Watch Jennifer Garner Host Another Adorable 'Pretend Cooking Show' In Her Kitchen — and Get Her Recipe!
Jennifer Garner may have just won the best mom (and most adorable baker!) in the world award.
After posting her favorite healthy smoothie recipe on Facebook last week, the actress, who is mom to Violet, 12, Seraphina, 9, and Samuel, 5, returned with episode two of her “Pretend Cooking Show.”
This time Garner, 45, whips up English muffins from scratch using the Huckleberry cookbook.
“One of my favorite restaurants in Santa Monica is Huckleberry run by Zoe Nathan,” Garner says. “I was so happy when she made a cookbook. One of my favorite recipes in here is something I make all the time. It’s a total family-pleaser. Their English muffin recipe. It’s covered in flour. You start it the night before so it’s about to be last night.”
“It says right here in my notes, ‘Make sure buttermilk isn’t hot enough to separate or to melt the butter you’re going to add later,'” Garner says before flashing a big smile to the camera.
As she adds honey to the mix, she chats with her golden retriever sitting on the floor nearby. “It’s from our bees, right, Bird?” she questions her pup. “Birdy is an enthusiastic participant in the kitchen.”
Before putting the finished dough in the fridge, Garner says, “You’re going to be everyone’s favorite,” and does an adorable little dance.
Fast forward to the morning and Garner is back in the kitchen, baking the muffins she put in the fridge overnight. “If these don’t all get eaten on the first day, I kind of won’t believe you,” she says. “But they freeze really well.”
Although Garner put a lot of time and effort into making the muffins, she says she’s not supposed to eat carbs because she’s currently filming a movie. So instead of taking a bite, she gently smells them and blows a little kiss. “They feel really perfect,” she says.
Huckleberry English Muffins
3 cups buttermilk
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter (room temp)
3 tbsp honey
6 cups bread flour
¼ cup sugar
4½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup cornmeal
1. Warm 1½ cups (355ml) of the buttermilk in a small saucepan, but do not boil. Place the remaining 1½ cups (355ml) cold buttermilk in the bowl of a stand mixer with the yeast and whisk by hand to combine. Add the warm buttermilk to the cold buttermilk mixture and whisk to blend. Add the butter, honey, bread flour, sugar, and salt and mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment for about 1 minute, until the dough comes together. Increase the speed to medium-high and work the dough for about 2 minutes until smooth.
2. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Sprinkle ½ cup (80g) of the cornmeal on a clean work surface and dump the dough out onto it. Sprinkle another ¼ cup (40g) of the cornmeal on top of the dough and flatten it into a disk with 1 inch (2.5cm) thickness.
4. Sprinkle the last ¼ cup (40g) of the cornmeal onto a sheet pan. With a 3 inch (7.5cm) round cutter, cut the English muffins from the dough. Cut them as closely as possible, minimizing the amount of scraps, as you cannot combine and reroll this dough.
5. Arrange the English muffins, 1 inch (2.5cm) apart, on the sheet pan. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour at room temperature. Or refrigerate overnight and allow to rise for 1 hour in the morning.
6. As the English muffins near readiness, preheat your oven to 350F (180C) degrees. When the oven is hot, heat an ungreased griddle or large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Jen tip: 275F (135C) for the temperature of your griddle!
7. Drop the English muffins onto the griddle and cook for about 1 minute on each side, until golden brown.
8. Return the English muffins to the sheet pan and immediately bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until they feel light when lifted from the pan. If working in batches, bake each batch as it comes off the griddle.
These keep, tightly wrapped, at room temperature, for up to 3 days; or frozen, for up to 1 month. Enjoy!
