English Muffins with a Yeast Water Poolish

These English muffins are so delicious with a slight tang from the yeast water poolish. They can be made with an equal amount of 100% hydration sourdough starter as well. They are very forgiving and have that wonderful crunch on their tops and bottoms from the cornmeal. I adapted this recipe from two recipes on King Arthur Baking's website (this and this recipe). I guess I couldn't make up my mind. Lol! I hope you enjoy them as much as my mom and I did! 

English Muffins with a Yeast Water Poolish

Ingredients:

Poolish:

First Build:

19 grams fruit yeast water

10 grams all purpose flour

9 grams whole wheat flour

Second Build:

38 grams fruit yeast water

19 grams all purpose flour

19 grams whole wheat flour

Main Dough:

140 grams almond milk

140 grams water

13 grams brown sugar

10 grams salt

20 grams olive oil

114 grams of the poolish

380 grams all purpose flour

40 grams whole wheat flour

Cornmeal for dusting 

Instructions:

Poolish: 

First Build: Mix all the ingredients in a lidded container and close the lid. Let it rise at room temperature until it has doubled (about 4-12 hours).

Second Build: Add all the ingredients from the second build to the first build and mix completely. Close the lid and let it rise at room temperature until it has doubled (about 4-12 hours).

Main Dough: Once the poolish is fully risen, warm the almond milk, water, brown sugar, and salt in a small pot on the stove to about 80-83F. Add to a large bowl.

To the bowl, now add the olive oil and the poolish. Mix around with a spatula or spoon to break up the poolish a bit.

Add the flours and mix with the spatula until all dry spots are gone and you have a shaggy dough. Let dough rest covered for about 15 minutes. 

After 15 minutes, stretch and fold the dough with some slap and folds in the bowl until the dough has become more cohesive and feels tighter. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. 

Bulk Fermentation: After 30 minutes, complete a set of stretch and folds in the bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

After the next 30 minutes, complete another set of stretch and folds in the bowl. Cover again for another 30 minutes.

After it has rested for 30 minutes, complete one set of coil folds. Cover and let rest again for another 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes has gone, complete the last set of coil folds. It should look puffier and feel a bit tighter from the gluten development. 

Cover the dough and let proof at room temperature for about 4-6 hours or until almost doubled in size.

Once it is almost doubled in size, place the covered dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

Shaping: Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide into 9 equal pieces (each about 96 grams each). Shape each piece into a nice tight ball and use a flat surface as a way to tighten and drag the ball against it. 

Place the dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet that is dusted with cornmeal, making sure they are at least 1.5 inches apart form one another. Dust the tops of the muffins with cornmeal as well.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the muffins proof for about 2 hours or until they are nicely puffed up (almost 1/3 in volume).

Cooking the Muffins: After the muffins have proofed, heat up a skillet to medium heat and preheat your oven to 325F.

Once the skillet is preheated, cut the parchment below each muffin so each one has their own square of parchment. Lay each muffin with it's parchment onto the skillet, making sure they are well spaced apart.

Once the bottoms of the muffins have set a bit (about 1-2 minutes), you can take the parchment out from under each muffin and continue to cook on that same side for about another 4 minutes. 

Flip each muffin and cove the pan. Cook on the second side for about 6 more minutes. 

Line another sheet pan with parchment and put the freshly griddled muffins on it and place in the oven for about 6 minutes or until a thermometer registers about 195-200F in the inside of each muffin. 

Take the muffins off the baking sheet and cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat the griddling/baking process with the rest of the muffins.

Enjoy!! :)

Muffins ready to be griddled!