the skillet, and after reading PR’s warning about under-cooking the muffins, i ended up burning the first two. After I started eye-balling the brownness level, and relying less on elapsed cooking time, they turned out well. I used lowfat buttermilk instead of whole milk and it gave them a nice, almost sourdough taste.
As usual, check out more photos on FLICKR.
13 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Very pretty! They look delicious. What did you eat them with?
I’ve never had a truly successful windowpane test in all the breads I’ve made so far. Congrats on yours …
Comment by ATigerintheKitchen 090719 @ 10:22 pmWe at the muffins by themselves! The dough is so tasty, i didn’t think it needed anything else. I will probably try them with honey this morning.
Comment by twoskinnyjenkins 090720 @ 7:04 amI started late and am just about to get to the cinimon rolls and then the ones that come after and I’m looking forward to one of them but I really don’t know that I’m going to get through the list… and I keep telling myself that english muffins are at the end. It’s my mantra.
They look so so so so so so so worth it.
Comment by Brandy 090719 @ 11:26 pmOh, they are worth it!
Comment by twoskinnyjenkins 090720 @ 8:12 amI’ll probably get around to making the Celebration bread later…
Good luck!
Your English Muffins look great. I “LOVED” making them too. So fun and so tasty.
Comment by Susie 090720 @ 7:20 amGreat job.
Susie
beautiful!
Comment by Tammy 090720 @ 10:14 amI was glad to read that someone else skipped the cranberry celebration bread as I’m feeling exactly the same way about all these sweet breads. Your english muffins look wonderful. I can’t wait to try these this week.
Comment by Mags 090720 @ 11:00 amI am tempted to skip the cranberry walnut celebration bread too!! But I thought it might be cheating. Love your rebel spirit. The english muffins look fantastic.
Comment by saltandserenity 090720 @ 4:27 pmIn my house, the feeling is once we reach the E’s we will be ok. They look tasty.
Comment by AnneMarie 090721 @ 8:55 amThat’s so funny! I agree, the E’s look good. I couldn’t resist!
Comment by twoskinnyjenkins 090721 @ 10:39 am[...] menu that used ingredients we already had, English Mint-Pea Soup. With it, I toasted one of my English muffins from the BBA Challenge this [...]
Pingback by 090721 – English Lunch « two skinny jenkins 090721 @ 9:33 pm[...] English Muffins from Two Skinny Jenkins [...]
Pingback by Homemade English Muffins — Pinch My Salt 090825 @ 3:17 pm[...] 090719 – English Muffins | BBA#12 July 200912 comments Leave a Comment LikeBe the first to like this post.Leave a Comment so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI [...]
Pingback by 2010 in review « two skinny jenkins 110103 @ 3:43 pm