English muffins, although rather rare to find across restaurants in India, are a pretty superior bread product that can be adapted across many sandwiches. While most conventional sandwich options choose to pick a hearty and sturdier bread as compared to the English muffin, For the uninitiated, the English muffin is a type of yeast-leavened, round bread eaten for breakfast around the United Kingdom, North America and Australia.
Depending on the region, recipes vary from a sweeter variation to a more savoury option that is commonly used for sausage and egg sandwiches or eaten with jam and clotted cream as part of a high tea snack. They’re also known as crumpets in parts of the UK. Invented in the 19th century by a British immigrant in New York as an alternative to toast, it began to feature as a frequently requested item in fancy hotels. In lieu of its long history in the culinary world, here’s a veganised version of the classic recipe that makes 8 fluffy muffins:
Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 375 grams (approximately 3 cups) flour
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 200 ml lukewarm water
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons fine semolina or cornmeal
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Method:
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, yeast, baking powder, sugar and salt and mix well. Add the oil and gradually pour in the lukewarm water to mix into a scraggly dough at first.
- Turn out the wet mixture onto a clean work surface and knead well for five minutes or until the dough starts to resemble a smooth, round ball. Put it back into the bowl and allow it to rest for an hour. Cover with a damp kitchen cloth to avoid the surface of the dough drying out.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal-sized portions and shape them into smooth, round balls. Place them on a large tray and rest them for another 40 minutes. Once rested, flatten each ball of dough into 1-inch-thick rounds. Dab some cornmeal on both sides of the flattened dough and toast on medium heat for about four minutes on each side until fluffy. Serve warm with cream and jam or make into a sandwich of your choice.