Turkey Bacon Cream Cheese Pinwheels

Soft and chewy English muffin dough rolled around cream cheese, turkey, and bacon.

Pinwheels have been very popular lately.  I decided I wanted to jump on the band wagon and give them a try too but with some changes.  Pretty much every recipe I've seen for these uses store bought refrigerator crescent roll dough.  I know that makes these little wheels super quick and easy but I refuse to use store bought dough when I can make better.  So my next challenge was to figure out what kind of dough to use.  Sandwich bread, pizza, roll... the list  is endless.  Since I was making these as a breakfast item (to eat while watching early college football) I decided to use English muffin dough. The result was delicious.  The bread was soft and chewy and the filling was creamy and delicious with a crunch of bacon.  They didn't last long.

Turkey Bacon Cream Cheese Pinwheels

Ingredients:

500-600 grams English muffin dough (1 recipe for Multigrain English Muffins or Light Wheat English Muffins)

Turkey slices

1/2 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 package cream cheese (flavored would be great)

green onions, sliced (optional)

Prepare the English muffin dough up through the first rise (I used Multigrain English Muffins but did not make them sourdough by replacing the 200g of barm with equal parts flour & water and adding 1 1/2 tsp yeast).

Instead of cutting and shaping the dough, into muffins, roll it out into a rectangle about 8 X 11 inches (about the size of a sheet of paper).

Onto the dough rectangle, spread the cream cheese (I didn't have flavored cream cheese so I also added green onions).

Top the cream cheese with the bacon crumbles and then turkey slices.  Starting at the long side roll the dough up into an 11 inch long roll.

Cut the roll into 12 slices (I find this easiest to use a serrated knife repeatedly dipped in flour).  Lay out the slices on a parchment lined sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

Or if you don't want to wait overnight allow the pinwheels to rise for about 30 minutes before baking.

The next morning, take the pinwheels out of the refrigerator and allow to come up to room temperature for about 1 hour. 

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes until browned.

Let cool then enjoy.  Refrigerate any leftovers (if you have any).

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Multigrain English Muffins (Sourdough)

Sourdough English muffins with the added fiber and nutrition of a variety of grains.

Submitted to YeastSpotting

I enjoy English muffins.  They are a fun bread that is great for breakfast sandwiches, or any kind of sandwich.  To me a good English muffin is chewy and deeply browned on the outside and soft in the center.  These were just that and the grains added more nutrition and texture while the sourdough added a great depth of flavor.  These muffins are about 30 percent grains.  I may try these again, adding more grains, but I won't be making plain white English muffins again, these are definitely a new favorite.

Multigrain English Muffins (Sourdough)

Ingredients:

Soaker:
11 grams rolled barley (or oats)
11 grams corn meal
7 grams oat bran
7 grams flax seeds
7 grams ground flax seed
43 grams water

Final Dough:
85 grams soaker (above)
200 grams barm, room temperature and active
184 grams bread flour
7 grams sugar
5 grams salt
14 grams shortening
20 grams dry milk
93 grams water, room temperature

The night before you plan to make the English muffins, prepare the soaker.  In a small bowl add the grains (you can use any combination of grains adding up to 43g total) and water, stirring until combined.  Cover bowl tightly and let sit over night.  It is also a good idea to make sure your sourdough barm is refreshed and you have at least 200 grams of it.

The next day, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the soaker, and the rest of the ingredients.  Stir with the paddle attachment, on low speed, until all of the flour is hydrated and the ingredients form a ball (you may need to add more water or flour).

Then switch to the dough hook and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is soft, tacky, smooth, and elastic.  Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, rolling to coat all over with oil, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm area for about 4 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

When the dough has doubled, gently remove from bowl and divide into 8 pieces, about 76g each.  Try to degas the dough as little as possible.  Form each piece into small boule shapes, stretching the dough over the top and sides and pinching the seam closed underneath.  Lay bouls, seam side down, on a cookie sheet covered with lightly oiled parchment paper.  Cover the pans with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 2 hours more until the bouls have almost doubled in size.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat, about 350F, and lightly oil the pan.  Also preheat the oven to 350F.  Using a metal spatula, gently lift a dough ball off the parchment and slide onto the hot skillet.  Do not press down on the dough, the top side will swell a bit and then flatten once the dough is flipped.  Fill the skillet with dough balls leaving 1 inch in between (I can usually fit 4 at once in my 8 inch skillet).  Fry the dough for about 7-10 minutes.  The dough will brown quickly, but will not burn for a while so be patient.  Then, flip the dough balls and fry the other side for 7-10 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the skillet and immediately place in the heated oven for 10 minutes more.  While first batch is baking, proceed with the rest of the dough.

Allow muffins to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and eating.  This recipe makes 8 English muffins.  Enjoy.

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Light Wheat English Muffins

Soft, flat buns full of nooks and crannies, English Muffins make a great breakfast or lunch sandwich even a great snack.

Submitted to YeastSpotting
on YeastSpotting 7/26/13 

I love homemade English muffins.  They are so much better than what you find at the store and they are generally better for you.  My English muffins do not always turn out perfectly round but they always taste great.  I have made them with all white flour before and they are great, but this time I wanted to add some whole wheat.  These light wheat English muffins are wonderful.  I am eventually going to try completely whole wheat muffins, and I'm also working out plans for cinnamon raisin.  This recipe comes from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice I modified it slightly by using part whole wheat flour.

I love homemade English muffins.  [Tweet this]

Light Wheat English Muffins

Ingredients: (measured by weight except yeast)

3 oz whole wheat flour (84 grams)
7 oz bread flour (196 grams)
.25 oz honey (7 grams)
.19 oz salt (5 grams)
2 tsp active dry yeast
.5 oz shortening or butter, room temperature(14 grams)
6-8 oz milk, buttermilk, or kefir, warm about 90-100F (150-224 grams)

First heat the milk (I used kefir--I think it is a good substitute for buttermilk).  I used the microwave for about 15-30 seconds until the kefir reached 100F, no more than 115F (if you don't have a thermometer it should feel warm to the touch but not hot).  Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk and mix gently.  Let stand for about 15 minutes until bubbly.  If you have instant yeast you can skip this step and add the yeast to the flour.

When yeast is active, pour milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Then add the flour, honey, salt, and shortening.  Stir, using the paddle attachment, until ingredients are thoroughly mixed and form a ball. Dough should be soft.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 8-10 minutes, sprinkling with more flour until the dough is tacky and elastic but not sticky.

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, rolling to coat all sides, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour until dough doubles in size.

Divide the dough into 6 pieces (about 3 oz each).  Form each piece into a boule.  Line a sheet pan with parchment, lightly oil the parchment and dust with corn meal (I don't always have corn meal and just oiling the parchment is fine).  Place the dough balls on the parchment about 3 inches apart, spray with oil, and cover with plastic wrap.

Proof for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Heat a skillet or griddle (I use a cast iron skillet but a griddle pan would be perfect) to medium or about 350F.  Also preheat the oven to 350.

Lightly oil the skillet and gently transfer the dough to the pan.  The best way I do this is to oil a metal spatula and gently slide it under a dough round, lift it and slide it into the pan.  Keep the pieces at least 1 inch apart and cook for 5-8 minutes.  The dough browns pretty quickly, but do not flip too soon, it will  not burn for a while (if the skillet is the proper temperature.  I've had to adjust mine because my stove isn't very accurate medium low, almost lo is the right temp for my stove--it runs too hot, it's old).  When the bottom of the dough can no longer cook with out burning, gently flip it.  Cook for 5-8 minutes more and then immediately transfer to the preheated oven and bake for a final 5-8 minutes on the middle shelf.  Return to the rest of the dough balls and repeat the process.

Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.  If you want the nooks and crannies pierce the English muffin all around the sides instead of using a knife to slice it.  Enjoy.

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