Tuesday, January 4, 2011

English Muffins by the Gluten-free Goddess


That is an English muffin, friends.  A real English muffin.  I received a lovely set of English Muffin Rings from my cousin for Christmas, and I put them to use immediately upon returning to Boston yesterday after spending the holidays in St. Louis.  I tried this recipe for English muffins by the Gluten-free Goddess, and you are looking at the rather delicious result.  I halved her recipe and used a real egg instead of the egg replacer and ended up with 5 English muffins.  This is what mine looked like when they came out of the oven (the dusting on top is cornmeal that I sprinkled on before baking):


These were pretty simple to throw together - the longest part about this recipe is proofing the yeast.  And that only takes five minutes.  But once the yeast gets frothy, the dough comes together in just about another ten minutes.  Definitely no longer than you'd spend driving to the store to buy a bag of English muffins, let's put it that way.

The texture of these was pretty good and was pretty close to a regular English muffin; however, I might play around with the recipe a bit more to see if I can make it even lighter.  But even as they were, these were pretty fantastic and are definitely worth making.  They may seem slightly dense once they cool, but don't worry - pop them into the toaster and they will be transformed into airy lightness.  They are even sturdy enough to make an egg sandwich without falling apart.  I suspect these would also be great for making mini-pizzas or mini-paninis, if you have a panini-maker.

Or you could keep it simple and delicious with some good homemade jam and peanut butter.


Check out those air pockets!  Try them out for yourself.  If you don't have English muffin rings, you could try using (carefully cleaned!) empty tuna cans with both the top and bottom cut off.  Freeze any leftovers as soon as they're completely cooled and toast to defrost as the cravings hit (you could even slice them before freezing to make it easier on yourself).  If you've missed English muffins, these will hit the (approximate) spot!

2 comments:

K Allrich said...

Yay. So glad you like my gluten-free English muffin recipe. I need to make another batch pronto. Happy New Year! xox Karina

Claire Berman said...

Karina, thanks so much for the comment - and of course, for the recipe! These are a new favorite of mine. Now that you mention it, I need to make another batch, too. They disappear quickly...

Happy New Year to you as well!
Claire