Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Some English muffin trivia for you:

Did you know that "Do You Know the Muffin Man" was written about the men that delivered English muffins to homes in England? See this reference to English muffins.

Despite popular belief, it's not about typical muffins.

Lyrics:
First Verse:
"Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane?

Second Verse:
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane.

(reference: http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/muffinman.html)

How To Make Homemade English Muffins

I never even thought about baking my own English muffins from scratch but my mother-in-law gave me some of her really old cookbooks and I found this recipe.
I'm going to try it soon but wanted to share it with readers.

Every other recipe I've made from this extensive cookbook has turned out fantastic. The cookbook is from the 60's and you can definitely see the differences in eating habits with lots of animal fat and lard in the cooking and plenty of frugal cooking but nonetheless this looks like a great recipe to try out:


Homemade English Muffins
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(Reference: Cooking For Young Homemakers: An Edition of the Encyclopedic Cookbook New Revised Edition 1962 by Book Production Industries, Chicago, Illinois)

3 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk, scalded
1 cake yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 egg, beaten
4 cups sifted flour

1.Add butter, salt and sugar to milk and cool to lukewarm.
2.Soften yeast in water.
3.Add yeast, egg and 2 cups of flour to cooled milk.
4.Stir to blend well then knead in remaining flour until firm and elastic.
5.Let rise until doubled in bulk. (about 1 hr)
6.Roll out 1/4 inch thick on floured surface.
7.Cut into 4-inch circles
8 leave on board. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. about 1 hr
9. Sprinkle with cornmeal if desired and then bake slowly on hot ungreased heavy griddle or frying pan about 7 minutes on each side.( Brown Slowly)
Makes 12 English muffins

If anyone tries this English muffin recipe, we'd love to hear your results!

Does the Brand Matter?

When I started buying English muffins I always bought Thomas' English Muffins because, well, my mom did. I can't argue with the quality of Thomas' English Muffins - they are quite fantastic. However, as our family grew so did our English muffin consumption and my food bill!

So, I started buying the store brand 18 pack English muffins and you know what? Nobody in family noticed. I'm not sure that they toast quite as well but they still have the nooks and crannies and excellent taste for a much lower price. So, we are store brand converts unless we have a good sale/coupon combination.

Do you have a favorite brand or do you find them all to be similar?

English Muffin Breakfast Options

One of the very best things about the English muffin is that it pleases almost everyone!

Everyone in my (sometimes rather picky) family of 4 had an English muffin breakfast today but we each had it our own way. Here was the menu:

Me: Toasted English Muffin with Peanut Butter. YUM! The peanut butter warms up a little on the hot muffin and sneaks down into all those nooks and crannies.

Husband: Toasted English Muffin with Cream Cheese and Tomato. It looked so good, I almost gave up my peanut butter :)

4 year old: English Muffin (not toasted) with peanut butter and jelly. Who can argue with pb&j for breakfast? She declared it to be, "perfect!"

Baby: Warmed up English Muffin with butter. Well, she doesn't speak much yet but continually made the sign for more and kicked her legs and smiled so we think it was a hit!

The adults had coffee and clementines with their breakfast and the kids had milk and yogurt. A healthy and fast (!) breakfast for a work / school morning.

What are your favorite English Muffin breakfast recipes?

English Muffin Pizzas

The English muffin pizza is definitely in the top few favourite recipes of mine to do with an English muffin.

Here's how I make them. The great thing, though, is that you can put absolutely anything on them so as many toppings as you can imagine on your pizza can be done. The nooks and crannies take in the pizza sauce and the cheese in a a beautiful way.

Step 1:

Halve your English Muffin. Don't use a knife! Do it with your fingers or with a fork. This preserves the ability of the nooks and crannies to take on your toppings and turn them into something even more delicious than a regular ole pizza.

Step 2:

Spread with sauce. Any pizza sauce will do.


Step 3:

Top with Cheese. Mozzarella on its own is great but I love doing a combo of mozzarella and cheddar

Step 4:

Crown your English muffin pizzas with whatever else you like. Pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, ham, pineapple...whatever!


Step 5:

Put them under a low broiler for a few minutes and watch them. Or, just a few minutes in a toaster over will do, too.

You can do this with halved bagels too but as much as I adore bagels, they don't have those little nooks. Crumpets are fantastic too but due to their shape, English muffins work best.

Why A Blog About English Muffins?

Me and my friend Jen decided that English Muffins were definitely worth blogging about. Ok, so it was me but I dragged Jen into it.