Printer FriendlyHomeCORNMEAL MUFFINS1 cup milk 2 tablespoons white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 1 cup warm water 1 teaspoon dry yeast 6 cups white flour cornmeal to sprinkle Scald milk by stirring constantly until steaming hot. Stir in sugar, salt and margarine. Cool to lukewarm. Be careful. Hot temperatures will kill the yeast. Sprinkle in yeast and let it dissolve. When the yeast foams and bubbles to the top it is ready. Stir in 5 cups of flour to make a sticky dough. Allow the dough rest for five minutes. Place remaining cup of flour on a flat surface. Pour dough out and knead by pulling dough away from the edges, drawing it toward the middle then pressing downward with the heal of your palm. Work remaining flour into dough kneading gently until dough is soft but not too sticky. Place in a bowl and let rise covered in a warm place until double in bulk. Depending on how warm the room temperature is, this could take any where from one to three hours. Punch dough down and divide in half. On a surface heavily sprinkled with corn meal, pat half of the dough down until ½ inch thick. Cut into circles with a 3 inch cookie cutter or wide-mouth jar lid. If dough sticks, dip cookie cutter or lid in a little flour. Place circles on a lightly greased cookie sheet, cornmeal side down. Repeat the same process with the second half of the dough. Let muffins rise in a warm place until double in bulk. This could take any where from 30 minutes to an hour depending again on how warm your kitchen is. Rolls are ready to place in the oven when your finger leaves a slight indentation on the top when touched. Note: If you don’t allow the dough to raise high enough your muffins will be heavy and taste doughy. If you allow the dough to raise too high, muffins could deflate during cooking and end up flat, stringy and tough. Preheat oven to 400 F and bake 10 minutes or until well browned. Cool on wire racks. To serve, split muffins in half and toast. Yields 15 to 18 muffins. |
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