Homemade English Muffins. Soft and fluffy on the inside and loaded with tons of nooks and crannies. These easy english muffins are so much better (and healthier) than store bought! They are also a lot easier to make than you would think! Step by step pictures and a video are included below!
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homemade english muffins
When I was pregnant I was in search of breakfast recipes that would be easy to prep and stash in the freezer. I came across a bunch of freezer breakfast sandwich recipes but they all required English muffins. I searched forever trying to find a package of English muffins that had minimal clean ingredients. Needless to say I was never able to find one that I felt good about eating so we went ahead and tested making our own Homemade English Muffins!
These easy homemade English muffins are loaded with nooks and crannies and taste so much better than store bought! They are perfectly crispy and golden brown on the outside with a perfect soft and fluffy texture on the inside. These truly are the BEST homemade English muffins!
They are perfect by themselves with a bit of butter or jam, used in eggs Benedict (my favorite) or made into a breakfast sandwich! These blow toast out of the water!
What makes these the BEST English Muffins
- No baking required! A lot of recipes call for pan frying AND baking them in the oven. I find that cooking them in the skillet over medium low cooks them all the way through and the outside gets a golden brown crust.
- No kneading! Simply mix and let rest for 30 minutes that’s it! Resting the dough creates more bubbles during the fermentation process and results in those famous nocks and crannies.
- No mixing or dough hook: Simply mix the dough with a spatula that’s it! The dough is soft due to amble hydration from the milk, butter and water. This keeps the dough soft and tender.
- No starter! You can make english muffins with a starter however I prefer to simply use yeast as my leavener in this recipe.
- Ready in less than one hour! Lots of other recipes call for resting the dough twice. These only need to rise once!
- No bread flour needed! All purpose flour works perfectly in this recipe.
what you’ll need:
- Flour: I use all purpose flour in this recipe. I sometimes will substitute 1/2 or all of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour to make whole wheat english muffins. They turn out great!
- Milk & Granulated sugar: Because this recipe uses active dry yeast the yeast needs milk and sugar to be activated. You can also use honey in place of the granulated sugar.
- Yeast: 1 package of active yeast is used as a leavener in these muffins.
- Cornmeal: Is sprinkled on the bottom of the skillet before adding in the batter. This gives the english muffins their standard cornmeal top and bottom and keeps the muffins from sticking to the pan. You could also use semolina flour if you don’t have cornmeal on hand.
- Unsalted Butter: Gives the english muffin richness and a buttery flavor!
How to make English muffins
- Dissolve sugar: Microwave milk until warm, 1-2 minutes. Next add 1 tablespoon sugar, butter and salt to the warmed milk and stir to combine to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.
- Bloom yeast: In separate bowl add warm water, 1/4 tsp sugar and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
- Combine batter: Add flour to a large bowl along with the milk mixture and yeast mixture. Mix just until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. The dough will be soft and sticky. The sticky dough means there is less flour which will keep these english muffins perfectly soft and tender.
- Scoop out batter: Dust the bottom of a cold cast iron skillet or heavy sauté pad liberally with corn meal. Spray the inside of the rings with nonstick cooking spray and place on top of the cornmeal. Using a 2 oz. scoop (size # 16) scoop batter into rings.
- Cook: Cover pan with lid. Turn stove to medium low heat. Cook about 7 minutes per side. Watch closely to ensure they don’t get too brown. Remove the rings before flipping the muffins. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack when thermometer reaches 200°F.
- Serve: Allow the muffins to cool on a baking sheet then serve immediately with butter, jam or in a breakfast sandwich! It is also delicious schmeared with my homemade veggie cream cheese!
How long do English Muffins last?
Store leftover english muffins at room temperature for up to 3 days. Anything longer I recommend freezing so they stay the freshest.
Can you freeze English muffins?
Yes! These English muffins freeze really well! We love to double the batch and freeze all of the muffins and pull them out for sandwiches as needed. They can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. I find for best results that wrapping each muffin in aluminum foil and then placing it in a ziplock bag helps to keep the muffins fresh and avoid any freezer burn.
Tips for making Homemade English muffins
- No muffin rings? You can also make your own (which we did) by folding up a sheet of aluminum foil into a long strip then forming it into a circle.
- Divide the english muffin batter evenly into 10 english muffins. I use a large cookie scoop to make sure the english muffins are uniform in size.
- Instead of slicing the English muffin in half with a knife use two forks to open the muffin for optimum nooks and crannies.
- Use a griddle: We used a cast iron pan however a griddle would also work really well. With a griddle you could do one full batch of these muffins instead of doing two batches in the cast iron skillet.
What To Serve With English Muffins
- My favorite way to eat english muffins is plain with butter, honey or jam.
- With a Spinach Quiche with a side of bacon or sausage
- Breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg, cheese or sausage. Perfect for meal prep. See my Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches for ideas!
- Eggs Benedict
- Scrambled Herb Eggs
- Make an english muffin pizza by adding tomato sauce, cheese and your favorite toppings!
more easy breakfast recipes to enjoy!
- French Toast Muffin Cups
- Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Bacon Egg Muffins
- Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
Homemade English Muffins
4.23 from 9 votes
Homemade English Muffins. Soft and fluffy on the inside and loaded with tons of nooks and crannies. These easy english muffins are so much better (and healthier) than store bought! They are also a lot easier to make than you would think!
Servings: 10 english muffins
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Resting time: 30 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 packet dry-active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1/4 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp corn meal, for dusting pan
Instructions
Microwave milk until warm, 1-2 minutes. Next add 1 tablespoon sugar, butter and salt to the milk and stir to combine to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.
In separate bowl add warm water, 1/4 tsp sugar and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
Add flour to a large bowl along with the milk mixture and yeast mixture. Mix just until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Dust the bottom of a cold cast iron skillet or heavy sauté pad liberally with corn meal. Spray the inside of the rings with nonstick cooking spray and place on top of the cornmeal. Using a 2 oz. scoop (size # 16) scoop batter into rings.
Cover pan with lid. Turn heat to medium low heat. Cook about 7 minutes per side. Watch closely to ensure they don't get too brown. Remove the rings before flipping the muffins. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack when thermometer reaches 200°F.
Allow the muffins to cool then serve immediately with butter, jam or in a breakfast sandwich!
Nutrition Information
Calories: 131kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 245mgPotassium: 72mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 75IUCalcium: 31mgIron: 1mg
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