English Muffins from the kitchen

I've been making the english muffins that get consumed in this house for quite some time now. The younger 2 eat them like rolls, untoasted with a cooked sausage patty and cheese for a quick on the go breakfast or even snack.
I make hubby a breakfast sandwich for his lunch box just about every day. (Some days I don't have any muffins left.)

One day my hubby asked why I make them when they aren't really that expensive. My first response was. I know what goes in them. My second response was because I can.

Today I made a double batch, and they are currently on the counter shaped and rising for their dry fry on the stove top.

So I sat down to just see what the cost was, using the ingredients I use every time I make them.

And the cost is about $1.75 for 12 big english muffins. They contain very simple basic ingredients. No HFC, no preservatives, nothing funky. I know what goes into them and when they were made.

Now you could make them for a few cents less. I'm sure of that because I use more expensive ingredients. I use organic flour (right now $4.99/5bls), I use raw milk ($3.70/half gallon) and I use organic butter(11cents/T). The other ingredients are yeast, salt, water and a smidge of baking powder. Oh and a bit of cornmeal for the non stick/authentic affect.


It's easy, and forgiving. You can swap out 1 c of the white flour, for 1 cup of whole wheat or any other whole grain flour. (Using barley, or oat or Kamut and Spelt, will result in a wetter dough, but it still rises beautifully and works great.)

Here's what I do.

Warm 1 c of milk, add in 1/4 c of warm water. Pour into my KA mixing bowl.
Add in 1/2 T of sugar or honey. Mix around a few times. Add in 2 1/4 t of yeast. Swirl around again with the paddle. Let rest a few minutes to start the yeast bubbling a bit. Add in 2 T of butter. (can omit) Turn the mixer on and add in a pinch of baking powder and 1 t of salt. Turn the mixer off and add 3 cups of flour. Turn the mixer on and let it go on about 3, until the dough is well mixed. Let it go a couple minutes more if it's a wetter dough. If you want you can then knead it a few minutes on the counter. I find that the less I 'work' the dough the better it is. Place it in a buttered bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to double. When double, smoosh it down and start cutting off hunks. I have a feel for how much I need, but you can form into an even roll, lightly and cut off 12 pieces. Shape them by tucking under the edges a few times, unti lthe top is smooth and you have a semi ball. Press down on cornmeal, then flip over and press the other side down, set aside on a cornmeal dusted board, counter or cookie sheet to rest and rise. After I make all 12, I then push them all down to flatten a bit.
Walk away until they are almost double. Come back get a large dry skillet. (I use a stainless one or a have a double burner grill/griddle pan, but I found the dry skillet is easy to control the heat on.)
Put the skillet on medium, (griddle on med-low)..put down the muffins, they will deflate just a touch when you pick them up, but leave them be, and they rise back up. Let set until they start to get a dark golden brown, then flip and wait until that side gets a dark golden brown, cool on a wire rack.
Store what you can't eat in a few days in the freezer. I recycle old bread bags to store them in.

These are the texture of a Thomas, not a grocey store english muffin. I slice them in half with a bread knife, the insides are soft and have little airy spots, not big craggy bits.

The recipe ingredients to c/p.

English Muffins
1 c warm milk
1/4 c warm water
1/2 T sugar
2 1/4 t yeast
pinch of baking powder
2 T butter
1 t salt
3 cups flour

Nourishing Cookie? Is that possible?

I found a recipe online that I thought sounded interesting. I'm looking for something that the boys can grab a few and take them off to the bus stop, or grab a few when they get home from school before football practice. Here's where I started, but it was really dry. I even used a fresh laid this morning duck egg.(#3 and I are taking care of a friends duck flock while they are vacationing, all the duck eggs they lay is our pay.) Duck eggs make things rise higher and fluff up more. I think I'll add one more egg to the next batch. The turbinado, stayed crunchy. The apples were crisp. Which I liked, and the oldest liked..but #3 son...thought the apples were a bit "tangy". #2 hasn't tried them. The oldest ate 8 of them right away!
~NOTE: These went all dough-like after 2 days in an airtight container. The apples did it! I think I'll try dried diced apples next time. Or just leave them out.

~I went next door and picked the apples right off the tree. That apple tree produced way more than my 2 trees put together! And they are a lovely red skinned, white fleshed apple. I make apple chips in the dehydrator for eating and decorating with them.

Apple Granola Cookies

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c organic natural creamy peanut butter
2/3 c organic turbinado sugar
1 t vanilla
1 egg(fresh laid duck)
1/2 t Celtic Sea Salt
1/2 t baking soda
1.5 c organic white flour
3/4 c homemade granola (oats, sunflower seeds, cashews, maple syrup, coconut oil)
1 c chopped apple, peel left on

Form into balls and press a little flat. Bake at 350F for about 9 minutes.

Nigella Express~Chicken Schnitzel with Bacon and White Wine

Okay this recipe is soooooo delish..and Why oh, why did I wait over a year to even try it? It's simple, it's quick and it's sooooo good.

Nigella.com Chicken Schnitzel

Tonight I served it with roasted cauliflower, but next time and not to far away I'll serve it on Garlic Parm Mashed Red Potatoes and with a green veggie of some sort.

And the wine..well it's a Late Harvest Reisling from 2007 Washington Hills
Hubby and I aren't wine drinkers we can never never find something we like to drink..I'll cook with it..but then it sits in the fridge..Not this stuff..It was recommended by Cynthia at Bayleaf in town. And it's so inexpensive. $8 a bottle!!
The first bottle we loved..I used it in Jambalaya, we drank some, then I used the leftovers in a pasta cream sauce and added so much. I went back to get more and our store was sold out. I went in Friday to pick up my local eggs and she had a few bottles in. So I bought another specifically for using this recipe. Again we love it! When I go in later in the week to get more eggs, I'll buy more. And then get a recommendation for a red too.

Chocolate Chews

I was cruising around blog land and came across this recipe. Grammy's Chocolate Cookies I've made quite a few Martha Stewart Cookies, so was pretty secure in knowing that these would be good. I had butter sitting out since yesterday, because the cookie jar was getting low. AGAIN, wait ALWAYS.

So I made them. Let them chill just over an hour and rolled them in vanilla sugar. (used vanilla beans from vanilla ice cream batches, that are recycled into a small jar that I keep topped up with sugar)

Oh and I only used 1.5 cups of sugar in the cookies. I've been decreasing most of our cookies by atleast a 1/2 cup of sugar..which brings me to the fact that there is way to much sweet in our sweets. ~lightbulb moment~

The recipe:

Chocolate Chews

adapted from:Grammy’s Chocolate Cookies
Source: Martha Stewart’s Cookies
by way of Family, Friends and Food
Ingredients
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 T vanilla sugar, for rolling

Directions
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture; beat to combine. Form dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, then roll in sanding sugar. Place on baking sheets covered in parchment paper. Bake until set – about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from baking sheet to cool completely on wire rack.

Cookies can be stored in a tightly sealed container for up to 1 week.

These come out just like the Molasses cookies I made last week. ~recipe coming soon!
Which are really good sandwiching some Breyer's French Vanilla Ice Cream...so that's my treat later..2 Chocolate Chews and a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.