Well it’s official, nothing is impossible so long as there is a will. I just received a an early release copy of Every Last Crumb (which I’m also giving away at the bottom of this post) from my friend Brittany Angell and I’ve got to say that I’m pretty blown away. She has recipes ranging from breads to croissants, that’s right croissants, they’re all paleo, and some are allergy friendly. With that said you know that I had to share a recipe from the book with everyone here.
Now I’ve always felt that there were many options when it came to paleo or gluten free baking but there were always certain things that seemed that they would remain “impossible”. Now that I’ve thumbed through Brittany’s book I feel like there is truly infinite possibilities when it comes to gluten free or paleo baking.
Now that I’ve cleared up those boundaries maybe it’s time to start venturing into some of the uncharted baking territory a little more. I think it’s actually extremely important that more people cook without fear and to venture out of their normal safe zone and try new things. I say that like it’s no big deal and I realize that it’s easier said than done but it still rings true to me. There is nothing to fear but fear itself.
Maybe it’s time for me to revise some of my old favorites like crusty sourdough to be gluten or grain free. In my mothers case it would be english muffins, which were easily a hit with her (thanks Brittany!). These are fluffy and slightly chewy in the center, and when toasted (which is sort of a necessity) they are incredibly delicious with some grass-fed butter melted into them. The familiar crunch followed by the rich creamy butter is definitely one to shed a tear for.
I’ve never been a humongous fan of English muffins but my mom urged me to do this recipe and I’ve gotta admit that I am certainly glad that I did because this makes an excellent treat. Plus it’s kinda hard to resist it with a generous slather of butter on top.
- 207 grams lukewarm water (about a scant 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast (I used this brand, which you can also buy at walmart)
- 2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar
- 127 grams potato starch or sweet potato starch (about ⅔ cup plus 2 teaspoons)
- 72 grams coconut flour (about ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons)
- 30 grams tapioca starch (about ¼ cup)
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum (you can get this at most local grocery stores)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 64 grams spectrums vegetable shortening (don't worry it's 100 % non hydrogenated palm oil, don't let the vegetable shortening freak you out like it did to me)
- In a small bowl, mix together the lukewarm water, yeast, and coconut sugar. In a separate mixing bowl combine the potato starch, coconut flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum or guar gum, and salt.
- Stir in the yeast mixture and shortening into the dry ingredients and stir and mix until fully incorporated and a dough forms.
- Oil a large skillet and the inside of each of the four english muffin rings (see notes), place the rings in the skillet spaced evenly apart. Divide the dough into 4 equal sized balls and place them in the rings and gently press them down to where they come close to the edges of the english muffin rings, pat down any cracks that are made. Brush the tops with water.
- Cover the skillet and place over low heat for 1 minute, then turn off the heat, keeping the skillet covered, and allow them to rise for 15-18 minutes.
- Turn the burner back on to medium low heat. Keeping the lid on the skillet, cook the english muffins for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and flip the english muffins.
- Cover and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Remove the rings. Cover once more and allow them to cook for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the finished english muffins from the skillet and let cool completely on a wire rack before breaking them open with a fork and toasting. (Make sure that these are broken open with a fork NOT by slicing them!)
We are using grams because it's very important to have all of the ingredients as exact as possible. I use the OXO kitchen scale for mine.
Make sure you break these open with a fork NOT by slicing them!
Notes on the english muffin rings: You can either buy them on amazon here, or you can make your own like on this video.
I subscribed to your newsletter 🙂
oh yum! I have to try these!
Waiting for my copy of this book 🙂
you are such a tslented cook, cant wait to get your cookbook.Merry Christmas
These look fabulous!
Wow, those english muffins look sooo good! I’ve been a fan of Brittany’s for years, warm person and wonderful recipes 😉
So glad I was steered onto your site. The book sounds lovely! All the best to you young man!
Oh, man! Do these ever look good! I will make these as soon as we start letting carbs back into our lives.
There aren’t any “notes” on the rings. What size are they?
I just update the notes with that information, it should be up now. Sorry about that and thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Hi Joshua,
The recipe looks fantasic. Also that is fantastic news about the vegetable shortening as i thought all vegetable shortening was hydrogenated.
Regards
B
PS What do I do to qualify for the free copy of the book?
You have to enter into the giveaway widget at the bottom of the post. It’s a contest. Good luck!
This is a great giveaway I’d love to win. Plan to make the English muffins this weekend and will let you know the results! We made the green bean casserole for Thanksgiving and it was delicious!!
I’ve been on the autoimmune paleo protocol for nearly a year, which has been very healing for me, but upon hitting the holiday season I’ve been in a bit of a funk as I’m missing the pleasures of baking. These muffins look wonderful. I make my own sweet potato flour from white jersey sweet potatoes. Would that suffice for the sweet potato starch in this recipe? I’m also wondering if Brittany could suggest a substitute for the xantham or guar gum. Thank you!
The potato starch and potato flour are two different categories when it comes to baking unfortunately.
I just received your beautiful cookbook as a gift and subscribed to your site! So excited to get to know you better! Love what you’re doing here. As far as Brittany’s beautiful book, it’s definitely on my wish list! 🙂 Thanks for sharing a recipe from her book and a chance to win it! Blessings, Kelly
already subscribed to your newsletter!
I subscribed to your newsletter. Great giveaway!
I signed up to the mailing list – keep up the great work Joshua!
These look amazing! Two questions
I don’t eat guar or xanthan gum, have you tried the recipe w/out it?
Have you tried a different shortening, such as lard?
Thanks!
I bet lard would work and I might start using my lard up for this stuff, but I’m unsure of a substitution for the gums because they are what gives these their texture. Without gluten which is the “glue” in bread you have to replace it with something usually. I bet you could do it without the gum but you would probably have to change the whole recipe in order to do so.
Looking forward to trying these. Is it really necessary to griddle them in the rings? The dough appears to be pretty stiff.
I think so, I use them as a guideline for the perfect size. You could try it without them if you prefer though.
I made them–nice dough and they cooked up beautifully, I can’t wait until they cool down enough to taste. They are rather heavy, though. I weighed the dough each was 127 g–that’s 4 1/2 ounces! But I tasted a tiny bit of cooked dough and I think it will hit all the nice bready, starchy buttons for a treat.
There was no need to cook them in the rings. They don’t spread. So what I did was weigh out 1/4 of the dough, form it into a ball and press it into my 3″ ring (the one I used to make real sourdough engllish muffins with!) and then push the formed dough out onto parchment paper until I was ready to transfer it to the pan.
The shortening was semi-solid and I have a feeling that’s what makes the pockets (“nooks and crannies”) in these english muffins. I had a feeling that it would have been helpful to cut the shortening into the starches with a pastry cutter–all these foreign tools Paleos don’t have but as I’m an ex (hobby) baker they are still around. It was kind of fun to use my old “toys” again, especially my kitchen scale with tare function. :o)
Thanks for posting this recipe–it makes me think this book will be worth it!
OMG, finally cool enough to slice and eat. SOOOO good. Not something I can have often (high carbs) but such a treat!
This looks like a wonderful recipe! I can’t wait to try it. I inherited my grandmother’s love of English muffins and because I am healing my gut, using guar gum is a prebiotic and great alternative to xanthan gum.
But that brings me to a point about the aluminum foil muffin rings.
I would strongly recommend editing the tutorial out of this post and to encourage readers to find some stainless steel muffin rings/ biscuit cutters.
Here’s the skinny on it: http://saveourbones.com/stop-doing-this-with-aluminum-foil/
Research has shown that heating aluminum causes it to leach into food, the accumulation of which over time contributes to bone loss and Alzheimer’s.
Otherwise, looking great, healthy, and delicious. Thanks, Joshua and Brittany, for sharing this delightful recipe.
I’d love to win the book. I’m already a newsletter subscriber.
I’ve been looking for an English muffin recipe, mostly for my husband who is prediabetic. I added all the ingredients to MyFitnessPal. Not too worried about the 2-3 time calorie load, since I’m not a CICO believer. However, the carb count was 44 grams, almost double a regular one. Gluten free, yes. But…I don’t even want to think what this might do to dh’s blood sugar.
Think I’ll keep looking.
I love English Muffins but rarely indulge. I am going to use this opportunity to try this recipe.
Just found your site and I will be here more often.
Just tried your recipe for these English Muffins. They were very easy to make and the taste is excellent. Thank you!!
Thank you! Thank you! Thanks for posting this English muffin recipe!
I have spent a lot of time and wasted ingredients in trying so many other recipes. Most were almond meal
based, and honestly, I would rather do without than resort to presenting muffins like those.
As soon as I saw yeast and palm shortening, I suspected that authentic English muffins could be in the making soon.
All without eggs, dairy, or grains, gluten free, and without using the oven! I haven’t been able to enjoy English muffins for nearly a year, after going grain/legume free.
Unlike any of the other recipes I’ve tried, these have the desired texture, and even have that unmistakable English muffin crunch after pan toasting. As soon as they were ready, I enjoyed one muffin with grass-fed butter and pepper jelly. Later I prepared another one that emulates the egg Mcmuffin we all know. Both were insanely delicious! Thanks again.