Honey Whole Wheat English Muffins

Finally!  I am so excited that I can post this recipe and that it’s mine!!  I have made English muffins several times now and always used the recipes as written by other people but this time I took a chance and made changes and it actually worked!

I started with this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.  The first issue was that she uses instant yeast and I have active dry, so I had to change that up.  I also made these whole wheat, substituted honey for sugar and used coconut oil instead of shortening!  Win, win win!!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/8 cups white whole wheat flour

1 1/4 +/- cups white bread flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tbsp honey

1 cup skim milk, warmed

Preparation:

Mix flours, salt & yeast in a large bowl.

Combine melted coconut oil, honey and warm milk.  Temperature needs to be between 100F and 110F.  Pour over flour mixture and stir to combine.  Turn dough onto counter and keep adding flour, 1 tbsp at a time until you get a nice dough that’s only slightly tacky but doesn’t stick to your hands.

Knead for 7 minutes or so.  It’s ok if the dough is still tacky at this point but make sure it doesn’t stick to the counter and it’s nice and pliable.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for at least an hour or until doubled in size.

Once doubled, punch down the dough and divide into 6 or 8 equal sized pieces.  I made 8 because if you make 6 the muffins are huge!

Cover a baking pan with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and dust lightly with cornmeal.

Shape the muffins into discs that are about 1/2 inch thick and place on parchment.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an additional 30-60 minutes or until doubled.

Preheat oven to 350F and heat a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat.  I like to put a tiny bit of oil on a paper towel and brush it onto the skillet.

Cook muffins, 2-3 at a time for 5 minutes per side or until dark brown.  Place immediately in the oven to cook an additional 5-8 minutes or until they sound hollow when tapped.  Do not wait for all of the muffins to be pan cooked before baking or they will fall and be flat!

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cook COMPLETELY.  Resist the urge to cut immediately into one of these.  I had to make them yesterday during the day then had one this morning for breakfast.  It was fantastic.  Slightly sweet, honey wheat taste.  It was a perfect compliment to my eggs.

I hope you will give these a try!! If you do, please let me know what you think and if you changed anything!  I am always open to suggestions!