Whole Wheat English Muffin Hearts

The best part about spring semester and the course I teach is that the timing around Valentine’s Day could not be more perfect. 

Students arrive in class excited – it is the week of flowers, and chocolate dipped strawberries.  Perhaps some cherries too? 

They leave class realizing that pollen they might catch a whiff of from those beautiful flowers is really made up of male plant gametes. 

And, that cherry.  Oh yes – it’s an ovary you are eating. 

Chocolate {don’t go there, they say!}, well, that’s a seed.  And, seeds are embryonic plants.  

Nothing like throwing a little cramp into their Valentine’s Day. 

So, if you’d rather – have yourself a little wheat, I mean treat.  In these delicious English muffins you’ll find it hard to believe you’re actually eating endosperm – the starchy food source for growing plant embryo’s formed by sperm nuclei “fertilizing” two cells in the embryo sac. 

That’s what I thought. 

But they’re cute, right? 

Whole Wheat English Muffin Hearts – Adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 C warm water
• 1/2 C warm milk
• 3 C white whole wheat flour, divided
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1 T butter, melted
• 2 tsp. yeast (instant dry)

Directions

Combine 1 C water and 1/2 C milk (both warm) into a large bowl.  Add in 2 tsp. honey and 3/4 tsp. salt.  Stir. 

Next up, add in 2 C white whole wheat flour along with 2 tsp. yeast.  Mix with a wooden spoon until a very wet dough is formed. 

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees for 5 minutes.  Then, turn the oven off.  Cover the dough mixture with a towel and place the bowl into the oven (which should now be off).  Allow the dough to rise in this warm environment for approximately 20 minutes. 

If you don’t feel like turning on your oven, microwave 1 C water until it boils.  Then, place the covered dough bowl into the microwave and allow it to sit closed, not in use for about 20 minutes. 

You’ll know the dough is ready when the sponge is doubled in size. 

Stir in the remaining 1 C white whole wheat flour along with 1 T melted butter.  You may need to add up to 1/2 C additional flour and “knead” the dough slightly to reduce stickiness.  But, do not over knead the dough!

Lightly flour or cornmeal a flat surface. 

Flatten the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. 

Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter, or feel free to free-form the heart with a knife, cut out heart-shapes from the dough. 

Reform extra dough and continue to cut out hearts until all dough is used up. 

Cover, and allow them to sit/rest for 10-15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, heat a griddle to 350 degrees. 

Next, lightly butter the griddle and immediately place the heart cut-outs onto the griddle.

Allow the muffins to cook on each side for 15 minutes.

You may wish to re-butter your griddle when you flip the muffins over, or scoot the English muffins into regions where there is butter still on the griddle. 

Serve warm, toasted or with your favorite jam. 

Enjoy!