These Overnight English Muffins is one of the easiest ways to get deliciously fresh baked bread on the table just in time for breakfast, all while making as little of a mess as possible.
Mix the dry yeast with the flour and sugar, in a bowl large enough to fit all the ingredients. If you have time, let it sit for 10 minutes.
Mix in the butter and salt with the lukewarm milk, stir until butter has melted completely.
Add the butter and milk mixture together with the egg to the flour. Mix well, for a few minutes. When finished the 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 the dough into a rough ball and cover with a kitchen cloth. If you have time, let it sit in room temperature for about 30 min before placing it in the fridge for 8-12 hours.
Day 2 (about 10 min prep + 20 min resting + 15 min cooking)
Bring out the dough and make sure it has risen properly, it should have about doubled in size. If it hasn't risen enough, let it sit in room temperature until it has.
Place a baking sheet on the oven tray and pour over a little bit of flour.
Pour some flour on another clean surface and place the dough on it. Divide the 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 it's about 7.5 cm or 3 inches in diameter. Place a kitchen cloth over the muffins and let them rest for about 20 minutes.
Now set the oven for 175 C/350 F.
After they have rested, place your pan (or several pans) over medium to medium-high heat, depending on your stove. When hot, add the muffins and let them cook until they have a nice golden color - about 1-2 minutes per side. When finished, place them back on the oven tray.
When all muffins have a nice color, place the oven 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 93 C/200 F in the middle when done.
Take out the muffins and let them 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 the remainders in the fridge and you have breakfast next weekend as well.
Notes
If for some reason you'd rather not let them proof overnight, just add a bit more yeast and let the dough rise in room temperature - this should take about an hour.
Instead of using the oven you can finish cooking the muffins in the pan - this takes about 7 minutes per side. Just turn the heat down to medium or medium-low and keep a close look at the color of the muffins so that they don't burn.