Classic home-made English Muffins

Instructions

1. Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on one side of the flour and the salt into the other side of the flour. Add the sugar, butter, egg and milk, then mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
2. Turn the mixture out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, or until soft, smooth and stretchy.
3. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the oiled bowl, cover and leave to prove for about one hour, or until doubled in size.
4. Dust the work surface with a mixture of the polenta and flour. Tip the dough out onto the work surface and roll out to about 2.5cm thick.
5. Lightly dust two baking trays with half of the polenta.
6. Using a 9cm straight-sided cutter, cut out eight muffins. Place four muffins, evenly spaced apart on each of the dusted baking trays. Dust the remaining polenta over the top of the muffins.
7. Leave to prove for another 30 minutes. Sprinkle heavily a frying non-stick pan with corn flour. If you're using a griddle or frying pan that's not well-seasoned (or non-stick), spray it with non-stick vegetable oil spray first, before adding the cornflour. The easiest way to handle and cook these muffins is to lay them right onto the cold surface you'll be frying them on. That way, you don't have to move them once they're risen; and they won't mind cooking very slowly as you fire the griddle up to its desired heat. If you don't have enough griddle space to do this, sprinkle a baking sheet heavily with cornflour and place the muffins on the sheet; they can be fairly close together. Either way, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with additional semolina or farina. Cover the muffins (a piece of parchment works well), and let them rest for 20 minutes. They won't rise like crazy, but will puff a bit.
8. Cook the muffins over low heat for 7 to 15 minutes per side, until their crust is golden brown, and their interior is cooked through. If you find the muffins have browned before they're cooked all the way through, no worries; simply pop them into a preheated 180°C oven for about 10 minutes or so, or until they're thoroughly cooked.

• Servings : 12
• Ready in : 100 Minutes
• Course : Main courses
• Recipe Type : Breads, Breakfast
• Ingredient : Butter, Cornflour, Eggs, Flour, Milk, Salt, Sugar, Yeast