Soak It Up
I want breakfast. Again. It was so damn good.
The sun was shining in
The avocado was perfectly ripe and rich
The local eggs were full of flavor
But the homemade english muffins, the english muffins trumped it all!
I saw this recipe for english muffins on Taste is Trump weeks ago and have been gathering ingredients and waiting for just the right time to make them ever since.
The stars aligned this morning because not only did I have ever thing I needed in the kitchen, Tate and I were both home and planning on a lazy Sunday morning.
The ingredient list is short and these are super simple to throw together but they do take some fore-thought because the flour must soak for at least 12 hours.
Soaking flour or grains before using promotes the break down of phytic acid, resulting in increased absorption of key minerals including iron, magnesium, calcium, and zinc. The process of soaking grains/flour also helps make the gluten easier to digest.
Yesterday evening I mixed 2 cups of whole grain spelt flour with about 1 1/4 cup plain milk kefir (the recipe calls for 3/4 cup kefir but my bowl was still full of flour, not dough, after adding it so I poured in a little more to make a dough ball) and 1 tsp honey. I covered the bowl with a clean dish cloth and left it on the hutch overnight.
And I awoke to a dough ball waiting for me
Added 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, and a few pinches of rosemary salt and mixing it throughly with my hands.
I divided the dough into 8 balls
At this point I made another little adaptation to the recipe, I rolled each ball in cornmeal before shaping to give it that crusty english muffin quality
Eight little hand-shaped muffins
One hot and dry cast iron skillet
Flip!
Mmmmmmm
I put a lid on my skillet to ensure that the insides got done and cooked each side on low for 8 minutes or so, watching closely to make sure they didn’t get too dark. The first batch I made took longer because they were thicker, the second batch I flattened out more and it worked better.
The taste was awesome, the texture is doughy with a perfect english muffiny crust but they do lack the air pockets some muffins have.
Overall, I can’t wait to make these again, they are pretty amazing and, of course, I LOVE that they are super nutritious from the spelt flour, kefir, and soaking method.
Next time I’m going to try cinnamon raisin!
Don’t worry Kath, you’re invited! 🙂
It’s a gorgeous day and time to soak up some sunshine!
