The sign of a true English Muffin is the irregularities in the surface that is toasted. Most (homemade) muffins, when cut, look like this on the surface: ---------. If you fork-split or tear open your muffin, you get a very irregular surface like this: /\/\/\/\/\/\. This bread gives you that “look” - when you slice it.
I know it’s odd, but one of our family traditions when the kids were young was to have toasted English Muffins on Sunday nights. After a heavy Sunday mid-day dinner, they tasted so good right before going to bed. My least favorite part of this tradition was fork-splitting the English Muffins. This was a frustrating task where I would usually end up unevenly tearing part of the muffin, making it impossible to toast. If you are an English Muffin aficionado - you can relate.
I’ve purchased English Toasting Bread and it just isn’t the same. So... when I get a craving for a good English Muffin, I have to brace myself for fork splitting. Slicing them open doesn’t yield those awesome “nooks & crannies” that stand up to be toasted, while letting the low points in the surface trap all the good stuff (butter, jam, & honey)
When I saw this recipe, it looked promising. I could see the nooks & crannies. Yet, it looked way too simple to be ‘amazing’. Simple ingredients, no kneading & forming into loaves, no “fork-splitting”, no big deal (at all!)
This is the type of bread that came into existence at the time of Jane Austen (where the "Muffin Man” - a door-to-door purveyor of muffins - was mentioned in her novel Persuasion. Ah - to curl up with a slice of this bread & that book...) It may have been worthy of high tea in England, but now you can enjoy it on a napkin as you fly out the door to work.
For the recipe, go to:
That is so pretty! I love how the butter seeps into the nooks and crannies...
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