I’m an English Muffin fanatic. They’re complete breakfast heaven to me, especially when turned into a breakfast egg sandwich. I vaguely remember baking my first batch eight or nine years ago and as far as I remember, they turned out pretty good. So, now that I have time and space to do some baking again, Homemade English Muffins were on the top of my list.
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Recipe Inspiration and Adjustments
After looking at a good 20+ recipes, I decided to work off of this one on allrecipes.com. After reading a bunch of reviews, I made a few changes.
It seems that there are two keys to getting an English Muffin with the classic “nooks and crannies” they are famous for. First, make sure the dough stays soft and loose. This means not adding too much flour during the kneading process and kneading for a shorter length of time (about 5 minutes). Second, letting the dough rise only once (as opposed to the usual two for most breads) allows giant gas bubbles, rather than small uniform bubbles, to form. The muffins turned out nice and light with a decent amount of nooks and crannies. There weren’t enormous pockets like the store bought muffins but I’m willing to trade some of that for a muffin that only costs seven cents (and is pretty fun to make).
Serving Suggestions
English muffins are great for more than just eating toasted with butter and jam…although they would taste amazing with homemade Pumpkin Butter! I also love to make mini-pizzas with them, or my make-ahead breakfast sandwiches. I also love to smear them with a little hummus and add a fried egg for a different sort of savory breakfast sandwich.
How to Store English Muffins
After baking your English Muffins, make sure to let them cool completely. Once they are cooled, you can either freeze or refrigerate them. When refrigerated they’ll keep for about a week. If frozen, they’ll keep for months. When freezing, make sure to use a heavy duty freezer bag to keep air out and prevent the muffins from drying out. They should thaw quickly at room temperature, or if pre-sliced, can go straight from the freezer to the toaster.
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Homemade English Muffins Recipe
Servings 12Ingredients
- 1 tsp active dry yeast ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp sugar, divided ($0.05)
- 1/2 cup warm water ($0.00)
- 1/2 cup milk ($0.15)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.27)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided ($0.36)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/4 cup cornmeal ($0.06)
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast and half of the sugar into 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl, and let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until it has developed a thick foam on top.
- While waiting for the yeast, combine the milk, butter, and the rest of the sugar in a measuring cup or microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then stir until the butter is dissolved. Add an additional 10 seconds if needed. You want the milk warm enough to melt the butter, but not scalding.
- Once the yeast is foamy, pour the milk and butter mixture into the bowl, along with 1 cup of the flour, and the salt. Stir until the mixture is mostly smooth. Add the second cup of flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, stirring to combine each time. Finally, begin to add the third cup of flour, 1/3 cup at a time, until you can no longer stir it with a spoon. At that point, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, dusting with small amounts of flour as you go. Once finished kneading, you should have used 2.5-3 cups flour total.
- Let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter or sharp edged drinking glass to cut several discs out of the rolled dough. Cut them as close to each other as possible to leave few scraps. When you can cut no more circles, ball the scrap dough up, flatten it once again, and cut a few more. Place the cut muffins on a baking sheet coated with a liberal layer of cornmeal.
- Let the muffins rise in a warm moist area for about 1.5 hours, or until they are slightly more than double the size. (I placed a casserole dish full of steaming water on the bottom rack of my oven and placed the baking sheet on the top rack to keep the muffins moist as they rose.)
- When the muffins are large and fluffy, it’s time to cook them in a skillet. Heat a cast-iron or non-stick skillet over medium low heat. Once the skillet is preheated, carefully use a spatula to lift 3-4 muffins from the baking sheet and slide them into the skillet, along with some cornmeal. Let the muffins cook 3-4 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the bottom. Carefully flip the muffins and cook for 3-4 minutes on the second side. The muffins will puff further as they cook in the skillet. Once the muffins are golden on both sides and sound hollow when tapped, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
- Once completely cool, split the muffins with a fork and toast in a toaster or the oven. Or, transfer the cooled muffins to an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to one week, or the freezer for up to three months.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Wire Cooling Racks
- Mixing Bowls
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Homemade English Muffins – Step By Step Photos
Begin by combining 1/2 cup warm water with 1 tsp yeast and 1/2 Tbsp sugar. Stir to dissolve, then let them sit until a thick layer of foam develops on top.
While waiting for the yeast to foam, combine 1/2 cup milk, 2 Tbsp butter, and the second 1/2 Tbsp sugar in a measuring cup or microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir until the butter melts. You can do an additional 10 seconds in the microwave, if needed, but try to get the milk just warm enough to melt the butter, not scalding.
Once the yeast is foamy, pour in the milk mixture, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir until the mixture is mostly smooth.
Stir in a second cup of flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, stirring until incorporated before adding more.
Finally, begin to add a third cup of flour, again a small amount at a time, until you can no longer stir it with a spoon. At that point, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, adding small amounts of flour as you go. Only add enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, as adding too much can cause the dough to get stiff.
After kneading, you should have used somewhere between 2.5 to 3 cups flour. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Roll the dough out to about 1/2-inch thickness, then use a cookie cutter or sharp-edged glass to cut as many circles into the dough as possible. Cut the circles close to each other to leave as little scrap dough as possible. Gather up the scraps, form them into a ball, press the dough out once more, then cut a few more circles.
Cover a baking sheet liberally with cornmeal (this is 1/4 cup of cornmeal spread out on a large baking sheet). Arrange the muffins on the cornmeal, pressing one side into the corn meal, then flipping them over and pressing again, making sure there is plenty of cornmeal under each one to prevent it from sticking as they rise.
For reference, here is a side view so you can see how thin they are. Let the muffins rise in a warm, moist area for about 1.5 hours or until they’re slightly larger than double their size. I put a casserole dish with steaming water on the bottom shelf of my oven and placed the baking sheet with the muffins on the top rack (oven turned off) to create a nice warm environment for them to rise.
The Muffins should be very large, fluffy, and delicate after rising. Make sure they’re not touching each other because pulling them apart could cause them to deflate.
Once risen, it’s time to cook them in a skillet. Heat a cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium-low. Once preheated, use a spatula to carefully lift a few of the muffins off the baking sheet and onto the skillet, along with some of the cornmeal. Cook on each side until golden brown (3-4 minutes per side). The cornmeal will keep the muffins from sticking (the cornmeal in the skillet in the photo above is after 3-4 batches, each batch adding more to the skillet). The muffins will puff even further in the hot skillet.
Transfer the cooked English Muffins to a wire rack to cool.
Once cool, either split with a fork and toast, or transfer to an air-tight container (like a gallon-sized freezer bag) to store in the refrigerator or freezer.
These Homemade English muffins are absolutely to-die-for with butter and jam! Light and fluffy, with very crispy edges and crunchy cornmeal bottoms!
Toasted with butter and peanut butter and a touch of kosher / sea salt….. & strong black cooffee of course.
Hi! I love your blog and none of your recipes have failed me yet. I do have a question though on this one. I used whole wheat flour and don’t feel like they got very fluffy. Have you tried whole wheat flour and did you need to do anything different to get the same result?
Anytime you substitute whole wheat flour for white flour, you’ll get a more dense product. The bran gets in the way of gluten formation, so it doesn’t rise quite as nicely (it also absorbs more moisture, making it heavier). For best results, I usually suggest only substituting up to 50% of the white flour for wheat.
OMG BETH!! I MADE BREAD!!!!!!
Ok – So, I have NEVER made anything bread-like in my life. But I have been a longtime follower of your blog (and I just got your book), and I started to convince myself that these things were easy and that I could totally do it. AND I DID! My first effort yielded only one burned muffin, which I’m calling a win. They didn’t rise as much as I wanted, but I am chalking that up to beginner’s folly. So, thank you for an easy recipe! It makes me want to keep trying different breads to make myself!
Awesome!!! Congratulations! :D I’m so glad you finally took the leap and tried it. Failures are a part of learning, so it’s important to not be afraid. :) Keep up the great work!
Hi Beth,
Thank you for the step by step making of English muffin. Just one question. After the muffins have risen, could we leave them that way for the next 4-5 hrs before we cook/bake them?
I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure, but the only risk you run is that if the yeast ferments *too* much, they can collapse. I’m not sure how long is too long, though.
I did this recipe and the taste is fantastic. The only problem I had is no airpockets in my muffins… Not sure what I am doing wrong, but if you have a minute to answer with an idea what should I do different, it will be HIGHLY appreciated.
Thank you!!! Keep baking! ♥
Hmm, try letting them rise a little longer on the second rise. Hopefully that will help. :)
Tastes incredible!!!! Best thing i have cooked in ages. the only thing was how long it took to make, it was all worth it though.
Could I use the dough feature on my bread machine? It has two rises then do the third out of the machine?
Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve never used a bread machine before. :(
So here’s my update I used my cuisinart bread machine and it came out great!! I did the third rise in my microwave after making it in to a proof box. Then I used my griddle to “bake” the muffins. My husband absolutely loved these!!! Looks like I’ll be making theses on a weekly basis!! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing the results :D
I just made these last night for the first time. They rose as they should and were big and fluffy when I cooked them. They taste great. The only problem is that they don’t have the nooks and crannies of an English muffin. When I flipped then, they did poof down a little. Did that have anything to do with it? Can you give me some advise for next time?
Hmm, maybe try kneading just a little bit longer. That will develop the gluten a little more, which will make them a little stronger and hopefully they’ll hold up to the turning in the skillet better.
Is there a way to make these ahead? It would be okay with me if it was frozen dough to cook when ready or cooked just trying to get breakfast going quicker.
Bread freezes really well after baking, so that’s what I would suggest. Make the whole batch on one day and after they’re completely cool, wrap in plastic and pop them in a freezer bag.
I’ve made these tons of times and then froze them – both plain and as breakfast sandwiches – and they hold up great.
love your recipes! I tried this one today. Overall I’m satisfied but my original ball of dough wasn’t nearly as smooth as yours and was very sticky. I used a mixer. Should I have kneaded it by hand and added small amounts of flower until it didn’t stick to me? I did this after the first rise and I don’t have the air bubbles we know and love. Thanks!
Yes, I like hand kneading the best because you have more control over the texture and can know when to stop adding flour. The amount of flour needed will change slightly almost every time you make bread because differing amounts of moisture in the air and flour, so you kind of have to play it by ear. :)
Can I use instant yeast?
Yes, instant yeast should work fine for this.
Can you freeze these after cooking ?
Yes, you definitely can. English muffins (and most bread products) freeze wonderfully. :)
Hi Beth,
I was wondering what I can substitute for the cornmeal. I don’t have any on hand. Thanks in advance!
You could actually just make them without. There isn’t really anything comparable, unfortunately. Maybe sprinkle with a little extra flour to help keep them from sticking. The cornmeal is a nice finishing touch and gives it that classic English muffin feel, but isn’t exactly crucial.
you can substitute it with Semolina , which is common to use on breads it gives it a golden crunch on breads
Have you tried storing these in the freezer or mass baking a whole bunch to keep around?
I haven’t, but in general bread products freeze very well. :)
I am trying this recipe for the first time right now! Based on previous comments they seem like they will be great and for many English muffins my husband and son eat I needed to find a more inexpensive way to make then. This will save me loads of money! Seriously!