Firstly, Mill the flour

Heat up the milk until steamy, but NOT boiling!

Place softened butter, salt, sugar, and warmed milk into stand mixer.

Mix until combined, and add the egg, than mix again.

Slowly add the flour to the liquids and mix to incorporate the dry flour.

Cover, and let the dough sit for 15 minutes to allow the freshly milled flour to absorb the liquids.

After this rest period add in the instant yeast and start to mix the dough together.

Once all the yeast is incorporated, start kneading the dough. I knead on level 2. Watch the dough periodically while kneading. The dough should eventually come together, and appear smooth, but still sticky. This can take anywhere from 7-25 minutes depending on many variables.

Once the dough is smooth and stretchy, cover and let rise at room temperature for 1-1.5 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Mill a little extra flour (any kind) and take it to a clean work surface. Sprinkle work surface with flour, and take dough out of the bowl. Try your best not to punch it down or deflate it too much. (It will deflate some with handling, that's ok.)

Gently roll the dough out without pressing too much of the air out. (keeping this air in the dough helps create those nooks & crannies. Roll until it is about 3/4 inch thick.

Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter, dusted with flour on the cutting edge, cut out 3 inch circles.

Place dough circles onto a lined baking sheet that is also dusted with cornmeal or rice flour. Repeat until all dough is gone, you will need to reroll the dough and recut a couple times.

Cover the dough circles, and place in the fridge overnight to enhance the flavor, and the nooks & crannies. OR to make same day, let sit for 15-30 minutes.

Make sure to preheat your pan to 350*F (Medium) before cooking, so remove from fridge the next morning, then preheat cast iron skillet for 15-20 minutes while English muffin dough warms up to room temperature. If making same day, preheat cast iron skillet during the second rise. (see blog post for cooking without cast iron.)

Once the skillet is preheated, sprinkle with a little rice flour or cornmeal.

Gently (try not to deflate too much) place 4 English Muffins in the pan, cornmeal or rice flour side down. Don't overcrowd the pan, they should have 1-2 inches on all sides clear of other English Muffins, and the sides of the pan. Cook for about 7 minutes.

Gently turn them over and cook on the other side for 7 more minutes. The first side should be dark golden brown, if not you may need to adjust the heat, or preheat longer. The internal temperature of the center of each English Muffin should be 200*F.

Once the first batch is done, remove them to a wire rack, and wipe out the cornmeal or rice flour from the skillet so it doesn't burn onto your next batch.

Put fresh cornmeal or rice flour into the pan, and cook another batch the same way. Repeat until all cooked, making sure to wipe the skillet pan between each batch.

Once cooled, you can cut open with a fork around the edges (don't just slice with a knife, that ruins your nooks & crannies!

Then, toast, top with your choice of toppings, and enjoy!