Egg, Bacon and Cheese on Homemade English Muffins

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I'm just a lil bit obsessed with breakfast.  I go to bed dreaming of what's for breakfast.  Then, once I've finished breakfast, I start thinking of what I'm going to have for second breakfast breakfast on the days that follow.  This condition is known to many as gluttony.

Egg, Bacon and Cheese on Homemade English Muffins

adapted from here

Makes 8

For the Muffins:

1 sachet (7g) dried yeast

1 teaspoon caster sugar

300ml lukewarm whole milk

55g butter, melted

450g baker's flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Polenta for dusting

Butter for frying

For the Filling:

Butter for spreading

8 eggs

8 rashers good quality bacon

8 slices cheddar cheese

Make the Muffins:

Put the yeast, sugar, milk and butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Mix briefly to combine.  Add the flour and salt and mix on low for 5 minutes.  The mixture will come together in a smooth ball around the hook.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a nice warm spot for about an hour, until doubled in size.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and dust the paper with polenta.  Set aside.

Dust a work surface with polenta, turn the dough out on to it and roll it out until it is 2cm thick.  Use an 8cm cookie/scone cutter to cut circles out.  Lay the circles, polenta side up on the tray.  This means you will have a good coating of polenta on both sides of the muffins.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it back in a warm spot for 30 minutes, to become puffy.

Heat a large frying pan to medium heat and add a good knob of butter.  Once the butter starts to foam, add as many muffins as you can fit comfortably to the pan and fry on both sides until golden, about 5 minutes per side,  Continue until all the muffins are cooked, wiping the pan clean with kitchen paper between batches.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Assembly:

Fry the bacon in a large frying pan until crisp, remove and keep warm.  Cook your eggs in the same pan, using the bacon grease.  I like to cook mine so that the yolk is still runny and oozes down my chin and all the way down my arms to my elbows as I take a bite... but it's your life, cook them how you like them.  You can also cook them together in the same pan if you prefer and if you've got a big enough pan.

Split the muffins using a fork to prise them in half.  Using a fork gives you a nice rough surface. Butter both halves of the muffins. Place a slice of cheese on the bottom half, then put it cheese-side down in the frying pan and heat until the cheese starts to melt.  Remove from the pan using an egg slice and turn it melted-cheese-side up.  Place the crispy bacon and an egg on top and finish with the muffin top.

These muffins are also divine split and toasted with your favourite topping/s.