Homemade English Muffins

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Homemade English Muffins are so much easier than you think! This recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time. Enjoy them with butter or your favorite jam!

Homemade English muffins are so much easier than you think! This recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time.

(This post may contain “affiliate links.” For more information, see the disclosure policy.)

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 recipes I’ve seen for homemade English muffins call for an overnight rise. I don’t have the patience for that.

Homemade English muffins are so much easier than you think! This recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time.

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. I 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.

Homemade English muffins are so much easier than you think! This recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time.

This recipe calls for a slight browning on the stovetop and then they get finished off in the oven. The 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!

If you’re looking for more delicious yeast bread recipes, try these buttery jam biscuits or these pineapple sweet rolls.

Watch the Homemade English Muffins Recipe Video

Homemade English muffins are so much easier than you think! This recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time.
4.75 from 4 votes
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Homemade English Muffins

Homemade English muffins are so much easier than you think! This recipe is simple and will give you soft, chewy muffins in no time. Enjoy them with butter or your favorite jam!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Bread
Prep Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Yields 16 English Muffins
Calories 208 kcal
Author Jen Sobjack

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

  3. 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 pace to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

  4. 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. (If you want smaller muffins, divide each half into 12 pieces.) Roll each piece into a ball and flatten then 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.
  5. Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.

Recipe Notes

This recipe uses a stand mixer. If you don't have one, use a large bowl and a wooden spoon for mixing. Once the flour is well mixed in, turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead it until it comes together, about 8 minutes. The muffins are quite large. If you would like smaller muffins, divide the dough into 24 pieces instead of 16.

Adapted from Laura in the Kitchen

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88 Comments

    • Jen

      They are so much easier than I thought. The texture was spot on too. I think my husband has eaten 2 each day since I’ve made them and he refuses to give any away. This recipe is a keeper!

    • Jen

      The overnight rise is supposed to create deeper pockets of air but these turned out just as good. I was quite happy with the results.

  • Cyndi - My Kitchen Craze

    I’ve wanted to make english muffins forever and I can’t wait to try out your recipe. Love that it doesn’t look overly complicated either. I love a toasted english muffin for breakfast with pb and butter. Yum. Now I’m totally craving some. Pinned! 🙂

  • Helen

    I live in high altitude & my muffins didn’t rise very well. They came out doughy but still very soft. What do I need to adjust to make the fluffier muffin texture?

    • Jen

      I’m sorry to hear that your muffins didn’t rise well. Here are some tips that may help you next time. Keep in mind that I have no first hand experience in high altitude baking, so I can’t guarantee the results.

      Check the dough after it has risen for about 30 minutes to see if it has doubled. If the dough has over-risen, punch it down and allow it to rise again.

      Use about 1/3 less yeast. This recipe calls for one package of active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons), so you will need to use about 1-1/2 teaspoons.

      Add the flour slowly when mixing the dough and use only enough to make the dough easy to handle. If the dough is sticky, use greased hands rather than floured hands for kneading.

      Oil the dough and cover it with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out while waiting to be shaped.

      Check the doneness a few minutes before the minimum recommended cook time. Tent the muffins with foil if they are browning too quickly.

  • Claudia | The Brick Kitchen

    I am so impressed that you made your own English Muffins Jen! They look so fluffy and light as well, amazing! Love the idea of finishing them off in the oven to cook them a bit more reliably as well. Homemade breads are almost always so much better than the store-bought deal, so I can imagine that these would have a much greater depth of flavour (and the satisfaction of having made your own bread is the best!!).

  • Sylvia

    I live in Canada and I was wondering if using our all purpose flour would be alright or should I definitely use bread flour for this English muffin recipe? By the way, these look wonderful! Thanks

    • Jen

      Since bread flour is more of a dense flour, I’m worried the English muffins wouldn’t be the correct texture with all-purpose. You can give it a try, but you may have to adjust the amount of milk so that the dough isn’t too wet.

  • Cynthia

    Thanks for this recipe, they came out perfectly! I cut down the butter to three TBS, used almond milk instead of whole milk, and rather than break up the dough into pieces, I flattened it half at a time and used a biscuit cutter as I lack the ability to make things round otherwise. I also didn’t need to add more flour after the dough rose, probably since there was a TBS less liquid. I made them into 25 small muffins, and maybe it’s because my oven runs cool, but they were just done and still quite doughy in a the center at 10 minutes. Were I to have made 16, they probably would have needed 15 minutes in the oven.

  • Ann Merhall

    Hello, Jen! Usually I make a first-time recipe with exact ingredients per recipe but wouldn’t you know that I had neither milk nor bread flour? I used buttermilk and White Lily flour! What turned out, you ask? A delicious fine crumbed English muffin turned out! We love them and next time I will follow your recipe word for word after a trip to the markets. Thank you and who knew that I can do yeast epically?

    • Jen Sobjack

      Thank you for the feedback, Ann. I bet the buttermilk yielded a superbly tender muffin. See, yeast is nothing to be afraid of! I’m so glad you took the step to conquer it!! Have a wonderful Friday!

  • Judy

    This is also good baked in a loaf pan!! It can be sliced for toast or used for sandwiches and it freezes well AFTER baking!!

    • Jen Sobjack

      Hi Andrea! I’ve not tested the recipe with instant yeast so I can’t really say how well the muffins will turn out. If you decide to go ahead and use the instant yeast, be sure to mix the dry yeast directly into the flour and salt. Place yeast and salt on opposite sides of the flour (salt will kill yeast), and then mix it all together. The milk mixture should be heated to 120 degrees before adding it to the flour. Rise time will be drastically decreased as well. I can’t give you a specific time frame, as I’ve not used instant yeast before, but I would start checking after 10 minutes. Good luck! I’d love to hear how it turns out.

  • Laura

    These were so good! I didn’t have bread flour so used all-purpose and added 4 tablespoons of gluten powder and reduced the flour by 4 tablespoons I also used instant yeast. I’ll be making these again!!!

  • Cindy

    Jen: to bake the muffins do you use parchment paper as instructed when letting them rise? Thanks – I’ll be making this tonight for the office…..sounds yummy

  • Ann D

    I know it’s been a while since there were any questions and this might be a silly question but when you put the muffins in the griddle, do you need any oil or butter or is it a dry pan? These look great and like the idea of finishing them off in the oven!

  • Colleen

    Hello! I was just talking with some friends the other day about English Muffins and I made the comment “I’ve never even considered the fact that you could make them homemade!” I’m a big baker so I’m baffled as to why it took me til now to even consider it. So, I did a search and yours was the first one that popped up. I can’t wait to give them a try. One quick question… what kind of oil do you use to coat the bowl and brush over top of the dough when letting it rise? Thanks in advance!

  • Shoni

    Thank you for the recipe, these turned out great! I usually tweek recipes the first time (I know…how rude, but everyone has different taste right?) but this one I followed as described, except I had to cook them a bit longer…otherwise exactly as you posted! I am so excited to have a homemade english muffin!

  • Tish Walker

    This recipe is going to save me so much money! I used AP flour because that’s what I had and it still turns out amazing! I’ve made it once and did a 16 count batch and they were HUGE, so this time I’m dividing them into 24 muffins. Have you done much experimenting with the ingredients? This time, I’m trying buttermilk instead of milk and some amazing farmer’s market honey so I hope I can taste a yummy difference. 🙂

    • Jen

      I haven’t experimented much with this recipe. I really love it the way it is. But I’d really like to hear how they turn out with honey and buttermilk!

  • Greta Duve

    Hi Jen,
    I was wondering if the English muffins turn out soggy when you freeze them and then thaw them. Also what is the best thaw method. I would like to try to make a big batch and freeze the extras so i don’t have to make them every week. These look delicious and I can’t wait to try making them. This will be my first recipe using yeast so i’m hoping I do it correctly.

    • Jen

      They are not soggy at all, Greta. You can either thaw them individually in the microwave for 10-15 seconds or let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Slice them open and pop them in the toaster until heated through. Good luck with making yeast bread for the first time!

  • Dani

    The dough should be wetter and then kneded until the stickiness gets worked out. The slacker dough is how tou get the air-holed texture of an English Muffin. These look nice but any English Muffin ahould have a very open crumb texture to be an actual English Muffin. That has to come from having a looser dough. If you add enough dry ingredients so that the dough isn’t slack at all, tou can’t get an open crumb. But these look like they would taste nice and I bet they were good. I say if it’s bread and it rises, you really can’t go wrong, when you put lashings of butter and jam on it especially. 🙂

  • Laurie

    I am trying this recipe right now. The dough is amazingly soft! I think this recipe could be a life-changer! Thank you for sharing!

  • Smoore

    I had never make bread recipe and this might be the first one. May I ask is it okay to just put the dough in the oven without cooking it first on the griddle or stove top?

  • Maria Ortmann

    Just taking them out of the oven now. I appreciate your step-by-step instructions. I’m a noob baker, so pre-griddled & baked one first to adjust for my cranky old oven (15 min vs. 10). So much better than store bought! The only other modification was substituting 1 cup of bread flour with a blend of quinoa/chia/flax/hemp + vital wheat gluten blitzed in a magic bullet (my family doesn’t complain about being a “sneaky chef” if it’s not too obvious :-)). Using just a bowl & wooden spoon works fine. Can’t wait to try this in a loaf pan as mentioned in another comment. Many thanks!

  • Sandra

    So good. Great recipe, it’s worth the effort. I make about 24 muffins from this and freeze what I can wrestle away from my husband and 2 year old. She would exist on muffins and milk alone given the choice. It’s a lot nicer to give her homemade ones then store bought. So thank you for this.

  • Robert

    For some reason my dough wouldn’t rise when I followed the recipe exactly. It wortked when I first disolved the yeast in 110 – 115 degree water and let it bloom for 5 minutes before mixing the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. It was great once that problem was overcome.

    • Jen Sobjack

      That’s odd because, in the first step of the recipe, you bloom the yeast in milk and honey that has been heated to 105-115ºF. This is a perfectly acceptable way to bloom yeast. It makes no difference if you use milk or water.

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