homemade english muffins

Two Fridays ago I stopped by the library on my way home from work and checked out a copy of “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.” I became familiar with this book a couple years ago when I discovered that a group of people on the internet were systematically working their way through each recipe in the book. I didn’t join them, but their commitment to a long-term baking project intrigued me.

So the day after I brought the book home, I opened it to page 157 and got to work on my very first batch of english muffins. As you may recall, english muffins were one of the items on my list of foods that I want to make from scratch, just to prove that a regular person can make them at home.

I think I subconsciously expected that I would be able to replicate Thomas’ Original English Muffins, but mine were nothing like those delicious flat, chewy muffins with their trademark nooks and crannies. My english muffins were tall, dense, and somewhat crumbly like a biscuit. And there wasn’t a nook or cranny in sight.

But I learned a few things along the way. I learned that english muffins are first baked on a griddle and then finished off in the oven. I learned that I’m capable of making english muffins that taste good (even without nooks and crannies). And I learned that the recipe in “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” yields six english muffins and a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction.

P.S. I debated whether to capitalize the letter ‘e’ in the word ‘english.’ As a rule-follower, I knew I should use a capital letter, but it looked awkward. And then I thought about french fries, which are not French fries. Problem solved.

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