One bite of these easy homemade English Muffins and you’ll be hooked! They look just like the classic ones you get from the store with all the nooks and crannies but the taste and texture are so much better. Watch the video tutorial and see how easy it is to enjoy these around your breakfast table.
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The Best English Muffins Recipe
Also known as “toasted crumpets,” English muffins were invented here in America by a British immigrant named Samuel Bath Thomas—whose name is still on the grocery store packages. That original recipe is still a secret—but that doesn’t bother us, because this is the best English muffin recipe made right at home. Thanks for the inspiration, Mr. Thomas, but we’ll take it from here.
Unlike dry and tough storebought muffins, these Homemade English Muffins don’t even need to be toasted because they have the perfect soft and fluffy center. And of course, all those air pockets are perfect for a slathering of Honey Butter, Peach Preserves, or Hollandaise Sauce, like in our Eggs Benedict.
English Muffins Recipe Video
Before you get started, watch the video tutorial to learn how to make the most delicious English breakfast muffins with all the nooks and crannies. It’s important to visualize the steps in the process, especially how wet the dough really is.
Things to know before you begin:
- Easy and forgiving – this English muffin recipe requires 2 rises and uses active dry yeast, but it’s beginner-friendly with easy, step-by-step instructions.
- Make Ahead – With the rise time, it takes a total time of about 3 hours and you can make the dough a day ahead and cook the muffins fresh in the morning.
- Tools Make It Easy – a stand mixer is highly recommended versus mixing by hand. Also grab a 3” biscuit cutter, instant-read thermometer, and heavy-bottom skillet.
- Unbelievable texture and taste – the dough is stickier than other bread recipes because the hydration creates those tell-tale crevices. The addition of whole wheat flour creates that classic English Muffin taste.
Ingredients for English Muffins
This bread recipe is beginner-friendly, so with just these simple ingredients you can make truly outstanding English muffins.
- Whole milk – the milk fat creates a softer texture, but you can use 2% if needed
- Butter – unsalted so you can control the salt content
- Honey – feeds the yeast and gives the English muffin a little sweetness and color
- Active dry yeast – room temperature and fresh to create airy dough pockets. Instant yeast would work (see tips below)
- Bread flour – the soft flour’s high protein content creates a great texture for the English muffin recipe. See our notes on using All-Purpose below.
- Whole wheat flour – gives great flavor to the dough, but you can substitute more bread flour instead
- Fine sea salt – don’t skip this ingredient, the salt helps to balance the sweetness and enhance flavors, and it also helps the fermentation of the yeast
- Semolina flour or finely ground cornmeal – for dusting the bottom of the dough to avoid sticking, but also to add that delightful crunchy crust
Substitutions
I suggest you follow the recipe exactly the first time before making alterations. After that, here are a few substitutions you can use:
- Instant Yeast – Active Dry Yeast gives better flavor, but instant yeast will work. You don’t need to activate it, so just add it to the dry ingredients in step two with the warm milk/butter.
- All-purpose flour – you can swap the flour, but bread flour has a higher protein content that develops more gluten resulting in a chewier texture. Also, whole wheat flour adds more flavor.
How to Make English Muffins
This homemade English muffin recipe is easy when you follow these step-by-step instructions, and the taste is worth every minute of the resting time. It’s so much better than storebought.
- Activate the yeast by warming the milk to 120 ̊F in the microwave or stove, then stir in the butter and honey. When it cools to 115 ̊F, stir in yeast and rest for 7-10 minutes until the mixture foams (this lets you know the yeast is activated and working).
- Mix dry ingredients (bread flour, wheat flour, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix in the yeast mixture on speed 2 for 8-10 minutes. The dough will be very wet.
- Rest the dough in a well-oiled mixing bowl covered with a kitchen towel until it has doubled in size. For me, it takes about 2 hours in a warm spot at about 100 ̊F.
Pro Tip:
Keep an eye on your dough in the first rise to be sure it only doubles in size. Overproofing or allowing the yeast to work too long in the first rise can exhaust your yeast and keep your dough from rising in the second resting time.
How to Cook English Muffins
- Prep a baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper. Then brush the parchment with oil, and dust the paper with cornmeal or semolina.
- Turn the risen dough out onto a floured countertop and spread the sticky dough out with your fingers until it is 1/2” thick.
- Cut uniform rounds with a floured 3” round cutter (a drinking glass or tuna can work, too) and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Dust muffins with cornmeal or semolina and cover with a dish towel to rest for 20 minutes or until lightly puffed. MAKE AHEAD: To cook the muffins the next morning, instead of a towel, cover the rounds with a sheet of oiled plastic wrap and then put them in the fridge overnight.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed or cast-iron skillet or a griddle over low heat, and cook in batches. Place each one into the dry pan and cover with a lid for about 6 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. When the surface is matte, puffed, and no longer sticky to the touch, flip the muffins with a spatula. Cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes.
- Cool to room temperature or barely warm before cutting or else they will be gummy. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 days.
Pro Tip:
Once you’ve cut the dough into rounds, collect the scraps and use them to make two more rounds. You can even put the dough into the cutter to shape.
How to Serve English Muffins
These English Muffins are so delicious you can eat them by themselves, but they are also so versatile. These are some of our favorite serving suggestions:
Did You Know?
There is a proper way to open an English Muffin to keep those nooks and crannies: Skip the knife and use instead the tines of a fork to poke into the center of the muffin all the way around, then pull it apart with your fingers to expose the amazing texture inside.
Common Questions
English Muffins we know today were created in New York in the late 1800s by a British expat as his version of a British crumpet. The yeast-leavened bread is cut into a biscuit shape and then cooked on a skillet. When split, the resulting bread has a signature texture of nooks and crannies. Despite the name, these muffins originated in America. In fact, British stores didn’t even begin selling American English Muffins until they were exported in the 90s.
The muffins should smell delicious, look browned on both sides and register 200 ̊F on an instant-read thermometer.
Traditionally, English muffins don’t include eggs, giving the muffins distinct nooks and crannies. Adding eggs would make the muffin more bread or cake-like.
Make-Ahead
This English muffin recipe stays soft and fresh for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, but you can store them longer:
- To Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a week, but be sure to toast them for the best texture.
- Freezing: Cool and freeze wrapped in foil in a freezer bag immediately for a freshly baked taste when thawed, or make our Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches
- To Reheat: Thaw the wrapped English muffin on the counter, then split and toast
Our easy homemade English Muffin Recipe tastes better than store-bought with a crisp crust and soft, delicious pockets for holding butter and jellies perfectly. You will love how easy and impressive it is to make this recipe!
More Yeast Bread Recipes
Once you try these English Muffins, you’ll be hooked on making yeast bread. Try these delicious homemade bread recipes:
English Muffins Recipe
These classic English muffins are crispy on the outside with the classic nooks and crannies you expect from the packaged muffin, but these taste so much better. You don’t even have to toast them when they’re fresh because they are so soft. The dough can also be refrigerated overnight to cook fresh English muffins for breakfast in the morning.
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Make the Dough
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Warm the milk in the microwave or a saucepan to 120 ̊F. Stir in butter and honey until melted and cooled to 110 ̊F. Stir yeast into the warm milk mixture until dissolved and set aside for 7-10 minutes to proof and form bubbles on top indicating your yeast is active.
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Add dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and stir together. Add warm yeast and milk mixture. Beat together on speed 2 with a paddle attachment for 8-10 minutes, scraping down the bowl a few times. It will be a very wet sticky dough.
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Generously oil a large mixing bowl. Transfer dough into the bowl. It should not be sticking to the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm spot (100 ̊F) until it doubles in size, about 2 hours (*see note 2).
Cut the English Muffins
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, brush with oil, and generously dust with semolina. Dust a clean work surface generously with flour and invert the risen dough over the flour and use your fingers to spread to 1/2” thick.
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Dip your 3” round cutter in flour between cuts to cut out your muffins. Push straight down then twist at the base. Remove them as you cut them out and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Dust the muffins with semolina, cover with a towel, and rest for 20 minutes to lightly puff. If making ahead, instead of the second proof/rising, cover with an oiled sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Cook the English Muffins
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Set English muffins onto a dry cast iron pan or griddle over low heat, cover with a lid, and slowly cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 6 minutes (rotate halfway for even browning and reduce heat if browning too fast). Flip when the surface looks matte and they have puffed. Sauté uncovered for another 4-5 minutes on the second side. The center of the muffin should reach 200 ̊F on a thermometer.
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Transfer to a rack to cool to cool then enjoy or store (*see note 3). To open, poke all around with the tines of a fork the pull the sides apart.
1. Flour Notes: You can substitute with all-purpose flour, but bread flour has a higher protein content which produces more gluten. Adding whole wheat flour adds more flavor to the dough, avoid too much whole wheat flour, or the muffins will become too firm. Make sure your flour is not expired which can give your muffins a slight bitterness.
2. Proofing Dough – your house is cool, you can let your dough rise in the oven with the oven light on. The light gives off just enough heat to help the dough along (keep it under 100˚F). Don’t Overproof – if you let your dough rise too much, you will exhaust your yeast and it won’t rise nicely in the final rise.
3. Storing – Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, refrigerate for up to a week, or cool and wrap in freezer-safe wrap and freeze.
147kcal Calories25g Carbs5g Protein3g Fat
Nutrition Facts
English Muffins Recipe
Amount per Serving
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
