English Muffins

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If the idea of making english muffins seemed labor intensive or time consuming – guess again.  This english muffin recipe is quick to whip up, not fussy about it’s rest period, and make a delectable english muffin packed with flavor!  Not to mention, this recipe makes 16 english muffins with basic ingredients for a fraction of what it would cost to buy them in the store.

As a mom of two, I was inspired to make english muffins after having a hangry toddler that I’d promised an english muffin with peanut butter and jelly, only to realize we’re out of english muffins.  Queue the meltdown.  After this experience, I was determined to never run out of english muffins again.  I had tried sourdough english muffins before I knew anything about baking regular yeast breads.  This attempt produced odd tasting english muffins, some burned, and generally thought we’d never eat homemade english muffins again.  Turns out, I’m a glutton for punishment, and I attempted these english muffins with very basic ingredients I had on hand.  To say I was surprised with the delectable, melt in your mouth taste would be a huge understatement.  I was delighted with the outcome – both the flavor and texture exceeded my expectations!

Ingredients

This recipe contains only the most basic ingredients.  Nothing fancy and certainly no fuss.

1 3/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
4 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour (I use King Arthur Unbleached)
2 teaspoons instant yeast
Cornmeal for sprinkling the pan

Equipment You’ll Need:

No fancy equipment required for this recipe.  Use tools you have or simply adapt to what you do have.  For this homemade english muffin recipe you’ll simply need:

Mixer – The dough can be mixed by hand so don’t feel like you need to borrow a friends fancy mixer just to get the job done.  However, If your looking for an excuse to get that fancy mixer then YES you DO need a fancy mixer for this recipe.  You’re welcome :)

-Bread Machine – Set to “dough setting”, add all ingredients except for cornmeal, and press start.

-Kitchen Aid – Using the paddle mixer, add all ingredients and mix for about 5 minutes until dough is mixed and sticky.  You may need to scrape the paddle a couple times to ensure it’s fully mixed.

Large Pan/Griddle – I used a large round cast iron pan (like spans 4 burners large) and still ended up cooking in two batches.  Alternatively, you could use an electric griddle, a griddle insert for your gas stove, or multiple smaller pans.

Bowl – This is for the dough to rest in (ceramic is better than metal simply because you want the dough to warm up)

Hamburger press – I tried a hamburger press as a quick way to shape the english muffins and ensure I made this big enough.  I was pleasantly surprised with this worked like a charm.  This press was a $5 grocery story item and you could use just about anything to help press the dough.  Use your hands to press and shape, the bottom of a ball jar, a rolling pin, etc.  Just don’t make the dough too thin.  I was targeting about 1/2″ – 3/4″ thick for mine.

Thermometer – Generally speaking, you’ll likely know when the english muffins are done but if you’re anything like me, you may like to validate your assumptions.  Checking for an internal temperature of about 200 F degrees will ensure you’re english muffins are done cooking.

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl (except the cornmeal).
2. Mix on low for about 5 minutes.  You may need to stop the mixer, scrape the paddle, and start again throughout the process to ensure the dough gets fully mixed.
3. Transfer the dough to a glass/ceramic bowl to rest for 2+/- hours.  Dough will rise slightly throughout this time.
   
   
4. Transfer to a clean surface and cut into 16 fairly equal pieces.
5. Using the hamburger press or simply your hands, press/stretch into 4″ round disks.
   
   
6. Place the disks into a cold pan that has been greased and lightly coated with cornmeal.
7. Let the english muffin dough rest in the pan (or on a separate pan while waiting to be cooked) for about 20 minutes.
8. Turn the burners on low/medium and cook the dough slowly for about 7-10 minutes. 
9. Flip when the dough puffs up slightly and begin to look dry.  Cook for another 5-7 minutes or until it starts to brown.
10. Remove from heat and let cool before storing in a airtight bag or container.

Serving Suggestions:

Homemade English Muffins are best enjoyed fresh off the pan with some butter.  You’ll be able to fully appreciate the incredible flavor of all your hard work.

English Muffins are incredibly versatile becoming the basis for many other meals.  A few examples are Peanut butter toast, Breakfast Sandwiches, Egg Salad Sandwiches, and English Muffin Pizzas. 

Storage Tips:

These english muffins are pretty forgiving when it comes to storage.

Bag/Tupperware: Any airtight container will work well for storage.

Freeze:  You can freeze the dough balls in a bag or simply freeze the cooked english muffins.  I wouldn’t suggest keeping these frozen more then 2-4 weeks, but with an easy recipe like this one, you shouldn’t even need to keep them frozen for very long.

FAQs:

Can the recipe be doubled?
Absolutely!  Double, triple, or whatever you desire!

Can I use other flours?
You could use bread flour instead of all purpose but I can’t recommend other types without experimentation.  If you opt to experiment, let me know what you try!

Do I need to use a large pan or griddle?
Not at all! Use a couple smaller pans or simply just one and work in batches.  The only downside to doing this is that it will take much longer to get through the cooking process.

Conclusion

Having a quick and easy English Muffin recipe is a staple for any household.  I love the ease of being able to mix up a batch of english muffins for breakfast on a weekend, eliminating the need to make a quick run to the store.  If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how you liked it and what other ways you used your homemade English Muffins.

Happy Homesteading!