These sprouted grain English muffins have a fully, rounded wheat flavor, are moist and lovely, and also have plenty of nooks and crannies to hold butter, jam, cheese, or whatever you choose to top them with.
17-18oz2 cups, 2 Tablespoons- 2 1/4 cups lukewarm milk (I used whole milk)
3Tablespoonssoftened unsalted butter
1 ½teaspoonskosher salt
2Tablespoonssugar(I used demerara, or Sugar in the Raw)
19ozLindley Mills Super Sprout Whole Wheat Flour for Baking(or other bread flour--reduce milk to 14-15 oz)
1large egg
2teaspoonsactive dry yeast(instant is fine here too)
For Baking
semolina or farina(Cream of Wheat) for sprinkling on the griddle
Instructions
Combine all the dough ingredients in the order given in the bowl of your stand mixer.
Mix with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until shiny, smooth and very elastic.
Scrape the dough into a ball in the bottom of the mixer bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours.
Generously sprinkle your griddle or skillets or electric frying pans or whatever you're using with the farina or semolina (I used semolina. King Arthur says you can use either without any problem). Set them aside.
Portion dough into 16 equal portions (or 12 for burger buns). I do this by weighing my finished dough and then dividing that weight by the number of portions. Then I use my bench knife and scale to cut the dough and weigh out each portion.
Once you have your dough scaled, gently shape each portion into a flat-ish round about 3" in diameter. Place in the prepared pan/s. They can be close together, but you don't want them to touch.
If you only have one pan to cook in, place the extra rounds on a parchment-lined and semolina-dusted cookie sheet and cover them until it's their turn.
Cover the shaped muffins (on the griddle and on the cookie sheet, if you needed "overflow" space), and allow them to rest 20-30 minutes, until just slightly puffy.
Remove the towel, turn the heat on medium low and gently cook the muffins for several minutes on each side. I flipped mine multiple times after an initial 7-ish minutes a side. Regulate the heat so they don't cook too quickly and watch them carefully. The semolina will eventually get dark but should insulate the muffins enough to keep them from burning as long as you set your heat fairly low.
Every once in a while, go in through the side of a couple of muffins to check the internal temperature. You want them to reach 200F.
This took me 40 minutes, more or less, but it will most likely take you less time since you're using more liquid than I did. Just keep an eye on them and make sure you have a good instant read thermometer.
Remove to cool on racks. Split the muffins with a fork before toasting. Enjoy with sweet or savory toppings.
Notes
If you find that your muffins are headed towards too brown before they reach 200F on the inside, put them on a tray and bake them at 350 for about 10 minutes to ensure they're baked all the way through. (Thanks, King Arthur, for always giving great tips!)