I doubt that I would have ever tried making English muffins if my brother, Jim, hadn't boasted about how easy and delicious they are to make. And while I think they are a bit trickier to make than he's willing to admit, they are tasty enough to warrant a few fresh batches of trial and error.

Just like store-bought English muffins, I toast these in the toaster before eating them. My current favorite mini-meal is a toasted English muffin topped with peanut butter and apple slices. Warm. Crunchy. Gooey. Yum!

English Muffins

Alton Brown's recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/english-muffins-recipe/index.html

Alton Brown's video (starting at about minute 4):

Notes

Like my brother, I followed Alton Brown's recipe for English muffins. I borrowed Jim's non-stick rings (I don't eat tuna, and the pineapple cans I had on hand weren't the right size). And, I used white whole-wheat flour (always King Arthur brand) instead of all-purpose. Actually, for one batch, I used half white whole-wheat and half regular whole-wheat, and it was great, too. I can definitely see how an ice cream scoop might have helped to more easily portion out the seriously sticky dough. But, I made-do with a plain spoon. In the video, Alton Brown doesn't appear to have any problems with the dough rising into the cookie sheet as it's cooking, thereby leaving a mess of raw dough on the sheet that needs to be cleaned before it can be used to cook the second side of the muffins. I've got plenty of powdered milk leftover to try and perfect my technique over the course of a few more batches. FWIW, this is the first time I've ever purchased powered milk. I was a tad disappointed that there wasn't an organic version available… but that may just be a limitation of my local grocery store. I'm splitting each muffin and allowing it to cool before sticking the extras into the freezer for an easy treat later.