Finessing Globby Blobby English Muffins
This one's too wet, that one's too flat, getting the hang of these American jewels isn't easy
I went through two different recipes on Easter weekend, trying to get the right batch of English muffins. The last time I made them was during the pandemic, and I remember having to find a cover to steam them in a cast iron pan, and worrying if they were cooked through the middle.
This time, I just worried about getting them from the resting tray to the pan without deflating the dough too much.
The first recipe I followed was from Preppy Kitchen.
His turned out wet, almost un-handleable dough. Maybe I over-proofed it by a few minutes. But the dough never quite came together and adhered in the stand mixer. Patting the dough out and cutting it into three-inch rounds proved to be nearly impossible, without mangling.
I almost had to scoop the dough rounds with a large spoon, like in another YouTube video, which defeats the whole purpose of English muffins.
They need to rise nice and tall, with a clear-cut round shape and lots of big holes, nooks, and crannies inside. Except for the last two, which I hand-shaped into balls and then pressed slightly, these didn’t do the job.
They also didn’t have the English muffin texture, either, according to my husband. Nevertheless, they did the trick for his first-ever attempt at Easter Eggs Benedict.
I couldn’t think of what I wanted to eat for this holy of holies. I hate ham. I wasn’t in the mood for elaborate lamb. There are a lot of eggs on Easter. Hmmm… I haven’t had a good Eggs Benedict in years, so…
My husband Ed did better at hollandaise, an essential component to Benedict, than I did at my two attempts at English muffins.
His hollandaise was nice and smooth and buttery, with a sophisticated hint of lemon and cream. He poached his eggs beautifully.
The secret to great, proper hollandaise is constant whisking. You’re mixing hot with cold, and preventing the egg yolks from breaking during the emulsion process. Ed’s good with that after making so many Caesar salad dressings, and rescuing a breakage with more whipping.
My second English muffin recipe came from another YouTuber, Joshua Weissman. His dough wasn’t wet at all. If anything, it was on the drier side, and had that pocketed texture my husband was looking for.
But Weissman’s rolling and cutting out rounds technique didn’t allow for much rise. Certainly not as much rise as was in his YouTube video. Most of my English muffins cooked up flat, except for the last two.
After you pat or roll out English muffin dough, you’re supposed to roll up the remainder to make extra. Usually, that’s when I either roll up the scraps to way over an inch high, or roll in a ball, then press a little flat.
If I ever make these again, I’m going to make sure the dough isn’t wet during the stand mixer process and roll my dough higher than an inch. Better yet, roll out dough balls, then press flat. I also recommend covering the cast iron pan to steam them for five minutes or under per side. Don’t watch the clock, keep checking the underside for a golden brown. You can always finish cooking when you toast them.
After I made my second batch of failed English muffins (failed as in, not quite like the pictures), I saw other recipes that made mine look like fine art. People were literally making drop biscuits of their English muffin dough. They didn’t resemble English muffins at all, just knuckle-blobs.
Another person proudly showed off her tray of English muffins that were so flat, they looked like rough pancakes.
I don’t feel so bad about mine after all…
Besides, it’s the taste that matters most, right?