Recipe: Easy muffins to help keep your little people happy

Somerset Life Chef of the Year Steve James shares a basic recipe for you to try with the children

Poppy seed English muffins

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Ingredients

450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for flouring

10g fast-action yeast

10g salt

20g caster sugar

125g poppy seeds

25g softened butter

1 large free-range egg

255ml whole milk (may need slightly more to make a soft dough)

Oil, for greasing

15g/½oz semolina or polenta, plus extra for rolling

Method

1. Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast and then add the salt to the other side of the bowl.

2. Add the sugar, butter, poppy seeds, egg and milk, and mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough, adding a little extra milk if needed.

3. Turn the mixture out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook for about 5 minutes, until elastic.

4. Lightly grease a large bowl with oil. Add the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for about one hour, or until doubled in size.

5. Dust the work surface with a mixture of the semolina/polenta and flour. Tip the dough out onto the work surface and roll out to about 2.5cm thick.

6. Lightly dust two baking trays with half of the semolina or polenta.

7. Using a 9cm straight-sided cutter, cut out 10 muffins. Place five muffins on each of the baking trays. Dust the remaining semolina or polenta over the top of the muffins.

8. Leave to prove for another 30 minutes.

9. Preheat a heavy-based frying pan on the hob to a very low heat. Griddle the muffins for approximately 5-6 minutes till golden and crisp, then flip over and griddle for another 5-6 minutes on the other side.

end a picture of your finished muffins to Editor Charlotte Skidmore.