English muffins

Scald the milk: bring it to just under boiling, with small bubbles round the sides and a skin on top, hold 30 seconds to a minute, and turn it off.

Put the bread flour, whole wheat flour, kosher salt and yeast in the stand mixer bowl.

Off the heat, whisk the butter and honey into the milk.

Cool the milk from around 190F to lukewarm, around 100F, slightly warm to the touch: leave it at room temperature or stir over an ice bath.

Optional: whisk the yeast into two tablespoons of the warm milk to dissolve its coating and let it sit a few minutes to activate.

Pour the milk mixture and yeast into the dry ingredients and mix with the dough hook 8 to 10 minutes total, scraping down once for trapped flour, until the very wet dough mostly pulls from the sides and gathers on the hook.

Generously oil a bowl, scrape in all the dough and check it moves freely; cover and rise in a room-temperature or slightly warm spot until doubled with visible bubbles, a couple of hours.

Line a rimmed half sheet with parchment, oil it generously and dust it with cornmeal; oil a second sheet of parchment.

Loosen the dough with a bowl scraper, let it fall onto the sheet and pat it to an even layer about half an inch thick, using the oiled parchment on top if it sticks.

Cover airtight and refrigerate about 12 hours.

Straight from the fridge, plan the cuts, press the cutter straight down to the sheet and twist; move each muffin to a cold skillet. Pat scraps together and cut again; keep the rest in the fridge.

Cook in a dry skillet on low 5 to 7 minutes on the first side, rotating the pan every couple of minutes, until the centre is done, the bottom golden and the surface turns from shiny to matte.

Flip and cook the second side over medium-low just to colour it.

Cool about 10 minutes so steam escapes and the middle is not gummy; open with a fork round the midline rather than slicing.