Toasted Walnut & Cranberry English Muffins!

I'll tell you right from the get-go that these muffins take a little more time than other English muffin recipes I've published on this blog. I was just in the mood to try something a little different - both on the taste AND the technique front, so this recipe fit the bill. It turned out to be a good season to "play", as our Ohio April has been quite cool and drizzly (and even snowy!), so I didn't mind spending that playtime in the kitchen. Plus, the weather put me in the mood for something warm, full of flavor and crunchy, and a decent English muffin provides all that. As a post-baking/tasting evaluation, I would say that these muffins are slightly more dense than other recipes I've tried. However, they are quite, in the words of my taste-tester daughter, DELISH!  

Enjoy making these English muffins! We'll just bake our way through these April showers! 

Cranberry & Toasted Walnut English Muffins

Dough ingredients:

1 ¾ Cup warm milk

1 packet/ Tbsp. Red Star Platinum Yeast

3 ½ Cup unbleached bread flour

1 Cup white whole wheat flour

3 Tbsp. softened butter

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg

½ Cup dried cranberries

½ Cup chopped walnuts

2 Tbsp. honey

Additional:

Cornmeal for sprinkling

PLEASE NOTE: THE AMOUNT OF FLOUR CALLED FOR IN THIS RECIPE IS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT YOU SHOULD USE IN THE EZ DOH – CRANK SLOWLY AND GENTLY SO AS NOT TO PUT UNDUE PRESSURE ON THE HOOK. 

Place warm water and yeast in EZ DOH bucket and stir to dissolve yeast. Let rest 1 minute. Add one cup of flour, then additional dough ingredients. EZ DOH-it for 2-3 minutes, or until dough

is smooth and soft and all ingredients are incorporated (Add additional flour gradually as necessary to attain a non-sticky dough). Remove dough from bucket, spray bucket with cooking spray, “smooth” dough and replace in bucket. Cover and let rise until doubled.

While waiting for the dough to rise, toast the chopped walnuts in a non-stick skillet on medium heat until they’re just beginning to brown – About 5 minutes. They will have a very nutty aroma. Cool.

Preheat oven to 350. Deflate the dough and roll out into a rectangle that is approximately ¾” thick. Using a 3 ½” muffin/cookie cutter, cut the muffins from the dough. Gather up scraps, knead gently then re-roll and cut again (you will end up with about 14 muffins) . Sprinkle a large griddle with cornmeal and place the muffins on the prepared griddle - do not turn griddle on (I have an electric griddle ) . Sprinkle the tops of the muffins lightly with cornmeal, cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise for 20 minutes. Turn on the griddle to low heat (I set mine at 325) and let the muffins cook/bake for about 15 minutes, checking them after 10 minutes. Flip them and cook/bake for another 10 minutes. Move the muffins to a cookie sheet and bake them for an additional 7-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE AT COOKNOURISHBLISS.COM

Toasted Walnut & Cranberry English Muffins!