homemade english muffins

They have nooks. They have crannies. And they're vegan. Making English Muffins is only slightly more complicated then making pancakes. Put the starter together the night before. These taste even better after drying out for a few days.


VEGAN ENGLISH MUFFINS
Makes 12-15 muffins

Starter:

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup white unbleached flour
3/4 cup water
1 tsp yeast

Dough:

2 T Earth Balance
3/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup white unbleached flour
1 tsp yeast
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp salt
2 T sugar
2 healthy tsp baking powder

Make starter: In a medium bowl, mix starter ingredients well. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature--up to 12 hours. When ready, the starter will be spongy and with holes.







Make muffin dough: Heat the soy milk, water and Earth Balance in the microwave on high for about 1 minute. It should be warm, not hot]. In a large bowl, mix the starter dough, soy milk mixture and the remaining ingredients until very smooth--about 5 minutes on medium-low. [Using a stand mixer makes this much easier.] The dough will be very sticky. This is normal.







Cover and let sit for about 90 minutes while you get a shower, walk the dog, water the plants, empty out the dishwasher, and blog.










At this point, the dough should double and size and resemble a fluffly beige cloud.











Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls onto dry medium-hot skillet. With a greased spatula--and your fingers, if necessary--carefully pat dough into circles. [You can also use English Muffin rings for this purpose.] Cook for 4 minutes, until dirty blonde. Flip, flatten with spatula, and cook flip-side for 2 more minutes.





Let muffins cool for about 10 minutes. Using the tines of a fork, separate the muffins, then toast, top with Earth Balance with jelly, and enjoy with tea and your morning paper.