Homemade English Muffins

I have a HUGE obsession with Thomas’ corn english muffins. Like, gigantic. When the blizzard came, the only thing I stocked up on were multiple packages of them. My suitemates and I then went through 2 packages in 1.5 days and it was awesome. I think they are quite possibly the best food in the entire universe that comes out of a package.

Cornmuffin

They are perfect just lightly toasted, no topping needed. I DID THOUGH recently realize that if you toast it and then melt a bit of cheese on top it’s like a poor man’s arepa. Too good. I’ve never had a real arepa though so don’t take my word for it.

So due to the fact that I 100% at all time desire to be eating one of these, I felt like having one this afternoon. But we were all out and I was sad for approx. 25 seconds and then remembered I was standing in a kitchen and it has things like flour and stoves. Not too much later, muffins existed!!

piled on a plate

I never knew that English muffins are made on a griddle, which was cool. It all made sense why one side is flat and the other is mound-like. Also it turned out that the corn taste in these is more subdued than the packaged kind and what I was maybe intending, so I would just call these normal english muffins. But though they aren’t corn, they’re much better than the kind you would buy in the store! And have the same nooks and crannies that you would expect in a store-bought muffin. Two days in a row of a surprise result but since it’s only been 5 hours and just a few of these remain…I would say I don’t hate it.

split in da middle


English Muffins

Makes 9 muffins

1 package (~2 1/4 tsp) yeast

1 1/2 tsp sugar

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup barley flour

3/4 cup cornmeal (+ extra for pan)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup almond milk

Combine the yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl and let sit for ~8 minutes, until it’s foamy and bubbly and such. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, mix together the rest of the dry ingredients. Add the yeast mixture and the milk, and mix on low til just combined. Then turn it up to medium speed and mix until a dough forms, about 6 minutes. It’ll be pretty damp still, but if it’s toooo moist, add a bit more cornmeal. 

Coat a cookie sheet with cornmeal and place round lumps of dough (should make about 9) on the pan. Spray the tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with more cornmeal. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes (not gonna lie, sort of guessing because I by accident fell asleep for 2 hours), or until doubled in size. 

Heat stovetop to medium-low heat, and arrange the dough in a skillet. Cook for about 6 minutes, flip, and cook for 6 more minutes, until browned and firm but not burnt. Bite into it whole or split with a fork with butter or jam or egg or anything. Enjoy! 


fluffy and yummu

Oh also, went to get ice cream out of the freezer tonight (classic) and found TWO FROZEN PACKAGES OF CORN MUFFINS!!!! I dedicate the elation I felt to my mom for being prudent and stocking up. I also dedicate these muffins to her for forgetting.

Caramelized Cherry Waffles (Vegan!)

Summer is just around the corner (as I type this during a freezing rainstorm) which means that cherry season is almost here, too. It has indeed already arrived on my cutting board, in multiple shapes and sizes.Cherriez

I was never properly introduced to cherries until the summer before my freshman year of college, when I was hiking with my dad in preparation for my pre-orientation backpacking trip. We brought PB sandwiches and cherries for snacks, and when we got to a cliff he taught me how to get the pit out and we spent a good amount of time spitting them as far over the cliff as possible. Ever since then, I am an educated human being and now know how to consume a cherry. Before this monumental life event, I just assumed all cherries were maraschino cherries and thus all cherries were ick. But now I love them! And am putting them in waffles! I’ve come so far in life.

The bag of cherries in my fridge was begging to be somehow used in breakfast this morning. Plus, I’ve vowed to use my waffle maker more, and thus– these were born. I didn’t want them to be too chunky though, so I threw them over the stovetop for a bit to soften and sweeten them up. “Caramelized” might not actually be the right word choice. Probably “sauteed” is more apt. But alliteration!!! So we’re going with it. Either way, they are delicious and nutritious (no added sugar!!) (besides the sugar added to the cherries) (doesn’t count) and I hear that if you eat enough cherries you turn into George Washington. Or something. breakfast!


Caramelized Cherry Waffles

Makes 4 waffles

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 2.5 Tbsp water)

1 cup almond milk

1 1/2 cups cherries, pitted and chopped

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract (separated)

In a small bowl, prepare the flax egg by adding the water to the ground flaxseed, stirring until combined, and letting it sit for 5 minutes. In the meantime, combine the first four dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, salt) in a bowl.

Chop the cherries and put them in a pan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla, stirring until dissolved. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and let the cherries juice up for about 10 minutes, or until soft.

Add the almond milk and other tsp vanilla to the flax egg, stirring until combined. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk them all together. Then take the warm cherries and dump them in, juice and everything, and stir until incorporated. The batter will turn a cool/bizarre light purple color which is sort of fun.

Let the batter sit while the waffle maker heats up. Once heated, spray it with non-stick spray, add ~1/2-3/4 cup batter, and cook as instructed by your waffle maker manual. Enjoy!


ooozinOh boy. Click that photo to make it full size- cherries oozing ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Omnomnom. Someone get this waffle a band-aid. And yes, shoving into your mouth is an acceptable form of band-aid.

Strawberry Ginger Muffins

I am about to tell you a beautiful love story. There once were two kindred souls coexisting in one kitchen their whole lives unbeknownst to one another. Their names were strawberries and ginger snaps. One night last week, I was having a snack, and the two met on my plate. Shortly after, they ended up together in one bite and it was magical. They realized how good they tasted together and knew it was their fate to meet this way. The end.

Thus concludes the love story, and begins the story of these muffins. I don’t know if this is actually a thing, like peaches and cream or blueberries and lemon. So maybe I’m not actually being that original but as far as my existence goes I have never had these two things in my mouth at once and my life is a different place now that I have. I started of how else I could combine these two flavors besides literally just stuffing my mouth simultaneously with ginger snaps and strawberries. Muffins came to mind first, but I’m definitely going to try pancakes/waffles/cupcakes in the future.

Look how happy they look together!! Both in their whole form and all chopped/mushed up. Oh, and in muffin form.

These muffins were RIDICULOUSLY moist inside, packed with juicy strawberries, and had an amazing crumb and airy texture. I’m not usually the kind of person to freak out over muffins, but these are so wonderful. I’m both a little bit shocked and a lot gastronomically pleased.

In order to make this recipe, I looked through a bunch of favorite muffin recipes to try and get the ratio of wet/dry ingredients right. The baking method is similar to the muffin info found in Joy of Cooking, otherwise known as the Don Corleone of cookbooks. It miraculously worked super well on the first time- if I were to do it again though, I would maybe add more of a ginger flavor, since the strawberries were being a bit of a dominatrix. Although when I was eating them I no longer cared about anything except for how yummy they were. Also, when I made the recipe I meant to make only 12 muffins, but I somehow had enough batter for 16. Apologies for the awkward second pan. But if you feel like calculating them for 12 and measuring out 3/4 of an egg…be my guest. Make sure you fill the extra muffin spots with a bit of water when you put them in the oven to keep the muffins moist and not hurt your pan. Mmmm, water muffins. My fave.


Strawberry Ginger Muffins

Makes 16 muffins

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup crushed ginger snaps (I used the brand Mrs. Pure, but feel free to use whatever you want/make your own!)

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk (I used almond milk, but regular would be fine too)

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400°F and line a muffin tin with baking cups.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients with a fork until well blended. Toss the strawberries in the flour mixture until they’re all coated. In a separate, smaller bowl, beat the wet ingredients with a fork. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mixed until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, filling each muffin cup 2/3 full. If you want to (I did and it was yummy!), sprinkle brown sugar on top before baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for a lil bit before taking them out and eating them/letting them cool more. Enjoy!


Now they are living happily ever after together in my tummy. I like to think of myself as a matchmaker.