The hydration seems to be off, I had a very sticky soft unmanageable dough. It rose in the fridge after only an hour and by the time I took it out in the morning, it was so runny I had a terrible time cooking them. Not good, either too much liquid or not enough flour.
Barbara
Los Angeles
3/25/2023
is it just me... or did they leave a "1 Cup Warm Water" off in the ingredients?
Doug
Hamilton, Ontario
5/5/2022
Perfect! I tried these after another recipe utterly failed me. These were pillowy and delicious. The only place I ran into some trouble was shaping the dough for the final rise, since the dough is so sticky. I little flour on the counter helped. Watching the video of Claire making these helped!
Lucy
Providence
1/30/2022
I have made these several times with great success! I use King Arthur bread flour and follow the recipe to a “T”. They akways come out perfect. I don’t think they are difficult to make, but do take time so plan accordingly! The recipe always makes exactly 12 if you take the time to weigh each piece of dough out.
Melissa
Indiana
7/18/2021
I thought this turned out great! I’ve never made my own English muffins before l, but I’ve always wanted to. I didn’t have bread flour on hand so I used regular flour and it still ended up turning out really tasty.
Anonymous
MN
3/25/2021
Thomas has nothing to worry about.
Anonymous
2/22/2021
I am a professional pastry chef, and always try the recipe as is first time around. I saw it didn’t have much flour, but had no issues with it. YES, your flour does matter. I always have and always will use King Arthur Flour! I made these beauties with King Arthur’s Sir Lancelot bread flour to be specfic. If you have made TRUE English muffins before , the dough is soft. However, I made the dough, let it chill in the fridge for several hours. Then it was more workable. I weight each dough ball out, rounded them, then flatten them on a parchment lined sheet pan, that was spray and dusted with cornmeal. The hung out all wrapped up in the fridge. The follow day ( almost 28 hours later) I finished them, as per the instructions! Absolutely perfect! I would change anything about this recipe. I saw several reviews, but I feel as though this is NOT a recipe for beginners! For those of you looking to make this, make the dough and chill it, then make the dough balls. It’s a soft dough, but the flavor and overnight fermentation is really good!
Jesse
Plattsburgh, NY
1/10/2021
I just made this recipe and was very pleased with the end result after my first attempt. After reading the comments here, I initially added about 3-3/4 cups of flour, which I think was almost a bit too much. My dough came together immediately and seemed a tad dry. I added just a bit more buttermilk to moisten it up a bit. The dough rose beautifully overnight in the fridge; in fact, it rose a LOT. I cut the dough into 12 pieces, as prescribed, but several of my muffins were on the large side. I think I could easily have gotten 14 or so from the batch. I would definitely make this again with just a few tweaks. I am at high altitude and so I decreased the salt a bit. Next time I will probably also decrease the yeast as a few people have suggested. I did have the butter at room temperature but left the buttermilk cold. The video was very helpful in seeing how to griddle the muffins and then slide them into the oven. Mine didn't quite have the "nooks and crannies" I was hoping for, but they tasted great!
Joyce Jensen
Santa Fe, NM
1/5/2021
If you calculate the hydration in this recipe:1 c @ water and buttermilk = 240gx2=480g, to 3.5 c flour = 120gx3.5 =420g, that means hydration is 480/420 = 115% moisture to flour. Anyone who has ever baked bread knows that this won't work and all you'll end up with is a soupy mess instead of a shaggy dough.I suspect she wanted an 70%-80% hydration product, which means that the flour needs to be 600g-685g (=5 - 5 2/3 cups) of flour.After realizing there was a problem with the hydration, I added 670g (2 1/8 c) of flour and they came out fine. They're not very tangy, so I'd use all buttermilk instead.
SF Sourdoughnut
Roseville, CA
1/3/2021
•The buttermilk gave the finished product a nice tang reminiscent of sourdough.•I did not warm up the buttermilk. What's the point? It's going back in the refrigerator.•I used Bob's Red Mill Artisanal Unbleached Enriched Bread Flour. This is a fairly substantial flour as opposed to a Pillsbury or Gold Medal bread flours.•A dough scraper really doughs come in handy.•The 2 spatula method she used in the video helps for the first turn as the dough is still wobbly•I used a Kitchen Aid with the dough hook.if you have a fair amount of bread baking experience, this recipe may seem counter-intuitive, even with the dough hook and 5 minutes of kneading the result is more lava-like than clay, but I think if one follows the instructions and watches the video they will have good results. And now I am off to deliver freshly baked English muffins to my elderly neighbors who are sheltering. 4 each or the 2 of them and 4 for me to keep.
ChocolateSouljah
Berkeley California
9/19/2020
In addition to my comment below- Yes, the dough does have to be almost "soupy" if it is a true "slow rise" method (similar to other 24-hour no-knead recipes.) However, since the recipe as written results in an overly-hydrated dough that reaches maximum rise in 1-hour, the dough won't come together unless you add more flour. Again, 1. Start with cold ingredients, 2. Reduce yeast by half, 3. hydrate your dough well and refrigerate for at least 8 hours (12 is better) at the end of the the slow rise, your dough will stick together to form the muffins.
Anonymous
Virginia
9/18/2020
I've made this recipe 4 times, with adjustments. I'm no stranger to long, slow refrigerated dough techniques, which has many benefits. I have converted most traditional dough recipes to "overnight" or even "24-hour" recipes. In order to achieve a lighter dough with better gluten development that comes from an 8-hour refrigerated rise, ingredients have to be COLD, yeast has to be reduced by at least half and the dough has to be well-hydrated. How do you know if your dough is getting the benefits of a slow rise? Well, check your dough after an hour in the fridge, if it has doubled in size, it has reached the maximum benefit of a slow rise. Next time, make the adjustments, and check after an hour, your dough should have increased in volume about 25%. The slow rise will really deliver a better flavor. This is a great recipe, but I would have expected the editors at Bon Appetit would know the difference between a slow-rise dough, and 1-hour rise (why start with warm buttermilk, if it's only going into the fridge?) If you have the time, follow my suggestions and you'll have the best English Muffins ever.
Anonymous
Virginia
9/18/2020
I've made these about a half dozen times now. The FLOUR MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE. The first few times I used Pillsbury bread flour. The dough was almost unworkable. I had to add almost a cup of extra flour. Now I'm making it with King Arthur and its much better. Flour measurements were almost on target. Having metric weights would be helpful.
Anonymous
Wisconson
9/16/2020
Like others, had to add flour 1 Tablespoon at a time since the dough seemed over hydrated/“soupy” HINT: Before you form the dough onto the parchment paper, cut the paper into 12 pieces big enough for the formed balls. Then slide the parchment with the dough still on it right onto the griddle!! Once they brown, the paper comes right off!
SlowKnees
Seattle, WA
9/6/2020
Sorry, I'm not buying it that this is just a high hydration dough. I make sourdough at 80% and have none of the problems here. This was soup at 3/5 cups. I added a full cup of flour and it never firmed up. I tried to let them rest and rise and try with what I had and nearly all of them turned into mud balls, even with a floured or oil spatula. Switch to metric weight and check your recipe.
SkipII
Ohio
8/18/2020
