Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Muffins

I love english muffins. My favorite way to have them is toasted with honey butter slathered on top. Yum. I could eat half a dozen at a time (and have).   I have been wanting to make these for awhile now.  I love the recipe in the Allred Cookbook, but they aren't whole wheat.  So when I saw these in my pile I shouted with joy.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Muffins

Split these muffins with a fork and toast the cut sides.  Serve with yogurt cheese and fruit conserve.

1 T dry yeast
1/4 c warm water
1 t honey (we are out, so I used maple syrup)
1 3/4 c warm milk
3 1/4 c whole wheat bread flour
1/4 c wheat germ (I suggest getting it before you are in the middle of the recipe and have to run to Walmart...)
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c raisins

NOTE: I omitted the cinnamon and raisins because I wanted a more versatile muffin.  

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water and add the honey.  Set aside to proof ten minutes. 

In a larger bowl, combine the milk, bread flour,wheat germ, and cinnamon.  Add the yeast mixture and raisins and beat well.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about one hour).

Heat a heavy griddle, skillet, or baking sheet on top of stove.  Brush with oil.  Grease several crumpet rings, small tuna cans with both ends removed, or canning jar rings.  Keep the heat under the griddle low.

NOTE:  I prefer to use the electric skillet Grandma gave us when we got married.  It has a lid, so the middle gets cooked through better than on a griddle. 
 
With a spoon or ladle, half fill the rings.  Cook the muffins about 6 minutes on each side or until brown on both sides.

Yield: 15 muffins
Approximately 157 calories each

Here are my thoughts on this recipe.  It was not near as liquidy as the recipe made it out to be.  I cut the dough with my jar ring, instead of filling the dough into it.  I had to add more water to get it even that liquidy.  In the end, it didn't seem to make much of a difference anyway.

My other issue was with rising times.  The recipe I normally use says to rise 12 hours at least.  This only said one and when I went to check it after an hour it had risen, but didn't taste like english muffins.  So I let it rise overnight and it was much better in the morning. 

Other than that it was a great recipe.  We have already eaten half of them and I just made them yesterday.  We eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack.  Yesterday we used them for mini pizzas. 

I will definitely make this again with a few tweaks based on my last experience.