The Muffin Woman of Golders Green...

As the weather has turned colder, I've been getting cravings for toasty things - and have not stopped thinking about crumpets and muffins and other delicious carbs. To the point that I've even ordered a Tesco Value toaster for the office so I can have toast and jam for breakfast...

Last night when Shabbos went out I put my breadmaker onto the dough cycle and decided to try my hand at making 'English Muffins' - the kind that look like a roll, and go with savoury or sweet toppings, as opposed to a cupcake.

The dough turned out beautifully but when I tried frying them as per the recipe, with frylight rather than oil for propoints purposes, they just burnt. Thanks to Google I soon came up with an alternative method though, and the resulting muffins were magnificent, if I do say so myself. They range between 2 and 3pp each depending on size and weight; I had two small ones with sugar-free jam last night for melave malka, and a larger one for lunch today with a poached egg - beyond yummy!

INGREDIENTS

450g strong white bread flour
1.5 tsps salt
12 fld oz water
1 tsp splenda
15g low fat spread
1 sachet dried yeast

Add the ingredients to your breadmaker in the following order; water first, flour sprinkled on top, then splenda, salt and low fat spread in one corner of the pan each. Make a small well in the centre of the flour and add in the yeast, then turn the machine to the dough cycle.

When the dough is ready, knock it back and roll it out, then cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter (or in my case, a plastic drinking cup). Place the rounds on a baking tray dusted with rice or potato flour (excellent for those pesach leftovers) and sprinkle some more rice or potato flour over the top. Leave in a warm place to rise for half an hour.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200'c. Prepare some oven-proof ramekins or aluminium foil muffin tins and grease them with frylight. When the muffins have risen sufficiently, place them on the baking try and invert a ramekin or muffin case over each one. This helps them keep their shape as they bake and cook at a slower pace. Bake for 10 mins, then remove the tray, turn each muffin over and replace the ramekin. Bake for a further 5 minutes. Finally, remove the ramekins and bake for another 3 to 5 minutes until the muffins are golden brown.

To serve:
Split them and toast lightly.

Serving suggestion: Top with a lightly poached egg and some steamed spinach and grilled tomato slices.

Makes between 15 and 22 muffins. The muffins should be treated like bread for the purposes of washing for hamotzi (and taking challah if you make a larger batch than this).