Baked Spelt English Muffins
I’ve become addicted to adding spelt flour to my Bread in 5 dough (see blood orange doughnuts and stove top pizza), and decided to try it in yet another application: English muffins. My family is a big fan of warm bread first thing in the morning, so this seemed like a perfect application. Not only does the spelt add extra (delicious) flavor, but it has many health benefits, including increasing circulation and helping with digestion. I’ve been adding it to our bread and many of our baked goods as we slowly try to decrease the amount of white flour we are consuming. It worked perfectly again here. The muffins were delicious right out of the oven, and they also toasted up nicely the following day.
Baked Spelt English Muffins
If you would like to follow the more traditional method of making English muffins on the stove top, see this post.
Spelt Dough
You can use just about any of the dough in New Artisan or Healthy Bread to come up with your own flavored English muffins. If you do this with a different dough you will need to alter the rest time (more time for whole grain breads) and baking temperature (follow the temperature for the dough you pick).
3 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon Platinum Yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups spelt flour
In a 5 or 6 quart bowl or lidded Food Storage Container, pour in the water and add the yeast, salt, and sugar (because we are mixing in the flour so quickly it doesn’t matter that the salt and yeast are thrown in together). Whisk the flours together in a separate bowl, and then pour all the flour all at once and stir with a long handled wooden spoon or a Danish Dough Whisk. Stir it until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough.
Put the lid on the container, but do not snap it shut. You want the gases from the yeast to escape. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours to rise. The dough can be used right after the initial 2 hour rise, but it is much easier to handle when it is chilled.
Using a set of English muffin molds works best, however, if you don’t have them you can still make the muffins free form (I recommend that you buy two sets so you have eight of them total).
Grease the molds with oil or butter and set them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the inside of the mold with a light layer of cornmeal.
If you have a kitchen scale weigh out 3 1/2-ounce balls of dough (about the size of a small plum); flatten them and place them in the mold.
Loosely cover with wrap if your kitchen is very dry or drafty.
Preheat oven to 425°, with or without a baking stone. (adjust the temperature if you are using a different dough, follow the temperature in the book for that dough.)
Allow to rest until the dough reaches the top of the mold, about 30-45 minutes.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Do not use steam or you’ll end up with a crisp crust, which is not traditional for English muffins.
Unmold the muffins and serve warm. When you bake them only one side is deeply browned and lightly coated with cornmeal. They will also be slightly rounded.
Split the muffins with a fork to get that craggy crumb that is so perfect for holding lots of butter and jam.
Don’t forget to check out our Craftsy Artisan Bread in Five Minutes class! Learn the secrets to making fresh, artisan-style breads in no time, from classic baguettes to braided loaves and even hearty sandwich breads.
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Hi, if I add raisins to the baked spelt English muffins do I need to increase the water?
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
No, unless you are adding a significant amount of them it will be just fine. Sounds super tasty!
Enjoy, Zoë
Ok. Thanks! Will try it next time. I just made the dough for Saturday morning egg sandwiches! If I left out a cup of white flour and added a cup of whole wheat would that change the water?
Hi Melissa,
No, you can swap a cup without having to change the water.
Enjoy, Zoë
Mmm…they are delicious! My Dad would like sourdough English muffins. Do you have a recipe? I only have the healthy bread book & dont see a sourdough in there.
Hi Melissa,
We are working on a sourdough recipe right now, but if you have a sourdough starter already, here is how to use it: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/11/30/sourdough-starter-in-our-recipes
Thanks, Zoë
I’m new to gf baking and would love to make english muffins for my family. Can I use your gf loaf bread recipe for english muffins or do you have a specific gf english muffin recipe?
Our gluten-free book has a recipe for English Muffins, click on the book image above (the bluish one)– it’ll take you to amazon for the book.
How many English muffins does this recipe make?
The dough recipe is about four pounds (64 ounces). If you really used the entire batch, it’d make 18 or so.
Do you find when using spelt flour, you need use more spelt flour than other white flour? If so why?
Hi Sharon,
Spelt is lower in protein, which is what creates the gluten in the dough and gives the dough its structure. If a flour has less protein it absorbs less water.
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you so much! When making bread, cakes, etc how can can you compensate? I guess with breads texture but cakes, etc?
Hi Sharon,
I haven’t used it in many cake recipes, but you don’t require or even want as much gluten development in cakes, so it should work just fine.
Thanks, Zoë
Thank you!!!
How long can I store this dough in the fridge?
7 to 10 days–this one’s a little heavier than some of ours, because of the spelt. Freeze after that.
Can you provide the weight measurements, please?
We spent many long hours, days and (seemed like) years converting our first book to ounces and grams, and our publisher felt that this and other content upgrades made it worthwhile for St. Martin’s Press to invest in a second version of the book (2013). That said, our publisher would be very upset with us if we put the substantive content of the new book up here for free on the web. So sorry!
These are delicious! Thank you.