For the best brunch, don't buy store-bought English muffins. My Homemade English Muffins are thick, tender but chewy, and just so much better!
They take just 7 ingredients, which makes an easy-to-handle dough. These English muffins are thick and fluffy, and split perfectly in the middle with a fork. They're hearty and satisfying, a perfect canvas for whatever you'd like to top them with.
English muffins are traditionally used for Eggs Benedict, but given that I don't like eggs, I usually top mine with jam, honey, or in the fall, my Slow Cooker Apple Butter.
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I first made these on a lucky snow day back in 2011. I'd tried a few recipes in the past, including a disastrous batter-based one. After I made this recipe from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (affiliate link), though, I've never been tempted to try a different recipe.
What are English muffins?
In a short answer, English muffins are: delicious.
Despite the name, English muffins were actually invented in the United States. They were originally called "toaster crumpets" by Samuel Thomas, a British ex-pat in New York, when he invented them in the 1880s or 1890s. (So are they American for being invented in the US, or English for being invented by someone from Britain?)
What are they? English muffins aren't cakey muffins like what Americans usually think of. They're tender and soft, chewy pieces of bread, made from a yeasted dough. After they're cooked, you split them in half across the middle using a fork, so that you create two textured surfaces that toast up nicely.
Ingredients
One of the things I love about home baking is how few ingredients go into bread!
- Bread flour
- Sugar, salt, and yeast
- Butter
- Milk
Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose flour, and develops more gluten, which means sturdier structure and chewier bread. That said, you can absolutely substitute all-purpose flour in this.
Sugar and table salt balance the flavor in the muffins, keeping them from tasting flat.
Yeast provides rise. Both active dry yeast and instant yeast will work.
Butter and milk tenderize the dough, giving English muffins a softer texture than, say, my Italian Bread.
You sprinkle cornmeal on both sides of the dough, as it keeps the muffins from sticking to the pan while they rise and the griddle while they cook. You can substitute a small amount of flour for this if you don't have cornmeal, but don't skip it entirely.
Instructions
Making English muffins is easy, but it does take a little time since it's a yeast bread.
Although I usually make English muffins using my stand mixer, you can knead the dough by hand; it will just take a little longer. You can also speed up the mixing and kneading process a little by having your milk and butter at room temperature.
- Mix all ingredients except cornmeal in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add a little bit of milk (a teaspoon at a time) if a ball of dough doesn't come together and there's still dry flour. Flour is drier in the winter than at other times of year, so you'll probably need to make adjustments.
- Knead on medium speed for around 8 minutes, until the dough is soft, squishy, and tacky. (Tacky is like a Post-It note; it clings to your finger, but doesn't leave behind residue.)
The dough will probably clear the sides of the bowl, but not the bottom, as the mixer kneads it. It'll also pass the windowpane test.
- Windowpane test: Take a small piece of dough in your fingers and round it into a ball. Stretch it out so you can see light behind the dough. If it tears quickly or easily, the dough should be kneaded more. [FYI: this windowpane test example is not of English muffin dough, but is what to aim for.]
Hint: If you have to choose between this dough being slightly too stiff or slightly too sticky, choose sticky. Stiff dough won't sink when you flip the English muffins, which means your English muffins will be tall, thick, and kind of rounded!
- Cover it, and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes...
- ...until doubled in size.
- Turn out onto a floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. Form each piece of dough into a ball. I do this by pulling the edges and corners of the dough into the center. Repeat this until there's a lot of surface tension.
- Place each ball of dough on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Spray the tops with cooking spray, sprinkle with more cornmeal, cover, and let rise for about 60 minutes...
- ...until doubled in size again. This may take longer in cold weather.
- Preheat both a non-stick electric griddle (affiliate link) and your oven to 350F. The griddle will give the muffins nice, crusty tops and bottoms, while the oven will finish cooking the middles.
Slide a spatula underneath each muffin and then slide it to the hot griddle. If all the muffins don't fit on your griddle, keep the dough covered while the others cook.
- Cook for 5-8 minutes, until well browned. Flip and cook for another 5-8 minutes, as long as you can cook them without scorching them.
- Transfer the English muffins back to the parchment-lined baking sheet, and immediately bake them for another 5-8 minutes to cook the middle. If you couldn't griddle all of your dough at once, don't wait for them. If you wait, the first batch of muffins won't cook thoroughly.
I usually let my muffins cool on the baking sheet after I pull them from the oven. The bottom already has a crust, so I don't worry about them getting soggy.
Substitutions
Gluten development in the wheat flour is what holds the English muffins together. You can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour if you want; the muffins will still taste good and turn out. However, gluten-free flour blends will not work properly.
This recipe should be veganizable, although I haven't tried it. I've had success in the past using non-dairy milk in baking and bread-making. Use a mild-flavored milk with a similar fat content as dairy milk. Coconut oil or vegetable shortening can be substituted for the butter. Be aware that the flavors of your non-dairy milk and coconut oil will be present in your English muffins.
Equipment
I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer (affiliate link) when I make bread. However, since this dough is so soft, it would be easy to make English muffins by hand; it will just take a little longer to knead the dough.
Whenever I bake, I weigh my ingredients on a digital kitchen scale (affiliate link) instead of measuring by volume; I include measurements in cups to make it easier for readers, since many people don't have scales. The weight of a cup of flour varies depending on how you scoop it, so be sure to pay attention to the consistency of the dough if you're not using a scale, and add flour and/or extra milk as necessary to make it a tacky dough.
I'm able to cook all the English muffins at once on my electric griddle (affiliate link). I also use the griddle to make my Easy Homemade Pancakes. If you don't have a griddle, you can use a nonstick skillet on the stove; try medium heat, and adjust the temperature as you go. Realize that cheap skillets will have hot and cold spots, so the muffins may not cook evenly.
Storage
English muffins should be stored at room temperature in a sealed container. They'll stay good for several days.
Serving
Use a fork to crimp around the middle of the English muffin, rather than using a knife to saw it apart. A knife will squish the muffin and you won't get the nooks and crannies that so many brands like to advertise.
English muffins are best toasted; they all, even store-bought, tend to be doughy when not toasted, although my daughter doesn't mind.
These are large English muffins, bigger than those anemic ones you buy at the store, so they'd be ideal for Eggs Benedict, if you're into that kind of thing. We tend to prefer them with honey, jam, chocolate hazelnut spread, or my Slow Cooker Apple Butter if we have any around.
Top Tip
The texture of your dough will determine how the muffins turn out. Flour is drier in the winter than it is during warmer weather, and so it's likely that you'll need to add extra milk in the winter, or extra flour in the summer. This is okay and necessary! And it's why we check the consistency of the dough as we make it.
FAQ
English muffins are a thick, tender yeasted bread that's used as the base for Eggs Benedict and some breakfast sandwiches. They're cooked on a griddle and finished in the oven. They're usually split along the middle with a fork, and can taste a bit doughy if not toasted.
English muffins aren't like cakey American-style muffins, and despite the name, English muffins were actually invented in the United States. They were originally called "toaster crumpets" by Samuel Thomas, a British ex-pat in New York, when he invented them in the 1880s or 1890s. So maybe they're British since their inventor came from Britain, or maybe they're an American creation.
Tacky dough should be like a Post-It note, where it clings to your finger but doesn't leave residue. It's the texture you want for these English muffins. Since these English muffins are made without rings, the surface tension is what helps them keep their shape. Tacky dough has enough water to let the dough rise and expand, without it being able to spread too much. You don't want sticky dough, where it leaves a big of a mess behind on your fingers, and will spread more.
If you're making an English muffin recipe that calls for a batter that's shaped in rings, your batter consistency will likely be different from what I make in this recipe.
Dough rises more quickly in warm weather, and more slowly in cold weather. When I make English muffins and other breads in the winter, the dough always takes longer to rise because my kitchen is colder.
If your dough isn't rising, first thing to check is if the dough smells like yeast. If it doesn't smell yeasty, your yeast may not be working well. That said, sometimes yeast is just sluggish. Try putting the dough in a warm place to rise.
When I bake in the winter, I always use my oven as a proving box. I preheat it for 1-2 minutes while it's empty, and then turn off the heat. This brings the oven to a nice, toasty temperature, and I put my dough in it. This works for the English muffin dough for both the first rise, as well as the second rise after they're shaped.
Since all ovens heat at different rates, the oven-preheating time has been slightly different in each oven that I have used. I recommend having an oven thermometer to check it.
Some people warm their ovens instead using the oven light, but I don't like using that electricity. You can also put your dough on the back of the stove while you use the oven (since that's where oven heat tends to rise). Be careful that plastic wrap doesn't touch the stove, as sometimes the surface can still get too hot to the touch.
I've never had this issue with English muffins, but when my dough for other breads rises too much during its first rise, I don't worry much. I just shape it for the second rise as called for in the instructions. For the English muffins (and all bread, really), be very sure to get the surface tension tight on them when you shape them, or they may expand outward more than you'd like.
Yeast in dough that overproofed on the first rise is very active, so your English muffins may proof very quickly during the second rise. Check them partway through the rising time to see if you need to start cooking them sooner than expected.
If your muffins overproof after they're shaped, they may expand too much in the oven, or they may deflate if the yeast has already given its all. You won't have the same texture you wanted, but the muffins should still be tasty.
This English muffin recipe depends on gluten development for its shape. Gluten-free flour does not provide structure for bread. I recommend finding a specific gluten-free English muffin recipe if you cannot eat wheat or gluten; a batter-based recipe may be the best bet.
Breakfast Recipes
Here's some of my other favorite brunch and breakfast recipes:
More Bread Recipes
More of my favorite bread to make:
Interested in other recipes? I save and share recipes I like or want to try on my Pinterest page - follow me there! You can also check out my Facebook page for more recipes and helpful tips. I'm also happy to try to help troubleshoot my recipes there.
Have you tried this recipe? Or have a question about it? Rate it or leave a comment below! (PS: rating my recipes helps other people find them, too!)
📖 Recipe
English Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour (240 grams)
- ½ tablespoon sugar (8 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon table salt (5 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon yeast (5 grams)
- 1 tablespoon butter (14 grams) (preferably softened, especially if making dough by hand)
- ¾ cup milk (170 grams; plus a little extra if necessary)
- cornmeal, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if mixing by hand). Stir briefly with a dough hook to combine.
- Add the butter and the milk, and mix on low until a dough forms. The dough should be soft, not stiff. If the dough doesn't come together, add more milk, little by little. If the dough is wet and sticky, add a little more flour.
- Mix at medium speed for 8 minutes (or 10 minutes, if mixing by hand), until the dough is soft and tacky. (Tacky is like a Post-It note - it leaves behind little residue on your finger if you press it.) It will clear the sides of the bowl but will likely still stick to the bottom. The dough will pass a windowpane test at this point (see notes).
- If the dough sticks to your fingers and leaves dough behind, add in a little extra flour, knead it a little longer, and check the dough's consistency again.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm area for 60-90 minutes, until dough has doubled in size.
- Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 6 equal pieces (each about 75 grams in weight). Take the edges of each piece and pull them underneath themselves to form a tight ball. Continue pulling the dough underneath itself as long as it takes to get surface tension.
- Place balls of dough on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Spray the tops of the balls, sprinkle with more cornmeal, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for another 60 minutes, until they have doubled in size again.
- Heat a griddle to 350F, and preheat your oven to 350F as well. Slide a spatula underneath each piece of dough to slide it to the hot griddle. (If you don't have room for all the English muffins, keep the remaining dough covered.)
- Cook on the first side for 5-8 minutes, until well browned. Flip and cook for another 5-8 minutes, until you can't cook it longer without scorching it.
- Transfer cooked English muffins to a baking sheet. Immediately bake in the 350F oven for another 5-8 minutes to cook the middle. (If you couldn't griddle all your muffins at once, do not wait for your remaining muffins; this will mess up the cook time.)
- Repeat the cooking process with your remaining pieces of dough.
- Cool completely before splitting and toasting. To split an English muffin, use a fork to perforate the muffin around the middle, rather than sawing through it with a knife, which will squish the muffin.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature. English muffins will stay good for a few days.
Notes
[Originally posted February 2, 2011. Revised and updated in October 2018 and January 2019. Updated with better instructions and FAQ, new photos, in April 2025.]
Mark T says
This dough seems almost like Pizza dough. Just not as much kneading. A lot of recipes say not to use Quick yeast or Bread machine yeast. Any thoughts on this? Thank you in advance! I have wanted a recipe for English muffins for a long time. I definitely will be trying this one!
Leona Konkel says
I've never made a pizza dough that took milk instead of water, personally.
I've only bought regular yeast; however, I don't see why you couldn't use quick or bread machine yeast. Your rising times may be shorter, so I'd check the dough early to see how it's rising. If your dough has doubled in size more quickly than expected, go ahead and move to the next step instead of letting it proof longer.
I hope you enjoy the recipe. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Danielle says
My son loves English Muffins but we haven't been able to find any that he finds palatable since he was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Do you know how well this recipe would do if I used a gluten free all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Leona Konkel says
Honestly, I don't think that gluten-free flour would work in this recipe because it uses bread flour and has a long kneading time to develop gluten. Using a recipe that is specifically made for gluten-free flour would be a much safer bet.
I haven't made any of these recipes, but if I were to try a gluten-free English Muffin recipe, I would try:
https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/super-fluffy-gluten-free-english-muffins/ or
https://www.glutenfreepalate.com/gluten-free-english-muffins/ or
https://cupcakesandkalechips.com/gluten-free-english-muffins/
Minimalist Baker also has a gluten-free English Muffin recipe, but she makes her own gluten-free flour mix as she makes the bread.