Homemade English Muffins
Homemade English Muffins are so much easier than you think! This English muffin recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time. Enjoy them with butter or your favorite jam!
Homemade English Muffin Recipe
Some of my favorite breakfast items, when I feel like eating breakfast, are homemade cinnamon maple bagels, lemon blueberry muffins, English Muffins, and apple cinnamon scones.
Until today, I had yet to make my own English muffins. This recipe turned out to be a winner and it’s actually quite simple.
Mix the ingredients in a stand mixer and you won’t have to do any kneading! Just mix and let rise, then shape and cook. Sounds too easy, right?!
Most of the English muffin recipes I’ve seen call for an overnight rise. I don’t have the patience for that.
Not to mention, every time I let the dough rise in the refrigerator, it fails.
I don’t know what I do wrong, but I can never get the dough to work that way. It just will not rise.
That is why this recipe is made from start to finish, all on the same day.
The dough does need two rises though. Once right after it’s prepared and once after it’s divided and shaped into English muffins.
Honestly, that’s the most difficult part of the recipe – waiting for the dough to rise. You can kill time by tidying up the house or catch up on a favorite tv show.
Traditional English muffins are made on the stovetop and you can certainly do that if you are able to cook them through without over-browning them.
My muffins turn out doughy in the middle and burnt on the outside when I try to cook them with just a griddle or stove top.
This recipe calls for a slight browning on the stovetop and then they get finished off in the oven. The English muffins turned out perfect this way.
They only need a few minutes to brown on each side before going into the oven. Then, they should only take about 10-15 minutes to fully cook through.
My husband often requests that I make these. They freeze well and toast up nicely straight from the freezer.
Whip up a batch today and your family will thank you.
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Homemade English Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 5 and 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
- cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk and honey over low heat until it reaches 105-115ºF. Remove from heat, stir in the yeast, and set aside for 5 mins. Whisk in the egg and melted butter.
- Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. with the mixer on low speed, gradually pour the milk mixture into the flour. Continue to beat on low until the flour is incorporated, stop and scrape down the sides and bottom as needed. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 4 minutes, until dough is smooth and sticky.
- Scrape the dough out into a lightly oiled bowl. Brush a little oil over the top of the dough. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, using as little flour as possible, gently knead the dough together. (The dough is very sticky. Add just enough flour to make it easy to handle.) Divide the dough in half. Divide each half into 8 equal sized pieces. You should have 16 dough balls. (If you want smaller muffins, divide each half into 11 pieces to equal 22 dough balls.) Roll each piece into a ball and flatten the ball into a disk.
- Place the disks on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper that has been dusted with cornmeal. Sprinkle more cornmeal over the tops. Cover with a lint-free towel and set in a draft-free place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Heat a griddle over medium-low heat. Gently lift each disk with a plastic spatula and place it on the griddle. (Handle the dough with care so you don't deflate it) Cook them for about 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned on both sides. Work in batches. Place the muffins back on the cookie sheet and bake them for 10 minutes.
- Split the English muffins with a fork and serve warm with your favorite jam or butter. Muffins are good for up 5 days stored in an airtight container. Muffins can also be wrapped in plastic wrap, sealed in a zip-top bag, and frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values here on my recipes should be used as a general guide only. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the values shown are just an estimate.
Nutritional values here on my recipes should be used as a general guide only. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the values shown are just an estimate.
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Kendall
This wasn’t easy! My dough was so sticky! I tried adding hardly any flour as the directions say and ended up with a huge mess of dough stick everywhere. I ended up adding at least a half a cup of flour after that before I could even work with the dough. They aren’t turning out like the recipe and video. Only difference is that is used a hand mixer with dough hooks. 🙁
Jen Sobjack
I’m sorry the muffins didn’t work out for you. But, the dough should be sticky, that’s the way English muffin dough is. It’s a high hydration dough. You also need to use the full 5 and 1/2 cups of flour. You’re just not adding extra flour after the dough has risen, per the instructions… I’ve never used a hand mixer with dough hooks but I imagine it’s very difficult to do. You’d be better off kneading the dough by hand without a mixer.
Liz Whittenton
Can you use 2% milk? I’m guessing probably not, but I just got back from the store and really didn’t want to have to go back. I will if it’s an issue!
Jen Sobjack
Hi Liz! I’m thinking it would be okay to use 2% milk but just keep in mind that may affect the taste of the muffins.
Mel
Just made my first batch using your recipe. I got 16 nice sized muffins, wouldn’t want them any larger. Appreciate the suggestion of using bread flour, think it made all the difference. Recipe directions were very easy to follow, the muffins look beautiful and taste amazing. Instant hit with the family, will never buy store bought again. Thank you!
Julie
I just made these. I think I need to flatten them more next time. They are really puffy. I can’t wait to try one when they are no longer hot. Also, they were difficult to roll into a ball or should I just fold into a ball like a loaf of bread??
Jen Sobjack
I’ve never had difficulty rolling the dough into balls but if it’s troublesome for you, you can fold them over and pinch the seam. That should work just a well.
LuAnn DeNoi
If I wanted to use this recipe and turn them into cinnamon raisin, what would you recommend as far as how much cinnamon?
Jen Sobjack
I haven’t made this recipe with cinnamon so I don’t know exactly how much cinnamon is needed. But I think you could start with a tablespoon and how you like it.
Stephanie
Hi- I’ve been making these muffins for about 6 months now- they are FABULOUS! I make the entire batch of dough and then let it go through first rise. Afterwards, I roughly devide the dough in half. I press one half into a rough rectangle (about an inch thick). I sprinkle cinnamon (a tbsp or so) and about a tsp of sugar. I sprinkle 1/3 cup of raisins across the dough and then roll it up and knead it for a few turns. Then, I repeat the process one more time. This marbles the cinnamon and raisins and gives them plenty of flavor. I’ve used less cinnamon and raisins before and they just didn’t seem to taste flavorful enough. This is a good jumping point that you can adjust as your tastes dictate.
After this, I divide the cinnamon/raisin dough into 8 pierces and shape like normal. The other half of the dough I divide into 8ths and shape like normal. You could mix in blueberries (very messy, but extremely tasty!) or something else… I’m a fan of the plain ones toasted with a cup of stew or vegitable beef soup.
Best part of dividing the dough up is I get 2 different types of muffins with one recipe!
Jen Sobjack
I love the idea of adding cinnamon and raisins! Thanks for sharing your experience.
BonJon
Want to make these. Question: you mentioned these are quite large. How large we talking? Can you estimate the diameter in inches? (Last time I read that, it turned out too small; the time before that, mammoth!)
Jen Sobjack
They bake up to be roughly 1.5x the size of the packaged English muffins you get from the store.
Ronnie Vetter
Baked and loved by another introvert. These English muffins are truly amazing and so easy to make. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Jen Sobjack
I’m so happy you loved the recipe as much as we do!
Tammy
Turned out perfect and delicious. Thank you for this recipe.
Gail
If I need to avoid honey how much sugar would I substitute?
Jen Sobjack
I haven’t made them without honey but I’m thinking 1-2 Tablespoons of sugar will work. The honey isn’t so much used for sweetness but for flavor.
Lisa M Hale
If you avoid honey because you’re vegan, or just because, use REAL maple syrup. That’s what I use…. but we’re French Canadians and we sell/produce it and we put that baby on everything! LOL
My only comment is that I would definitely reduce these to 12 or 16 because the ones I just made are humungous…. very happy about that, as my kids are away, but for kids, much smaller.
Jen Sobjack
I would have never thought to use maple in these. I might give that a try with the addition of cinnamon! And I’ve had complaints about the size before.
tessa
Just wanted to mention that you’ll need to make more – not less – of them for them to be smaller! In step 4, it’s described backwards. 😉
Beth
I just made these for the first time and they seems dense and didn’t rise properly. I’m not sure what happened 😕. Any advice?
Jen Sobjack
There are a number of variables that can cause yeast bread to not rise properly. First, check your yeast to make sure it’s still alive. You can do this by activating it in 1/4 cup of water with a tablespoon of sugar before adding it to the recipe. The temperature at which you let the dough rise can also affect the outcome. The environment needs to be warm and draft free. How long you let the dough rise also comes into account. The dough should be double in size at the end of each rise time. How you handle the dough can also affect it. Take your time and be gentle with it.
Bonnie Tyler
Made these a few times now and my family goes crazy for them. 100x better than store bought and so easy to make.
Patti
Hi! These look wonderful! Could you use all purpose flour and/or whole wheat flour?
Jen Sobjack
Bread flour is going to give you the best results. All-purpose flour and whole wheat flour will yield different textures.
Marcia
These turned out perfect! So delicious, too! I will definitely be making these again!
Jen Sobjack
Woo hoo! Enjoy!!