English Muffins

We don’t buy a lot of bread at our house but one item I keep on hand often is English muffins. And while I don’t mind store-bought this recipe for homemade English muffins is easy and SO worth the effort! I personally love them toasted with a little butter and jam or Nutella, but I also think they are the perfect bread for making breakfast sandwiches.

Samuel Bath Thomas, an Englishman who immigrated to New York in the late 1800s is credited as the creator of English muffins when he began making thinner pre-cut crumpets while he worked in a bakery.

Related: You could easily adapt these Buttermilk Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches to go with this English muffin recipe instead, or top with Chia Seed Jam or homemade Ricotta cheese.

Ingredients

• Bread flour
• Granulated white sugar
• Salt
• Shortening
• Active dry yeast
• Water
• Milk
• Cornmeal

If you don’t want to use shortening or can’t find it, use unsalted butter instead.

Directions

Combine the yeast with the warm water. I like to add just a pinch of sugar to the water before pouring in the yeast, just really get things going.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir in the shortening, this will be a little clumpy and that’s ok. Now pour in the yeast water and milk. Stir until a dough ball forms.

Now knead. If you are using a stand mixer and dough hook to knead the dough, this will take about 6 minutes until the dough becomes elastic like. If you knead by hand it will probably take 8-10 minutes (and a lot more muscles). Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 60-90 minutes).

Plop the dough out on a floured work surface. Yes, you must plop. Divide the dough into six equal parts.

Roll each muffin into a ball. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and a little bit of cornmeal (or flour). Cover, and allow to rise for an additional hour.

Heat a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe pan) over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil. You don’t want too much as our goal isn’t to fry the dough, but we don’t want it to stick to the pan either.

Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. You want each side to get very brown, but not burnt.

Once you’ve cooked each side pop the skillet in the oven at 400°F for 10-12 minutes until the english muffins are cooked through.

Serving Suggestions

Looking for more great breakfast recipes? Try these:

• Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs
• Coffee Smoothie
• Banana Smoothie
• Tater Tot Casserole
• The Best Fruit Salad
• Starbucks Egg White Bites

With just 8 basic baking ingredients this English muffin recipe is simple and worth the time it takes to make. These are delicious!

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5 from 1 vote

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Yield 6

Prep 2 hours hrs

Cook 20 minutes mins

Total 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 ¼ cups bread flour
• ▢ ½ tablespoon sugar
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon shortening (or butter at room temperature)
• ▢ 1 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ▢ ¼ cup warm water
• ▢ ¾ cup milk

Instructions

• Combine the yeast with the warm water. I like to add just a pinch of sugar to the water before pouring in the yeast, just really get things going.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Stir in the shortening, this will be a little clumpy and that's ok.
• Now pour in the yeast water and milk. Stir until a dough ball forms, then knead. If you are using a stand mixer and dough hook to knead the dough, this will take about 6 minutes until the dough becomes elastic like. If you knead by hand it will probably take 8-10 minutes (and a lot more muscles).
• Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 60-90 minutes).
• Plop the dough out on a floured work surface. Divide the dough into six equal parts.
• Roll each muffin into a ball. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and a little bit of cornmeal (or flour).
• Cover, and allow to rise for an additional hour.
• Heat a cast iron skillet (or other oven safe pan) over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil. You don't want too much as our goal isn't to fry the dough, but we don't want it to stick to the pan either.
• Cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. You want each side to get very brown, but not burnt.
• Once you’ve cooked each side pop the skillet in the oven at 400°F for 10-12 minutes until the english muffins are cooked through.

Notes

This recipe will make 6 large English muffins. If you prefer your English muffins are the smaller / less fluffy side you could divide the dough by 8 instead. 

If you do not have an oven safe pan, or you don’t have one large enough for all the muffins, you can remove the muffins after cooking on each side to the baking sheet (still lined with parchment paper and cornmeal) and bake on the baking sheet instead. 

If you have leftovers, just place the cooled muffins in a Ziplock bag and seal it up. These will easily last a few days on the counter, or up to a week in the refrigerator.

Recipe adapted from: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice – and awesome cookbook if you want to learn more about bread baking. 

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American, English

Keywords bread, English muffin

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

English Muffins

Amount per Serving

Calories

212

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

4

g

6

%

Saturated Fat

 

1

g

6

%

Trans Fat

 

0.3

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Cholesterol

 

4

mg

1

%

Sodium

 

304

mg

13

%

Potassium

 

99

mg

3

%

Carbohydrates

 

37

g

12

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Sugar

 

3

g

3

%

Protein

 

7

g

14

%

Vitamin A

 

50

IU

1

%

Vitamin C

 

0.002

mg

0

%

Calcium

 

45

mg

5

%

Iron

 

0.4

mg

2

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.