Traditional crumpet recipes, but not nearly as tasty, or as quick and easy to make as sourdough crumpets (I linked above). CRUMPETS 1/2 c. warm 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1 t. sugar 1 c. milk 2 T. butter 1/2 t. salt 2 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 t. baking soda 1 T. tepid water In a large mixing bowl combine warm water and yeast. Add sugar and stir to dissolve yeast. Set aside. In a small saucepan heat 1/2 c. of the milk and the butter until the butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in salt and remaining 1/2 c. milk. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Add milk mixture to yeast mixture and stir to blend. Mix in flour with wooden spoon. The batter will be very lumpy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and secure with an elastic band. Set aside to rise for 1-1/2 hours or until the bubbling action slows and the mixture begins to collapse in on itself. Place 4 crumpet rings on a griddle, allowing the sides to touch. Set over medium heat and spray all surfaces lightly with vegetable oil. Dissolve the baking soda in the tepid water and stir into the batter. The batter will be moist and ropy. When the griddle is hot, take up by scant quarter-cupfuls and pour into the rings. Spread to the sides with the back of a spoon. As the batter begins to set, carefully rotate the rings to ensure even cooking. When the surface of the crumpets is covered with holes and no longer looks wet (about 3 minutes), remove the rings with tongs. Turn the crumpets over and continue cooking for about 1-minute, until the surface is lightly browned. Repeat with the remaining batter, spraying the rings and griddle before each batch. Cool crumpets on a wire rack. Toast to serve. Makes 10 ORANGE CRUMPETS 1/2 c. warm water 1 pkt. active dry yeast 1 t. sugar 2/3 c. freshly squeezed orange juice 1/3 c. milk 2 T. butter, melted 1 t. finely grated orange zest 1/2 t. salt 2 c. all\-purpose flour 1/2 t. baking soda 1 T. tepid water In a large mixing bowl combine warm water and yeast. Add sugar and stir to dissolve yeast. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the orange juice, milk, butter, orange zest, and salt. Whisk to combine, then stir into the dissolved yeast. Add the flour and mix in with a wooden spoon. Follow the same procedure listed in the recipe above to complete the crumpets. Makes 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Almost any bread recipe will make holey, moist, chewy English muffins. The dough should be slightly over\-kneaded and much wetter than bread dough. Keep a bowl of water handy to dip your hands in while kneading the dough in order to keep it well\-hydrated, rather than kneading in flour. HONEY WHOLE-WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFINS (source: Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Cookbook) 1/4 c. honey 1-1/2 c. warm water 2 T. active dry yeast 1-1/2 c. plain yogurt 1/2 c. water 1 t. salt 1 t. baking soda 7-8 c. whole wheat flour (you can use 50/50 whole wheat and unbleached/bleached all-purpose flour for a less-hearty English muffin) 1/2 c. cornmeal (I omit this and use semolina instead) In a tall glass, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water/honey; stir to dissolve. Set the yeast and water mixture aside to proof for about 10-minutes, or until the yeast begins to bubble. Combine the yogurt with 1/2 c. water and warm slightly to remove any chill. Pour the yeast/water mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the yogurt-water mixture, salt, and soda. Beat in as much of the flour as possible, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is stiff. Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead in more flour, a little at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky. Form the dough into a ball. Cover it with a bowl and allow it to rise at room temperature for about 1 hours, until doubled in bulk. Punch down the dough and roll it out to a thickness of about 1/2-inch. cut the dough into rounds about 3-inches in diameter. Sprinkle several cookie sheets with cornmeal and place the cut-out rounds on top of the cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with additional cornmeal and cover the rounds with wax paper or a clean towel [Grainlady note: use plastic wrap that has been sprayed with PAM. It works much better than wax paper or towel - this dough likes to stick to whatever covers it.] Allow the dough to rise about 45-minutes. [Grainlady note: I retard about half of the cut muffins in the refrigerator on cookie sheets because I can't get them baked in good order before the last of the batch over-proofs. Even using my large electric griddle.] Lightly grease an electric skillet and preheat it to 300-degrees F. (If you don't have an electric skillet, e a lightly greased cast-iron skillet over medium heat on top of the stove.) Cook bout 6-8 muffins at a time, COVERED, for about 8-minutes on each side or until golden brown. FORK-split [don't use a knife, use an English Muffin Fork, or table fork, to split the muffins) before serving them, fresh OR toasted. Allow the English muffins to cool on racks before storing them in plastic bags. Variations: I. Before allowing the dough to rise the first time, add 2 t. cinnamon and 1 to 1-1/2 c. raisins, knead, and place under a bowl on a floured surface. continue with the recipe as above. II. For lighter muffins, use unbleached all-purpose flour in place of half the whole-wheat flour. Makes 24-36 muffins - depending on size. [Grainlady note: Cut the recipe in half and make it in a bread machine on the dough cycle. Remove from the bread machine AS SOON AS the machine has finished kneading the dough and then proceed as above from the point where the dough is proofed after kneading.] ENGLISH MUFFINS (source: Recipes from the Old Mill \- Sarah E. Myers and Mary Beth Lind) Yield: 15\-18 muffins 1\-1/2 c. warm water 1 pkg. active dry yeast 2 T. sugar 1 t. salt 1/4 c. oil 1/2 c. instant nonfat dry milk powder 1 egg 2 c. whole wheat flour 2\-1/2 \- 3 cups flour 1\. Dissolve yeast in warm water. 2\. Add sugar, salt, oil, dry milk, and egg. Mix well 3\. Add whole wheat flour and enough flour to make a stiff dough. 4\. Knead until well mixed, about 2\-5 minutes. 5\. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise until double, approximately 1\-hour. 6\. Punch down. Turn onto lightly floured surface, cover, and let rest 15\-minutes. 7\. Roll dough about 3/8" thick. Cut dough into 3\-inch circles. 8\. Dip both sides of circles in a pan of cornmeal; place circles on cookie sheet. Cover and let rise about 30\-45 minutes. 9\. Using an ungreased electric frying pan set at 350\-375\-degrees F, cook muffins for 8\-minutes on each side. 10\. To serve, split muffins horizontally with tines of a fork.

You might want to try these one at a time to see what works. Reduce temperature first. Make sure muffins are in the middle of the oven, not on a lower rack (if you didn't already do that). Place muffin pan on a cookie sheet to insulate from the bottom if there's still excess darkening. If you're waiting till a skewer comes out clean to remove the muffins, back off a bit and remove when just a very few crumbs cling. They'll bake further from residual heat while resting and be a bit more moist. Waiting till there are no crumbs you risk dryness. You didn't mention tops browning excessively, but those could always be covered with foil part way into the baking process. If you find you really like this combo and are baking them regularly, at some future point you might think about switching out the milk for buttermilk or yogurt and adding some soda. Their keeping qualities will improve and I keep thinking it would be a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the other ingredients. Soda wouldn't hurt with the honey anyway. Good luck.

Well, I made some corn bread last night. 24 gem muffins and one mini-loaf. Kept mixing to an absolute minimum, there were plenty of lumps (like Mom always told me to leave alone) and the results were very tasty. Like I said before, good flavor and crumb, no tunnels. But still, I got the Sombrero look. Not as much as I have gotten with straight muffin recipes but there. The loaf had more of it than the gem muffins. The flour info is interesting. I knew different flours had different gluten levels (never could make a decent wheat loaf until I heard about adding a wee bit of gluten flour) but as I use the same flour from batch to batch, that in and of itself doesn't explain why this only happens sometimes! A couple of weeks ago, I made a pan of cornbread that looked beautiful...modestly and evenly domed. Sigh. Okay, promised Lemon Bread Recipe: Lemon Bread 1 c oil 2 c sugar 4 eggs 3 c flour 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t salt 1 c buttermilk 1 c chopped walnuts (see my notes) 2 T grated lemon peel Topping: 1 c sugar 1/2 c lemon juice Cream oil and sugar together; add eggs, slightly beaten. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat into mixture, alternately with buttermilk, until smooth. Stir in chopped nuts and lemon peel. Spoon into greased 9"x5" pans. Bake for 1 hour in a 350 F preheated oven. Cool Slightly. Remove from pans. Heat topping ingredients until sugar is melted. Place loaves on pieces of foil. Pour topping over bread. Cool, wrap and store in refrigerator or freezer. Makes 2 loaves. The above is the recipe as it appears in, "The Tastes Of California Wine Country Napa/Sonoma, written and compiled by Sonnie Imes. It is a cookbook I've had for years, featuring recipes from various Bed & Breakfasts in that area. The Lemon Bread recipe comes from a place called, "Healdsburg Inn on the Plaza" which, to my knowledge still exists, though whether they still serve this bread is anyone's guess. My Notes: This bread is fine made with your basic lemon. But I far prefer Meyer Lemons for their rich flavor. I do not add walnuts for two reasons,for one thing, I've never cared for nuts in quick breads. They lose any crispness, becoming mere chewy lumps as far as I'm concerned. For the second thing, walnuts give me mini blisters on my tongue. I sometimes do add dried cranberries, plumped slightly in some sort of fruit liqueur. Most often, I just let the lemon flavor stand alone. One can always serve the bread with a fruit puree on the side or a good, home made jam. The recipe calls for you to "pour topping over bread." I have found that direction to be inadequate. Place the loaf in a large baking dish or serving dish, something that has sides to catch the liquid topping and large enough for room to spoon it up as it pools so you can drizzle it back onto the loaf. The loaves should absorb every bit of the topping. Turn the loaves on their sides to soak up pooled topping as well. The top and sides of the loaf should be well inundated. Just before serving, I sprinkle the loaves with lemon flavored powdered sugar. I make this by whirring sugar, more lemon peel (I grate extra when I make the loaves and leave it out to dry a bit while they bake) and a few drops of lemon extract in a spice grinder. Plain powdered sugar would do, of course. This must be done just before serving because the sticky topping will soak into the sugar if given time to do so, leaving it icky looking. This is wonderful served as a "strawberry shortcake" in lieu of the shortcake.

I (and my family) have to say it again. These are the best muffins we have ever had. And that includes some "high end" gourmet ones that is sold here! I have made 4 batches in one week, and none lasted long enough to get completely cold. I have no problem with the topping, though I do press it into the muffin a bit before baking. I also cut the cinnamon down to a 1/2 teaspoon. I put paper muffin liners in my muffin pan, so no problem getting them out of the pan, and the fluted liners peel right off. Elisabeth