Ingredients
400g strong bread flour
5g salt
5g sugar
7g instant dried yeast
10g sunflower oil plus a little extra
15g butter
255g skimmed milk
Makes 6 large muffins
Have your stand mixer ready with the dough hook attached. Then place the bowl direct on the scales to weigh in the ingredients. I've listed everything by weight rather than volume which makes life slightly easier and saves on washing up!
Stir together the flour, salt and sugar then add the yeast and stir again.
Add the butter and oil, place on the mixer and set it off on the lowest speed. Meanwhile, weigh the milk into a separate jug.
After the fats have been mixed through - about a minute - up the speed of the mixer a notch and pour in the milk. I do this gradually, allowing the flour to absorb most of one splash of milk before adding the next.
When all the liquid has been added you will find that you have a rather sticky dough. At this point, I turn off the mixer and squidge it altogether with my hands before pushing the dough hook right into the middle of the ball of dough and setting it back off again. Knead, on a medium setting, for around five minutes at which point the dough should be silky and elastic.
Pour a little oil into the bottom of a separate bowl and then transfer in the dough, turning it a couple of times so it is lightly coated in the oil. Cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for an hour.
Once the dough has risen, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and knock the air out of it, folding it in on itself a few times. Divide into six, roll the pieces into rough balls and place on a lightly oiled baking tray. Loosely cover (I put the tray in a large plastic carrier bag) and leave for another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 200.
Just before baking, push the muffins down with the palm of your hand to flatten and then make an indentation in the centre of each ball - this, apparently, is traditional.
Bake for 12 minutes, turning them over halfway through. Try and allow to cool before smothering with butter and shoving them in your face.
I have never heard of these - but they sound yummy!
ReplyDeletePx
Mmmmmhmmmm mm. ....drooolz
ReplyDeleteThank you for the recipe
ReplyDeleteOnly just stumbled across this and while they may well be quite tasty, a real traditional oven bottom muffin should be no deeper than 1" (25.4mm) and should contain a centre depression.
ReplyDeleteThat is so kind of you to comment - I will definitely bear that in mind next time I make them! I grew up in the South and it wasn’t a bread product I’d ever come across down there, so I’m not familiar with the tradition at all. Thanks again x
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DeleteYeah.. Got to agree with the last reviewer. One inch thick and flat and with a finger poked depression in the center. They were first introduced to England by a Frenchman in the Victorian times. He opened a Bakery In Oldham, Lancashire selling his ''French muffins'' His name was Amand Auguste Edouard Declercq. The bakery in Oldham only closed down around 20 years ago.Also, the original recipe called for lard to be used, not butter or oil. I got this from an bold retired baker that worked for Declercqs for over 50 years.
DeleteGreat background story. 🤗
DeleteI made these but i am going to warm the milk to try activate the yeast
ReplyDeleteThat’s exactly what you should do whether you use fresh or dried yeast
ReplyDeleteIt should say on the recipe to warm the milk. Confusing.
ReplyDeleteI have never used warm milk in this recipe and it has worked perfectly well although I’d be interested to here if warming it does produce different results.
Deletewarming the milk allows the yeast to activate faster and better
DeleteCan I make these without a mixer? I'm assuming it will just be a long and sticky knead at first?
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you could - I am terribly lazy and will always use a dough hook where possible. This will be quite a sticky dough so it would be hard going at first.
DeleteIf you can you should try getting the recipe for declerc's they're about half as thick denser and more savory
ReplyDeleteI’ll look that up, thank you.
DeleteIf you do a Google search for Backstone muffins, you will get true images of them as sold in the market halls around Oldham and Ashton.
DeleteDo I bake them on the very bottom of a fan oven?
ReplyDeleteNo need! I’m sure there is a wonderful backstory as to why they are called oven bottom muffins but the middle shelf of the fan oven will work fine here.
DeleteThey're called oven bottom muffins because they are baked at the very bottom of the oven to prevent them rising too much. As a previous poster commented they should be no deeper than 1", they should also be denser than usual bread. Do not use convection as this circulates heat evenly, you want the heat to be above the dough rather than circulating around it.
DeleteThat’s really interesting - thank you!
DeleteLook's great I'm going to give these a whirl.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time and if they are as good as the first ,,, i will stuff my face 😁😁
ReplyDeleteThis'll be the third lot I've done i spilt the flour bread and farmhouse with bits of things in it and then some malt extract nice 🤗🤗🤗
ReplyDeleteYes. I grew up in Oldham and muffins were about hand sized (I was younger then, say 8 inches across), typically 1 inch thick, and not sweet. Ideal for a chip butty.
ReplyDeleteIs 200° for a fan oven or is it 180° in a fan oven?
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