SOURDOUGH ENGLISH MUFFINS

• servings: MAKES 6 ENGLISH MUFFINS

Ingredients

½2 cup (4 ounces) sourdoug starter (see p. 9)

2 cups (9 ounces) unbleache all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1½ cups room temperature water

Olive oil spray

Directions

ON PREP DAY Whisk all of the ingredients together in a large bowl, forming a relatively thin batter rather than a dough. (The batter will bubble and rise, so don't use a bowl that's too small.) Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.

ON BAKING DAY

1. Heat a griddle (or large frying pan) on medium heat with 6 muffin rings arranged on the griddle. Spray or brush the insides of the rings with oil, and let them heat with the griddle.

2. When the griddle is hot, ladle or pour the batter into the rings, filling them to about ¼ inch below the top of the rings. Cover the griddle— a sheet pan turned upside down on top of the rings is perfect - and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook until the top of the batter is set and has started to pull away from the sides of the rings, about 8 minutes.

3. Use a small spatula to flip the muffins (and rings) over, cover the pan again, and cook for another 5 minutes. You should now be able to slip the muffins out of the rings. If some need encouragement, slide a thin knife around the insides of the rings, then remove the rings.

4. Continue cooking the muffins until they are cooked through and the top and bottom are lightly browned —a skewer or small knife inserted into a muffin should come out clean and if you lift a muffin, it should feel light for its size. It's actually okay if the muffins are still a little bit moist inside because they're not really done until they're toasted. But you don't want them to be wet or soggy.

5. Let the muffins cool completely on a rack.

Notes

There are a few ways to make English muffins: They can be made from a thick dough and cut and baked like biscuits; they can be made like flat buns; or they can be made with a batter, like a big,

fat pancake. This is the batter version. You'll need muffin rings to contain the batter while you cook the English muffins (look for 3½-inch rings, the standard English muffin size). If you don't want to buy muffin rings, you can use short, squat cans with the top and bottom removed. Tuna cans are often recommended, but many brands now use cans with formed bottoms that can't be removed with a can opener. But if you like

canned water chestnuts, those cans work, too.

TIP One thing that makes an En lish muffin an English muffin the rough interior, so you don want to slice them with a knit Instead, use a fork to stab all th way around the muffin until yo can pull it apart. You'll have

rough, craggy interior that wi

toast nicely.