Recipe Notes: Belgian Spice Cookies (Speculoos)

24 December 2018

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, September 2018

I did not know about this cookie until reading the article in Cook's Illustrated. However, I have eaten a version of the cookie. On Delta Airlines flights passengers are given speculoos under the name Biscoff. It has been a few years since I flew on Delta but I do have a vague recollection of eating, and enjoying, these cookies. 

The hard work is done by a food processor. First, though, the dry ingredients—flour, cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, baking soda, baking powder, and salt—were whisked together in a bowl. Turbinado sugar (which I had on hand to top crème brûlée) was processed for 30 seconds. Butter was added and processed to form a rough dough. An egg was added and processed followed by the flour mixture. The dough was transferred to a bowl and gently kneaded with a rubber spatula to bring it together and mix in ingredients the food processor missed. The dough was then placed between two sheets of parchment paper that has been marked with a 10x12-inch rectangle and patted and rolled out to that size. After chilling in the refrigerator for 90 minutes it was cut into pieces about 1¼x3-inches (I used a pizza wheel) and baked on a rimless baking sheet (I used the bottom of my rimmed baking sheets). It took about four hours to make these cookies, omitting cooling but including 2½-hours chilling.

These cookies are very good. They have a great, crunchy texture but are not too hard to bite comfortably. The combination of spices provides a warm flavor that is not dominated by any one of the spices.  They are easy to make even with the fussy steps of rolling and chilling the dough. They are a great snack or dessert for a cool day and they are worth making again. 

Recipe Notes: Baby Carrot Bisque

14 December 2018

Recipe from All Time Best Soups, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 25

Last year I received All Time Best Soups as a gift. I have made several of the soups and most have been really good. I am continuing to go through the book, selecting recipes to try. Homemade soup makes a great meal during the cooler months of the year.

This soup was easy to make and it was ready in just over one hour. It uses baby carrots thus eliminating the need for peeling and chopping. The carrots and chopped onion were cooked in oil in a Dutch oven until softened. Garlic, dry thyme, and dry coriander were added and cooked for about 30 seconds. A mixture of chicken and vegetable broth (made from concentrate) were added and the mixture simmered for about 20 minutes until the carrots were tender. The soup was puréed in a blender, returned to the stove on low heat, and half-and-half was stirred in.

The soup is good. It tastes of carrots, but lacked the sweet taste of carrots, perhaps reflecting the quality of the baby carrots used. While good, the soup is not all that interesting or special, it is pretty plain and basic. With all of the more interesting soups to be made I doubt we will return to this one.

Recipe Notes: Classic Italian Bread

5 November 2018

Recipe from Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 55.

One of my favorite store-bought breads (though the competition to get on that list is not very stiff) is a loaf of Italian sandwich bread. For a mass-produced bread it has a nice flavor, good chewy crumb, and a thin crisp crust. It makes good sandwiches though I detest the fragile cellophane wrapper. Bread Illustrated has a recipe for an Italian loaf. Does it measure up to the mass-produced loaf?

The dry ingredients—flour, yeast, salt—were whisked together in the bowl of the stand mixer. The wet ingredients—mild lager beer, water, extra-virgin olive oil—were whisked together in a measuring cup; beer is the primary liquid. Using low speed and a dough hook, the liquid ingredients were slowly added to the dry. After the ingredients were mixed the speed was increased and the dough kneaded until smooth, elastic, and it cleared the sides of the bowl. It was formed into a ball and rose until doubled. This took 2½ hours on a cool day, a little longer than expected. The dough was shaped (detailed instructions are in the recipe) into a long loaf. It was wet and sticky but easily handled with the aid of a little bench flour. It was moved to a pizza peel (lacking a peel, the bottom of a baking sheet sufficed), and left to rise. The loaf was scored, misted with water, and moved to a pizza stone in a 450° oven and baked until done, about 25 minutes. The loaf was shorter than in the recipe to accommodate the size of our stone. Total time, excluding cooling, was 4 hours 20 minutes, most of which was hands off. 

Classic Italian bread is good, with a nice chewy crumb, thin crisp crust, and gentle tang. It was easy to make with just a few ingredients, simple mixing protocol, and most of the work being done by the stand mixer. It worked well for sandwiches, the main use I have for bread, and toasted well. Why use store bought when it easy to make your own?

Recipe Notes: Brown Soda Bread

27 October 2018

Recipe from Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 48; also available on-line

I have long been curious about Irish soda bread. So as I worked my way through Bread Illustrated I was happy to try its recipe for Brown Soda Bread, which I presume is similar. I use bread primarily for sandwiches for lunch. Would this be a good sandwich bread?

This is a quick bread, using baking soda and baking powder as leaveners rather than yeast. I started by toasting wheat germ in a skillet on the stove top. This was whisked together with the other dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. The liquid ingredients—buttermilk and melted butter—were combined in a measuring cup and added to the dry ingredients and stirred with a spatula until the dough can together. The dough was briefly kneaded, shaped into a round, and baked on a baking sheet. Total time from start to taking the bread from the oven was 1 hour 15 minutes, it took 30 minutes to get the dough into the oven. 

The appeal of this recipe is speed. With only 30 minutes of work you can have a homemade loaf in the oven baking and ready to eat a few hours later. The bread tastes good and has a nice crust, crispy though not chewy. The texture of the crumb is not the same as that of a yeast bread, it is coarser and not as chewy. It makes a reasonable sandwich bread. I will probably not make this often as I prefer the texture of yeast bread, but it is good to have in mind should a loaf be needed on short notice.

Recipe Notes: Dark Chocolate Fudge Sauce

24 October 2018

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, July 2018

I enjoy the occasional ice cream sundae: ice cream, salted Spanish peanuts, mini chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. Mmmmmm. We have tried several dark chocolate syrups which we have enjoyed. So when CI published an easy recipe for homemade chocolate syrup, well I just had to try it.

Milk, sugar, and salt were combined in a sauce pan and heated over medium low heat while whisking gently. When bubbles appeared around the edges of the sauce pan the heat was reduced to low and cocoa powder was added, whisking until incorporated. The pan was taken off heat and unsweetened chocolate was stirred in until fully melted. Butter, then vanilla extract were added to finish the sauce. It took me about 40 minutes to make the sauce and it was very easy.

This is a very good chocolate sauce with a nice, dark chocolate flavor, not too sweet, and easily stored in the refrigerator for reheating when needed. Being homemade it has the advantage that I can now fiddle with the recipe, maybe reducing the sugar a little or trying different types of cocoa and chocolate. Testing these variations will be tough but I am up for the challenge.

Recipe Notes: Chicken Vesuvio

14 October 2018

Recipe from September 2018 Cook's Illustrated

Chicken Vesuvio is a Chicago restaurant dish. The Cook's Illustrated article about this recipe is titled "One-Pan Chicken and Potatoes". The promise of a simple-to-make dish with chicken, potatoes, and a garlic, white wine pan sauce was very appealing and seemed worth trying. It got even more appealing when I found the Test Kitchen web site had a "for two" version of the dish which suited us much better than the original recipe that serves 4 to 6. 

Four bone-in chicken thighs were trimmed of excess skin and seasoned. Four Yukon Gold potatoes were cut in half and tossed with oil and salt. Oil was heated in a 12-inch skillet, the chicken was added skin side down and cooked briefly to render its fat. The potatoes were added cut side down, they just fit in the 12-inch skillet with the chicken. Dried oregano and thyme were added and cooking continued until the potatoes and chicken were deeply browned. Six halved garlic cloves were added and white wine was poured into the skillet. Cooking was then completed in the oven. To make the sauce, the chicken and potatoes were removed to a serving dish and the skillet was heated on the stove top, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. The halved garlic cloves were transferred to a cutting board, minced, and smeared then returned to the skillet. The sauce was reduced, lemon juice and fresh parsley were added, and it was poured onto the serving platter. The chicken thighs were not all the same size which may have affected the overall cooking time. The garlic was not done cooking when it was time to remove the chicken and potatoes, it did not smear into a smooth paste. The meal took 70 minutes to prepare.

This was a good meal and worth having again. The sauce was good, it had good acid producing a pleasing tang and good garlic flavor that was not overwhelming. The sauce did not taste bitter even though it was too dark because some of the chicken and potatoes burnt during browning. The potatoes could have cooked a little longer but the chicken was perhaps a little over done. Despite these issues it was still good. We got two meals out of this recipe and it was good as leftovers, too, just requiring warming in the microwave.

Recipe Notes: Summer Peach Cake

20 September 2018

Recipe from Cook's Baking Book, America's Test Kitchen, 2013, p. 252.

There aren't many things better than a tree-ripened peach, one where the juice runs down you chin when you bite into it. This juiciness, however, is a challenge when you bake peaches in a cake. As the cake bakes the juices are released from the fruit into the batter making for a sodden, gummy cake. America's Test Kitchen took on this challenge and developed a recipe for a summer peach cake. Did they succeed in getting lots of peach flavor into the cake while maintaining a good texture?

I bought peaches at the supermarket rather than using local tree-ripened peaches. I assumed the recipe was developed using peaches that are more widely available at the market. The recipe includes peach schnapps to provide additional peach flavor; I used an orange liqueur rather than investing in peach schnapps for just this one use. Peaches were cut into ½-inch wedges and tossed with the liqueur, lemon juice, and a little sugar. The wedges were cut into thirds and roasted to remove some of their juice. They were then coated with panko bread crumbs. The batter was made by whisking together brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs. Melted butter was whisked into this mixture followed by sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Finally, a flour mixture (flour, baking powder, and salt) was whisked in until just combined. Half of the batter was added to a greased springform pan. The roasted peaches were layered on top of the batter. The remaining batter was poured over the peach layer. The top was decorated with more peach wedges plus a topping made with sugar mixed with almond extract. This was baked at 350°. The estimated time in the recipe is 50-60 minutes but I didn't take it out until after 70 minutes; even then a tooth pick was not coming out completely clean. Total time from start to removing the cake from the oven was about 2½ hours.

I served the cake at a meeting and received many compliments, people did enjoy the cake. I enjoyed it too, but being the baker I was a little more critical. I thought the cake was too moist, even a little gummy, despite the steps taken to minimize moisture from the peaches. Perhaps I didn't have realistic expectations for how the cake would turn out, and I was a little disappointed because of my fondness for peaches. 

Recipe Notes: Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Pecans and Dried Cherries

17 September 2018

Recipe from The Perfect Cookie, America's Test Kitchen, 2017, p. 33

What additions can you make to an oatmeal cookie? Chocolate chips, for sure. Raisins are common. How about nuts? We've probably all had oatmeal cookies with one or even two of these addends, but never all three. That's what this recipe is all about, loading up a basic oatmeal cookie with lots of flavorful ingredients. Will it be too little, too much, or just right?

The recipe specified pecans, dried sour cherries, and chopped bittersweet chocolate for the additions. I used walnuts, because I had them on hand and they were mentioned in the recipe as an alternate to pecans. I used dried cherries because that's what I found at the supermarket. The bag didn't say sour, it just said cherries and they weren't very sour; the recipe suggests dried cranberries and these would be worth trying. I used chopped bittersweet chocolate, as specified. The procedure for making the dough was standard: the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) were whisked together in a bowl. The nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate were roughly chopped and mixed with rolled oats. Softened butter and brown sugar were beaten together in a stand mixer. An egg and vanilla extract were beaten into the sugar mixture. The dry ingredients were stirred in followed by the oat mixture. Using a #24 disher (smaller than what the recipe suggested, #16 or #20 would probably have been better) resulted in 19 cookies which were baked for 18 minutes for the first batch and 16 minutes for the second. Total time to make these cookies was 100 minutes.

I enjoyed these cookies. The mixture of the earthy nuts and oats with the bittersweet chocolate and sour-ish cherries was great. I didn't think there were too many extras added to the cookies, the ratio of cookie to additions was fine. However, the cookies were more crispy than chewy. This was my fault for over-baking them and making them a little too small, faults easily corrected, They taste good and are enjoyable, and with a little more attention to the details of baking should be just right.

Recipe Notes: Tacos Dorados

25 June 2018

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, July 2018

Tacos dorados is a regular dinner item at our house. It means crispy tacos, i.e. tacos served using a crispy corn taco shell. It is usually a pretty simple affair. The taco shells are store bought. These are brought to the table with an array of taco fillings: ground beef (sometimes seasoned, sometimes not), shredded lettuce and cheese, avocado, tomatoes, roasted corn, sliced olives, sour cream, taco sauce, salsa, etc. Each person then builds a taco to suit their taste. In this Cook's Illustrated recipe the meat is seasoned and the taco shells are fried at home. I wanted to try some of what was in the recipe but not make it too complicated, after all we are cooking for just the two of us. Thus, I prepared tacos in our normal fashion but I prepared the ground beef filling using the recipe from the magazine.

Ground beef (90% lean, 13 oz) was mixed with water and baking soda; this raised its pH and prevented it from getting tough and rubbery when cooked. In a skillet with hot oil, one finely chopped onion was cooked to soften the onion. The seasonings were added to bloom their flavors: chili powder, paprika, cumin, and garlic powder. After a minute or so the ground beef was added and cooked until no pink remained. Soy sauce was added (in place of the tomato paste in the recipe) and the mixture transferred to a bowl where shredded cheese was stirred in. Including these steps it took about 50 minutes to prepare dinner. The meat mixture was sufficient for three meals.

The resulting tacos were okay. By itself the meat mixture was too spicy for our tastes, but served with the other fixin's it was acceptable. But is it worth the extra effort to prepare this spicy meat mixture? Especially when the taco is seasoned with prepared salsa or bottled taco sauce? My answer is no and we will stick with our simpler, quicker method of preparing tacos. Nonetheless it was worth doing once and who knows, perhaps some of what we learned will be adopted to become part of our standard preparation.

Recipe Notes: Chocolate Chewies

25 June 2018

Recipe from The Perfect Cookie, America's Test Kitchen, 2017, p. 63

When I saw this recipe in The Perfect Cookie it reminded me of Chocolate Chubbies, an excellent cookie that's something between a cookie and a brownie. While I have been rather methodical in working my way through the cookbook, I skipped ahead to try this recipe, inspired by the goodness of Chocolate Chubbies and hopes for an even better version.

There were several striking elements in the list of ingredients. There was a lot of sugar (2¼ cups confectioners' sugar), a lot of pecans (2 cups), very little flour (2 tablespoons), and very little fat (no butter and no egg yolks).  Creating the batter was straightforward. Dry ingredients (confectioners' sugar, cocoa, flour, salt) were mixed in a stand mixer. The wet ingredients were added one at a time: egg whites and vanilla. Finally, the pecans, which had been toasted and chopped, were added along with 1 ounce of grated bittersweet chocolate. These were baked, 15-18 minutes. I used a #60 disher which generated 33 cookies. Total time was 80 minutes.

My feelings about these cookies changed over time as I worked my way through the batch. (As with almost all cookies that I make, I freeze most of them, taking about a week's worth from the freezer once a week.) My first impression is they should have been called pecan cookies. Their flavor and texture were dominated by the nuts. Indeed, the batter was very thin and it was the pecans that held it together. The cookies were chewy, too, as advertised, but the chocolate flavor took a back seat to the pecans. The more I ate them, though, the more I grew to like them, to enjoy them for what they were rather than what I was expecting. Then towards the end of the batch my impression of them soured somewhat as I concluded they were too nutty for my taste. These were not much like chocolate chubbies where chocolate is the star, that is probably why I like them so much.

Recipe Notes: Grilled Chicken Thighs

22 July 2018

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, July 2018

Last summer I tried a recipe for grilled chicken drumsticks that worked very well. This year, Cook's Illustrated featured a version of the recipe customized for chicken thighs. We probably eat thighs more often than any other part of the chicken and having an easy recipe for grilling chicken thighs would be a good thing to add to our repertoire.

The chicken is coated with a flavorful paste before it is grilled. The magazine included recipes for a mustard-tarragon paste and a gochujang (Korean red chili) paste; the web site had a Garam Masala paste. I chose the mustard-tarragon paste which is made by mixing together Dijon mustard, garlic, lemon zest, minced fresh tarragon, salt, water, and pepper. The bone-in chicken thighs were trimmed of excess fat and skin, then smeared with the mustard-tarragon paste, more on the flesh side than the skin side. It was refrigerated while the grill was heated and cleaned. The chicken was cooked on the cool side of the grill (only some of the burners were left on) to an internal temperature of 185°. Instead of the 40 minutes indicated by the recipe, this took 60-70 minutes on our grill.  The chicken was then moved to the hot side of the grill to brown the exterior. Total time was a little over 2 hours.

The chicken was tender and moist, though not juicy, and held up well as a leftover. It may have been a little overdone. I didn't have anything in my notes about the flavor from the paste so it must not have been a highlight for us. While this is a simple method for preparing grilled chicken, I think last year's recipe for drumsticks provided a better chicken. Thus when we have a hankering for grilled chicken, I think that is the recipe that we will be more likely to use. It was faster, the portion size was fine, and the meat was more evenly cooked.

Recipe Notes: Moroccan Lentil and Chickpea Soup

25 June 2018

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, March 2018

Soup is an odd thing to make for summer. I was a little surprised to see it in the Spring edition ofCook's Illustrated. However, I really like homemade soup and I made another North African lentil soup recently that we enjoyed very much. So even though soup is more comforting in the cooler months, I made this soup for a summer meal. Many summer meals, as it turned out,  as the recipe makes a lot of soup.

I made a few changes to the recipe. I didn't have quite as much fresh cilantro as the recipe called for so I increased the amount of fresh parsley to compensate. I couldn't find brown lentils in the supermarket so I used green. Finally, I omitted the grated fresh ginger; several recipes with ginger that we tried recently were too spicy for our taste. Making the soup involves a fair amount of prep work, the ingredient list is pretty long but with nothing exotic. Once the prep work is done it all comes together quickly and easily. Diced onion and celery were cooked in oil. Minced garlic was added followed by the spices: coriander, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and pepper flakes. This mixture was cooked for a minute to bloom the spices, then minced fresh cilantro and parsley were added. Chicken broth, water, chickpeas, and lentils were added and the mixture simmered for 20 minutes. Canned crushed tomatoes and orzo were stirred in to the soup. After a short period of simmering, chopped Swiss chard was added and cooked briefly. The soup was finished, off heat, with lemon juice, cilantro, and parsley. Total time to make the soup was just 90 minutes, much of which is hands off.

The verdict: another really good soup! It is very hearty from the lentils, chickpeas, and pasta. The spices provide warmth while the tomatoes add some acidity and fruity notes. The soup keeps very well and is just as good, if not better, as a leftover. It thickens and almost has the consistency of a stew. It was not spicy so it should be OK to include the grated ginger. As a bonus the soup is easily made vegan by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth. I look forward to making this soup again as a comforting Winter meal.

Recipe Notes: Chocolate Semifreddo

19 June 2018

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, May 2018

What a tempting recipe for a hot summer! A frozen chocolate dessert that is made without the churn used to make ice cream, indeed no special equipment at all is needed. Semifreddo translates from Italian roughly as "half frozen" and it is expected to be lighter than ice cream. 

Bittersweet chocolate was chopped fine and set aside, as was a mixture of vanilla extract with instant espresso powder. Eggs, sugar, and salt were whisked together. In a sauce pan, heavy cream and water were heated to simmering then whisked into the egg mixture. The resulting mixture was then heated to 160° then poured through a strainer over the chopped chocolate. After the chocolate had melted it was whisked until smooth and the vanilla espresso mixture was whisked in. Heavy cream was beaten to soft peaks, one-third of this was mixed into the cooled chocolate mixture to temper it  before the remaining whipped cream was gently folded into the chocolate. The mixture was transferred to a loaf pan and frozen. Total preparation time was about one hour.

Like chocolate mousse, which you might view as a lighter version of chocolate pudding, whipped cream is folded into a chocolate mixture to lighten it. The chocolate semifreddo was easily imagined by us to be a frozen mousse. It was creamy, easily eaten while frozen, but not as rich as ice cream or gelato. It was a nice dessert, easily made, that we enjoyed eating, but in the future we will probably stick to ice cream when craving a frozen, chocolate dessert for a hot summer day.

Recipe Notes: Boogaloo Wonderland Sandwiches

18 June 2018

Recipe from Cook's Country, April 2018

No, I had never heard of these sandwiches, either, and I am pretty sure I would have at least remembered their fun name. To me they seem similar to sloppy joes: ground beef is seasoned, fried, and served on a bun. What's different about these is the use of different seasonings, using sub rolls instead of buns, and adding a layer of melted American cheese to the sandwich a la cheeseburgers. I have tried several variations on this sort of sandwich over the years but I always go back to my family recipe. Will this sandwich be different?

I made only a few changes to the Cook's Country recipe: I used 80% lean ground beef instead of 85% because it was available at the supermarket. I also used potato slider buns instead of sub rolls, because we have those in the freezer and they are the right size for us. First, the sauce was made by combining ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, dried thyme, dry mustard, garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper in a sauce pan and bringing it to a boil. For the sandwich filling, ground beef, onion (sliced thin), pepper, and salt were fried in a skillet. The sauce was added and the mixture simmered. The finished mixture was placed on the rolls with a slice of American cheese (split between the two slider-sized sandwiches) which was then melted in a 350° oven. Total time was about 45 minutes.

The boogaloo wonderland sandwich is OK. It was a little spicy and a little sweet but the level of heat was OK for us. The sliced onions were too big for our slider buns, the onion should have been cut into halves or quarters before slicing. I don't think the sandwich was good enough to take the place of my Aunt Peggy's sloppy joe recipe. It is a good sandwich but I will probably continue to use the old family favorite.

Recipe Notes: Classic Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

13 June 2018

Recipe from The Perfect Cookie, America's Test Kitchen, 2017, p. 30; also available online.

We sometimes have oatmeal cookies, they are a favorite of Diane's. They almost always have chocolate chips, though, and tend to be small and crispy. I made a crispy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie several years ago and it worked out well. In working my way through The Perfect Cookie it became time to try the ATK recipe for a chewy oatmeal cookie.

Unlike most cookies, these were made entirely by hand, the stand mixer was not needed. The dry ingredients—AP flour, salt, and baking soda—were whisked together and set aside. Butter was carefully melted and browned in a skillet, transferred to a mixing bowl, and cinnamon was added to the warm melted butter to bloom its flavors. Brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vegetable oil were whisked into the butter mixture. An egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract were stirred into the mixture, followed by the flour mixture, then rolled oats, and finally some raisins. The dough was portioned onto baking sheets using a #24 scoop (about 3 tablespoons). The cookies were flattened to 2½-inch disks and baked until the edges were just set 11 minutes at 375°. It took just over an hour and the recipe yielded 16 large cookies.

These cookies are certainly different from other oatmeal cookies I have had. They are soft and chewy in the center with crispy edges, the texture is different than any others I remember having. They almost seem too dry, but this is a minor flaw. They taste very good, even with the raisins instead of chocolate chips, with a stronger flavor of oats than other recipes provide. They are big cookies, but I can always eat just half of one, though I rarely do that. These cookies were easy to make and are worth making again, though I might try substituting chocolate chips for the raisins. I know that Diane would vote for that modification.

Update: 30 June 2023

I made these again with a few modifications. I substituted 1 cup of chocolate chips for the ½ cup of raisins. I used a smaller #30 scoop (about 2 tablespoons) to portion the dough rather than a #24. Twelve cookies fit on a baking sheet and the recipe made a total of 28 cookies. They cookies baked for 10 minutes. These were both good modifications and I will probably make these changes when I use this recipe in the future.

Recipe Notes: English Muffins

12 June 2018

Recipe from Bread Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, 2016, p. 159.

I regularly enjoy English muffins for breakfast and I prefer Thomas Brothers brand. The first time I had something like and English muffin that was home made was from a microwave recipe that Diane tried when we were living in Pittsburgh, many years ago; they were good but we haven't made them since. I recently tried a recipe for  English muffin bread which was good, but not quite the same thing. So I have been looking forward to trying the recipe for English muffins from Bread Illustrated and I finally got around to it.

Like biscotti and bagels, English muffins are cooked twice. But first, the dough is made and it rests overnight to develop the yeasty flavor characteristic of English muffins. AP flour, yeast, and salt were whisked together in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a large measuring cup, milk, water, melted butter, and sugar were mixed. With the mixer on low speed, the liquid ingredients were slowly added to the flour mixture. Once the liquid was fully incorporated the dough was kneaded for about 8 minutes. It was then left to rest for 30 minutes. Using a bowl scraper the dough was folded over on itself 4 times and left to rest until it doubled in volume. Next, the dough was portioned into 2½-ounce balls placed on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. The dough was quite sticky and I used plenty of flour so it was workable. A second baking sheet was placed on top of the balls and they were refrigerated overnight. The weight of the second baking sheet worked very well to form the dough into the shape of English muffins. These were then dusted with cornmeal, cooked in a skillet until well browned, about 3 minutes a side, then baked to 205°-210°, about 8 minutes.

I was wondering how these muffins would compare with those from Thomas Brothers. They were comparable to the commercial muffins! Fork-split and toasted, they had a plenty of nooks and crannies to capture melted butter and other toppings and they had a pleasant yeasty flavor like their commercial counterparts. Time will tell if they were worth the effort compared to picking up a package at the supermarket, but I wouldn't be surprised if homemade English muffins become a regular feature of my breakfasts.