English Muffins
My Homemade English Muffins are thick, tender but chewy, and so much better than store-bought. Made with an easy-to-handle dough, these English muffins split easily with a fork. Hearty and satisfying, perfect for brunch or an afternoon snack!
Servings: 6
Calories: 189kcal
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
Having a soft dough is essential for making English muffins. Be sure to aim for a tacky dough, that clings to your fingers but doesn't leave behind residue.
Add a little extra flour if the dough is sticky; add extra milk if it's too stiff. A sticky dough is preferable over a stiff one; sticky dough will spread a little extra as it cooks, but stiff dough will remain tall and ball like, instead of flattening out as you cook them.
Windowpane test: take a small piece of dough and flatten it out with your fingers. It should stretch and not tear easily, and you should be able to get it thin enough to see light through it.
Cold kitchen? I often preheat my oven for 1-2 minutes, then shut it off and put my dough in it to rise.
Although I haven't tried it, I believe you could veganize these muffins by using non-dairy milk and coconut oil or vegetable shortening. Try to find a non-dairy milk with a similar fat content as regular milk.
Since this recipe depends on gluten development, you cannot make it with a gluten-free flour. If you have to eat gluten-free, I recommend finding a different recipe.
Adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice
Calorie count calculated in MyNetDiary and is an estimate only.
Recipe edited and revised 4/15/2025; it calls for less flour than the original, for more consistency.
Nutrition
Calories: 189kcal
