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English Muffins — Photo:
Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Active Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Refrigerate Time:

12 hrs

Total Time:

16 hrs 45 mins

Servings:

12 servings

Yield:

12 English muffins

Any trip to Napa or St. Helena, California, demands a visit to the Model Bakery for their famously oversized English muffins, but now you can make them at home, thanks to baking expert Rick Rodgers’ The Model Bakery Cookbook. This recipe starts with a biga, a quick mixture of flour, yeast, and water that sits in the refrigerator overnight before you mix the dough. The biga gives the dough a light, airy texture while adding stability, but this is still a very soft, sticky dough. Mixing it with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer before switching to the dough hook makes it easier to handle. When you are ready to shape the English muffins, fold and shape each piece into a round, tucking the dough to create a smooth, round top. Gently place your hand over each round with your fingers around the dough and rotate in a circular motion to shape the muffins.

The work that goes into making these English muffins is well worth it, for the light, fluffy, buttery results full of nooks and crannies. Toast them under a broiler or in a toaster oven until lightly browned (they may be too thick for a standard toaster) then top them with butter or jam, or use them to make a killer breakfast sandwich.

Ingredients

Biga

1/2 cup (about 2 1/8 ounces) bread flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon instant or quick-rising yeast

English Muffins

1 1/3 cups water
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing bowl
1 1/2 teaspoons instant or quick-rising yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
3 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup semolina or yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, plus more if needed

Directions

Prepare the Biga

Stir together bread flour, water, and yeast in a small bowl to make a sticky dough. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours. Biga will rise slightly.

Prepare the English Muffins

Place Biga, water, oil, yeast, and salt in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until mixture looks creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in 3 cups of the all-purpose flour until a soft, sticky dough forms, 2 to 3 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let stand 20 minutes.
Uncover bowl. Beat in enough of the remaining 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons at a time, until it forms a soft dough that barely cleans the mixer bowl and does not stick to the sides of the bowl. Remove paddle attachment from mixer; attach dough hook attachment. Beat on medium-low speed until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes (if the dough climbs up the hook, just pull it down). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and check its texture. It should feel tacky but not stick to the work surface. (Alternatively, if not using a stand mixer, uncover bowl, and knead on a floured work surface, adding more flour as necessary, until the dough is smooth and feels tacky, about 10 minutes.)
Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in an oiled medium bowl, and turn to coat with oil, leaving the dough smooth side up. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until almost doubled in volume, about 2 hours. (The dough can also be refrigerated for at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding to the next step.)
Using a bowl scraper, scrape dough out of bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut evenly into 12 pieces, each slightly small than a tennis ball. Fold dough into a ball, then shape each piece into a 4-inch round that is about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle cornmeal in an even layer over 2 large baking sheets. Arrange dough rounds about 2 inches apart on cornmeal. Flip rounds to coat both sides with cornmeal. Loosely cover baking sheets with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until rounds have increased in volume by half and a finger pressed into a round leaves an impression for a few seconds before bouncing back, about 1 hour.
Working in 3 batches, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium until melted and hot but not smoking. Add 4 dough rounds to skillet. Cook until undersides are nicely browned, about 6 minutes, adjusting the heat as needed so the muffins brown without scorching. Flip muffins. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to skillet; lift and swirl skillet around so butter melts and distributes. Cook until muffins are browned and puffed, about 6 minutes. Transfer muffins to a paper towel-lined baking sheet; let cool at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours. Meanwhile, repeat process with remaining butter and muffins, wiping skillet clean with paper towels after each batch and adding 1 tablespoon butter between each batch and flip. (If skillet gets too dry while cooking muffins, add additional butter as needed.) Cooled whole muffins may be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature up to 3 days. Split cooled muffins in half horizontally using a serrated knife. Toast under a broiler or in a toaster oven until lightly browned (muffins may be too thick for a standard toaster).