Paul Hollywood's English Muffins - GBBO Technical Challenge Two

I was quite intrigued to see that this week's technical challenge on The Great British Bake Off was English Muffins. I've been making these myself for the last few months, and have found them pretty straight forward to make, so I was curious to see Paul's recipe and how it differed to the one I've become attached to. 

Muffins are made from an enriched dough, and the Paul Hollywood recipe uses butter and milk to do this, a variation from the natural yoghurt version I have been making. You can find Paul's recipe on the BBC Food website here. 

Paul Hollywood English Muffins - Butter and Milk Enriched Dough

I found Paul's recipe easier in the execution, all the ingredients in one bowl and mix, then knead, however it makes for a very wet dough that is difficult to knead. In the end, I had to attack mine with dough hooks attached to my hand whisk. The dough proved well enough, but after cutting the circles out the muffins proved sideways rather than upwards, leaving some very large but slightly flat muffins.

Paul Hollywood English Muffin - Butter and Milk Enriched Dough

Overall both Gary and I agreed that we preferred the taste of the original recipe we were used to, although these were still of course much nicer than shop bought. I really think that the natural yoghurt gives an extra depth of flavour to the muffins, and that will always be my preferred recipe, though I may use Paul's as a back up if I don't have any yoghurt to hand.

English Muffins - Natural Yoghurt Enhanced Dough

I am re-posting my muffin recipe from a few months ago here, as it is my preferred way of making them.

Ingredients 

7 grams fast action yeast
125 ml tepid water
75 grams natural yoghurt
225 grams strong white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
handful of semolina

Method

• In a medium sized bowl, dissolve the yeast in about half of the water. Add the remaining water and the natural yoghurt, and mix well until smooth and combined. 
• Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the salt and quickly stir. 
• Pour the liquid mixture into the flour, and mix together to make a dough.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead well for 5 - 10 minutes until a smooth pliable dough is formed. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to prove for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. 
• Turn the dough back out on the surface, and knead quickly to knock back. Roll the dough out to about 2 cm thick, and cut out rounds about 3 inches wide. Knead the offcuts back together, re-roll and continue to cut out rounds until all the dough has been used. 
• Place the rounds on a lightly floured baking tray, sprinkle the semolina over the tops, cover, and leave again to rise for about 40 minutes.
• Heat a little oil in a large frying pan. Place the muffins in the pan, and cook for about 7 minutes on both sides. Keep the heat down low so as not to burn the outside of the muffins before the inside cooks. 
• Set aside to cool. These muffins can be kept for a couple of days in an airtight container, just halve and toast and they are ready to eat. 

DIY McBreakfast: Homemade Sausage and Egg Breakfast Muffins

I've been blogging now for eight months, and I can honestly say I love everything about what I do on this site, from experimenting to sharing tried and tested recipes, setting myself challenges to reviewing new products. I go to sleep thinking of new recipe ideas, and I can't wait to finish work at night so I can fire up the laptop and check my messages. But the biggest thing to come out of my blogging has been discovering that I cannot help competing with every major food supplier out there. I simply cannot walk down a supermarket aisle, or eat out, without starting to think... "I could make that." And Gary doesn't help, in fact the opposite, he knows me so well, and he deliberately goads me "Oh you couldn't possibly make chocolate eclairs..." he says, knowing full well that once he's said it I won't rest until I've proved him wrong! Which is exactly what happened when we were sat watching TV the other night, and an advert for a well known fast food chains breakfast menu came on...

Let me tell you, when that well known fast food chain took it upon themselves to take an English muffin, and fill it with sausage meat, egg and cheese, they were really onto something, and as always, homemade is soooooo much better than takeaway. Making these at home, you get light fluffy muffins, freshly made sausage patties, and whilst I couldn't possibly tell you that this is a healthy morning meal, at least you know exactly what has gone into it, and you get to eat it hot from the pan, rather than after it has been sat on the side for 20 minutes bathing in its own grease!

Homemade Sausage and Egg Breakfast Muffin

The quantities listed here make 5-6 English muffins, which will keep for up to 2 days if placed in an airtight container.

To make the English Muffins;

7 grams fast action yeast
125 ml tepid water
75 grams natural yoghurt
225 grams strong white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
handful of semolina

• In a medium sized bowl, dissolve the yeast in about half of the water. Add the remaining water and the natural yoghurt, and mix well until smooth and combined. 
• Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the salt and quickly stir. 
• Pour the liquid mixture into the flour, and mix together to make a dough.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead well for 5 - 10 minutes until a smooth pliable dough is formed. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and leave to prove for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. 
• Turn the dough back out on the surface, and knead quickly to knock back. Roll the dough out to about 2 cm thick, and cut out rounds about 3 inches wide. Knead the offcuts back together, re-roll and continue to cut out rounds until all the dough has been used. 
• Place the rounds on a lightly floured baking tray, sprinkle the semolina over the tops, cover, and leave again to rise for about 40 minutes.
• Heat a little oil in a large frying pan. Place the muffins in the pan, and cook for about 7 minutes on both sides. Keep the heat down low so as not to burn the outside of the muffins before the inside cooks. 
• Set aside to cool. These muffins can be kept for a couple of days in an airtight container, just halve and toast and they are ready to eat. 

Freshly cooked English Muffins

To make into Sausage and Egg Muffins;

50g sausage meat per patty
1 teaspoon bread crumbs per patty
salt and pepper to taste

eggs
sliced cheese

• To make the sausage patties, mix the sausage meat well with the breadcrumbs and salt and pepper. transfer the mixture onto a well floured surface, and roll out to around 5mm thick. Cut into 3 inch rounds. 
• Coat both sides of the rounds with the flour, and fry in a hot pan with a little oil, for about 4-5 minutes on both sides. (You can make the patties up to 24 hours in advance, just wrap individually in clingflim once coated in flour and keep in the fridge).
• Once the sausage patties are cooked, set aside to keep warm. 
• Take the muffins, and slice in half. Place under a grill or in a toaster to toast. 
• Fry the eggs, turning over halfway through so that yolk cooks through entirely. 
• To assemble, layer up the bottom of the muffin, add a slice of cheese, the sausage patty, and the egg.

• Finally, place the top half of the muffin on, and there you have your very own DIY McBreakfast!

The main thing I noticed when we bit into these is how savoury they tasted compared to the ones from the fast food chain. There must be a huge amount of sugars added to the muffins and the sausage meat in their version!

I am entering this recipe into Made with Love Mondays run by Javelin Warrior at Cookin w/ Luv as a great example of making a well known meal at home, and totally from scratch!

Jumping on the Healthy Eating Bandwagon

Ok... I'm going to start this post by confessing that a) I haven't actually made any New Year's resolutions this year through a crippling fear of the disappointment that will follow when I inevitably break them, and b) I have a terrible tendency to yo-yo diet. These things do not make me the best person to come to for any kind of healthy eating / diet tips, however I do have a few recipes for those of you with a little more motivation than me! 

When I have successfully lost weight in the past, it hasn't been through any celebrity fad, crash diet, or intensive exercise regime. I generally follow a few golden rules, and with a little determination they give me the results that I want...

1. Try to cut out alcohol, but don't ban yourself. If you are having a drink, try white wine and soda, or vodka and slimline tonic or cranberry, and have a small glass of water between drinks. 
2. An absolute unbreakable rule is to drink between one and a half and two litres of water per day. I always keep a sports bottle of water with me when I'm on a weight loss mission.
3. Make time for three meals a day. It doesn't even matter what they are. My weight suffers when I fall out of that routine, when I convince myself I don't have time for breakfast. One day I will learn that three square meals a day is the only way!?

Any-way. I'm a foodie blogger, not a diet expert, so here are a few of my go-to recipes as promised...

Vegetable Soup

I blogged about soup a few months ago - the full recipe is here. The beauty of this is you can use absolutely anything in it, and season it however you like. I like to make a big batch at the weekend with the leftovers from a Sunday roast, and then freeze in individual containers - they make a perfect low-fat low-cal lunch either at home or the office. These ones are Sweet Potato with a few Chillies for spice...

Vegetable Soup Freezer Pots

Chicken Wraps

As a sales rep by day, I spend a lot of time in the car, with no kitchen or microwave, and the constant lure of fast food at the services. I find chicken wraps ideal to take in the car when I know I'm going to be out at lunchtime, however they get bland and boring very quickly. I use these few quick fix marinades to add some excitement to my chicken breasts;

• Chinese Style: 5tbsp Dark Soy Sauce, 3tbsp Brown Sugar and 1tsp Chinese Five Spice
• Tikka Style: 1tsp of Masala (or any other) Curry Paste in 200g Crème Fraiche 
• Mediterranean: 3tbsp Honey plus the juice of 1 lemon

Marinade overnight, and then grill and slice for tasty, high protein, low calorie wraps, salads or sandwiches.

Muffins

Because my worst food habit is skipping breakfast, these little beauties are my morning saviours! The full recipe is in my blog post here, and again it is one of those amazingly adaptable recipes that has unlimited possibilities. I made a quick batch tonight using some frozen blueberries and a teaspoon of lemon extract. You can make them even more healthy by using wholemeal self raising flour, and skimmed milk. The recipe makes a batch of 12, and they are perfect for freezing once cool, and then popping in the oven one-by-one to warm through. 

Lemon and Blueberry Muffin

Good luck to everyone out there who has made resolutions for 2013 - I'd love to hear everyone else's diet tips and healthy eating recipes - please comment below! 

V x

The Only Muffin Recipe You Will Ever Need

It's been a little while since I posted a recipe up here, as I have been concentrating on my cake decorating and the projects I had promised friends. Tonight I wanted to share with you the easiest, most versatile muffin recipe you could wish for. I'm writing it tonight as I have sat here working most of the evening craving something sweet, and had nothing in the house to eat. I glanced upon a packet of chocolate chips in the back of the cupboard, and before I was really aware of what I was doing I found myself mixing flour and butter in a bowl...

I had a phase last year where I made muffins every week to take in the car for breakfast, and experimented with so many recipes and variations, breakfast muffins, oat muffins, chocolate, raspberry, blueberry, wholemeal, you name it! I adapted from a range of recipes, and this is the method that I settled on, it's quick, easy, and so so adaptable.

So, the ingredients list is;

380g self raising flour (or 355g and 25g cocoa powder if you want chocolate muffins)
100g butter
200g caster sugar (I always prefer golden caster sugar as it has a slightly more caramel flavour)
300ml milk
1 egg
...Plus 100 - 200g of whatever you want your feature ingredient to be - chocolate chips, blueberries, chopped dried apricots, cherries - the possibilities are endless!

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees, and line a bun tin with 12 muffin cases.

Start by sifting the flour into a mixing bowl, and adding the butter chopped into small cubes. With your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until you create a breadcrumb like texture. This usually only takes a minute or two.

Add the caster sugar to the flour, and stir until combined.

Beat the egg, and add to the milk. You may wish to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract at this point if it compliments the flavours in your muffins. Slowly poor the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, and combine well until all the flour has been incorporated. Add your additional ingredients (fruit etc) to the mixture, stir through, and then divide into the 12 muffin cases.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the muffins are a golden colour, and firm to touch. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack.

And then dig in! These are delicious still warm from the oven with a cup of tea in the evening, as an easy breakfast on the go, or as a treat in packed lunches. Once they have cooled, 2 minutes in a warm oven will perk them up nicely.

The muffins I made tonight in the photo above are triple chocolate - with cocoa powder, and dark and white chocolate chunks mixed in. You really can go to town on mixing this recipe up however, here are some variations I have made in the past...

1. 150g fresh blueberries and a teaspoon of cinnamon
2. 100g fresh raspberries and 50g white chocolate chips
3. 50g chopped crystallised ginger and 50g chopped dried apricots
4. For a healthier breakfast option, try using a wholemeal self raising flour, and adding dried fruit and nuts
5. Replace the butter at the start of the recipe with mashed banana for a high fibre, low fat option, and add 100g chopped walnuts

I would love to hear any other ideas out there for new flavours for these muffins, please post below if you have any to share...

Vx