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Makes 18 three inch muffins or one dozen four inch muffins.

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

½ cup warm water

2½ cups bread flour

1½ cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1¼ cup buttermilk

¼ cup honey

cornmeal, for dusting


Place the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle yeast over the surface. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Yeast will turn the water cloudy and the surface with froth some.

In a large bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, wheat flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in yeast mixture, buttermilk and honey. Either using  your hands or the paddle of a stand mixer, combine the ingredients thoroughly, until you have a shaggy dough. Change to a stand mixer dough hook, or pour the dough onto a well-floured surface, and knead for 8-10 minutes. Form dough into a large bowl.

Lightly oil the inside of a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, turning gently to coat with oil. Cover lightly with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for sixty to ninety minutes.

Gently stretch the dough into a "pancake" that is about a half inch thick, on a floured surface. Using a round biscuit cutter (you could also use a knife and just make square muffins), cut out muffin shapes and transfer to a piece of parchment dusted liberally with cornmeal. You can gently combine the "scraps" back together to cut out additional muffins. Just be careful not to squeeze out all of the air in the dough.

Sprinkle tops of muffins with cornmeal, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place for sixty to ninety minutes. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Place a large, lightly oiled skillet, on a medium to medium-high heat. Carefully transfer the muffins, so not to deflate the nooks and crannies, to the skillet and gently pan-fry until the bottom is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip over to brown the top. As soon as each muffin is ready, not waiting for the others to finish browning in the pan.


Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the muffin sounds hollow when thumped with a finger on the bottom.

Cool finished muffins on a baking rack. The English muffins will keep for about 4 days in an airtight container. To serve, fork-split and toast.

 

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