English Muffins

While life has abruptly changed for all of us these days, I'm stuck at home trying to look for the silver linings and to avoid reading more news.  One of the few advantages of social distancing and being stuck in the house is more time for cooking.  So I am aspiring to share some of the recipes we are cooking in our house, in case anyone is looking for inspiration.

This weekend I was craving english muffins and our local stores were sold out, so I decided I might as well just make them myself.  It turns out these are shockingly easy to make and really delicious.  Even a few days after making them they are still fresh and better then the store bought variety.  These are perfect for your quarantine kitchen - as they take a lot of time (two 10-12 hour rises), but pretty minimal effort!  That is if you can find bread flour in the stores these days...  

Cinnamon rolls!

There is a Cinnabon location in London, right near Picadilly Circus...  and every once in a while after a night out in town, with a pack of Americans, we find ourselves devouring Cinnabons late at night (4 for £10!).  And they are delicious.  While it may just be nostalgia for childhood sleepover parties with Cinnabons for breakfast, I think we get lured in because it reminds us of home.

I recently remembered this recipe for cinnamon rolls I had made a few years back and tried it again, inspired by the idea of home made Cinnabons.  They may not be quite identical to the original, but they are pretty delicious, and these get devoured very fast, especially fresh out of the oven.  The only draw back I've found  to them is that they don't leave you feeling as sick as a real Cinnabon does, leading me to over-consume.

One of the great things about this recipe is you can prepare it all in advance, then put it in the fridge overnight, pop it in the oven in the morning, and have amazing hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast!

*This recipe taught me that bread flour(US) = strong white flour (UK).