Homemade English Muffins

1. Place flour into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast on one side of the flour and salt on the other side. Add milk, sugar, butter, and egg; mix to make a soft dough.

2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft, smooth, and stretchy, about 10 minutes.

3. Place dough into a large oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double the size, about 1 hour.

4. Deflate the dough and divide into 16 pieces. Press each into English muffin rings. Sprinkle both sides with semolina and let rest another 30 minutes.

5. Preheat a griddle to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), or a heavy-based frying pan over low heat. Cook the muffins on the preheated griddle or pan until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a muffin reaches 200 F (93 degrees C), 7 to 10 minutes per side.

Cook's Notes:

It's best to weigh flour due to inconsistencies in measuring by volume, but if you want to use measuring cups, 21 ounces is 4 1/2 cups.

You can also dust the muffins with farina or polenta instead of semolina.

For a cinnamon raisin addition, add 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 cup raisins, and reduce the amount of salt to 1 1/4 teaspoons.

Use a fork to split the muffins, not a knife to cut; fork-split muffins have the wonderful nooks and crannies.

You can place the dough into a bread machine on the Dough cycle instead of kneading and letting rise until doubled in size.