Overnight English Muffins

Day 1 (about 10–20 minutes):
Mix dry yeast with flour and sugar in a bowl large enough to fit all the ingredients. If you have time, let it sit for 10 minutes.

Mix butter and salt with lukewarm milk, stir until butter has melted completely.

Add butter and milk mixture together with egg to the flour. Mix well for a few minutes. When finished, dough should be quite soft and wet but coming away from the sides. When lifting up a piece of the dough, it should be noticeably stretchy. If not, mix some more.

Shape dough into a rough ball and cover with kitchen cloth. If you have time, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before placing it in the fridge for 8–12 hours.

Day 2 (about 10 minutes prep, 20 minutes resting, and 15 minutes cooking):
Remove dough from refrigerator and make sure it has risen properly—it should have about doubled in size. If it hasn’t risen enough, let it sit at room temperature until it has.

Place a baking sheet on the oven tray and dust with flour.

Dust some flour on another clean surface and place dough on it. Divide dough into 16 equally-sized pieces. Knead each one slightly and form into a ball. You may need to add a bit of flour to the dough for this. Place each ball well spaced out on the baking sheet.

Using your fingers or a flat spatula or other utensil with some flour on, gently flatten each ball until about 7.5 cm or 3 inches in diameter. Place kitchen cloth over the muffins and let them rest for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF).

After they have rested, place pan (or several pans) over medium to medium-high heat, depending on your stove. When hot, add muffins and cook until they have a nice golden color, about 1–2 minutes each side. When finished, place back on the tray.

When all muffins have a nice color, place tray in the middle of the oven and cook for about 10 minutes until cooked through. If you have a thermometer, this is perfect to use—they should be 93ºC or 200ºF in the middle when done.

Take out the muffins and let rest for a minute or two before serving. Serve as part of Eggs Benedict or Eggs Royal, with just butter, or in any other way you desire. Place leftovers in the fridge and you have breakfast next weekend as well.