Homemade English Muffin Recipe (easy step by step)

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5 from 77 votes

A toasted English muffin slathered in butter and jam is one of life’s little pleasures. You’ll be happy to know that perfect homemade English muffins are easy to make with good instructions and no special equipment in about 2 hours.

pile of english muffins on cutting board.

Here’s the thing. The first time you make these little beauties, you’ll be pouring over the recipe to follow the steps. The second time, you’ll be ‘hey, I’ve got this’. After that – pro.

There are really no big tricks. And no need to be intimidated by yeast. When you see and taste the results – even on your first try – you will be very pleased with yourself.

What to expect

I searched for and found a simple English muffin recipe from Truffles and Trends that:

  • requires short rise times for the dough
  • can be made by hand  – no electric mixers, special dough attachments or rings (to make them perfectly round)
  • uses simple basic ingredients
  • gets perfect results every time!

I made 3 batches (sadly, all gone now) to provide step-by-step pictures, clear instructions and tips from my experience – and many others – that would ensure success.

The easy English muffins are soft, light and fluffy and they toast up beautifully. If you prefer denser muffins, there is a trick in the recipe you can use. The recipe takes just over 2 hours in total – unlike many that take 6-24 hours or more. Added bonus – the muffins are vegan.

Once you’ve become a pro, try our easy naan recipe.

Ingredients – tailored to your taste

Instant yeast, cornmeal, flour, oil, sugar, water, salt.

Yeast: Buy instant dry yeast, also called quick rise yeast. Substitute: If you don’t have instant dry yeast, check out this great yeast article by Epicurious on how to substitute it with the type you have. For active dry yeast, use an extra 1/4 tsp in this recipe.

Flour: Use all-purpose flour. Substitute: You can replace up to 1/2 cup/62 grams (not more) of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for extra nutrition. Too much can create a coarser, denser texture.

  • Cinnamon Raisin: Add 1 tsp ground cinnamon and ½ cup raisins to your dough before the first rise.
  • Orange Cranberry: Mix in ½ cup dried cranberries and 1-2 teaspoons orange zest.
  • Spiced: Add 1 tsp apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice for a fall treat.
  • For a touch of sweetness: Add 1-2 tablespoons honey to yeast mixture (if adding 2 tbsp, reduce the sugar a bit).

Step by step instructions

yeast mixed with water and sugar in bowl.
Sprinkle sugar and yeast over warm water. Wait 10 minutes until if foams.
rough dough in bowl.
Mix in oil, salt flour. Knead for 5 minutes, adding more flour if dough is sticky.
ball of dough in bowl loosely covered in plastic on stove with oven door open.
Transfer to bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise for an hour (or less if in warm place)
dough in bowl doubled in size.
Dough should double in size.
balls of dough on cutting board.
Divide into 10 pieces and roll into balls in your hands. Flatten into 3/4″ thick disks
disks of dough covered in cornmeal rising on parchment lined pan.
Lay disks on parchment dusted with cornmeal. Add cornmeal on top. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
english muffin disks of dough in skillet.
Pan fry first batch on medium low heat in pan, covered, for 9 minutes on first side.
english muffins pan fried side up in skillet.
Flip and continue cooking for 5 minutes on 2nd side.
basket of English muffins.
Let cool 10 minutes.
two halves of an English muffin showing fluffy insides.
Split with a fork. Your perfect English muffins – done!
toasted english muffin with jam and butter beside 3 whole muffins and dish of jam

See recipe card notes below.

Recipe

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pile of english muffins on cutting board.
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4.95 from 77 votes

Easy Homemade English Muffin Recipe

A toasted English muffin slathered in butter and jam is one of life's little pleasures. You'll be happy to know that perfect homemade English muffins are easy to make with good instructions and no special equipment.
Prep Time1 hour 40 minutes
Cook Time14 minutes
If cooking in 2 batches, add:14 minutes
Total Time2 hours 15 minutes
Course: Breakfast, brunch
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 10 English Muffins

Equipment

  • Large frying pan, skillet, electric griddle or cast iron pan. (My 12" pan fits half the muffins at a time so I do 2 batches – or use two pans at the same time).

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cups warm water it will feel warm on your wrist
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (12.5 g)
  • 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast (2.83 g), Note 1 e.g. Rapid-rise yeast
  • 2 tablespoon oil (canola, vegetable or neutral olive oil) melted butter is fine too
  • 2 ¾ cups all purpose flour or bread flour plus up to 1/4 cup extra
  • 1 teaspoon salt (add extra pinch if using kosher salt)
  • cornmeal for dusting (about 2-3 tbsp)

Instructions

  • MAKE YEAST MIXTURE: In medium-large bowl, add warm water. Sprinkle sugar over surface. Then sprinkle yeast over surface. Set aside for 10 minutes. It will foam and cloud up.
  • MAKE DOUGH: Add oil, salt and flour to the same bowl with the yeast mixture. Mix with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until combined. Transfer to a floured surface (I use piece of parchment dusted with flour for easy clean up). Dough will be soft and sticky. Knead dough for 5 minutes, adding just enough flour, a bit at a time, until you no longer have sticky dough. I typically end up adding about 3-4 tbsp.
  • LET DOUGH RISE: Spray inside of a medium-large bowl with oil. Transfer dough into bowl. Cover loosely and let it rise for about 1 hour until it doubles in size. Tip: To speed up the rise, I turn my oven to warm, open the oven door a few inches and place the bowl at the edge of the stove top to get warmth from oven. Dough will double in 30-50 minutes.
  • FORM DOUGH INTO MUFFINS: Once risen, transfer dough to a floured surface. Knead a couple of times. Divide dough into 10 equal pieces. I 'strangle' the dough between my thumb and first finger to 'cut' it. Roll pieces lightly between your hands to make balls. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cornmeal onto sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place dough balls on top of cornmeal and flatten into discs with the ball of one hand to 3/4 inch thick. Lightly spray top of discs and sprinkle on cornmeal to top of discs. Loosely cover with a kitchen towel to let puff up for 20 minutes.
  • DRY FRY MUFFINS: Heat large frying pan, griddle or cast iron skillet to Medium-Low heat (4 out of 10 on my stove) and spray it with oil. Transfer as many muffins that will fit in pan leaving 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) between them. You may have to do two batches or use a second pan. Cover pan and cook muffins for 9 minutes until light golden brown and toasted. Note 2. Flip to second side, then cover and cook for another 5 minutes until golden and toasted.
    Check for doneness: If muffins are not browning enough, increase the heat to medium the last couple of minutes. If browning too quickly, lower heat or finish cooking in 350F/177C oven for 5-10 minutes. An instant thermometer slid into the side of a muffin will read 200F/93C.
    Repeat with remaining muffins if you are cooking them in two batches. Cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack before eating. Good luck waiting to taste them!

Video

Recipe Notes

  1. If you don’t have instant yeast: you can use 1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast instead. 
  2. For less puffy muffins: The muffins will puff up when cooked and deflate only slightly on cooling. If you like flatter denser muffins, you can press them down a little with a spatula while cooking. I also found that if you leave them uncovered while cooking, they will take about 5 extra minutes to cook. 
  3. Tips for Success
    • Yeast
      • Check to make sure your yeast has not expired.
      • If you don’t have instant/rapid rise yeast, use active dry yeast, but add 25% more. In this recipe you would add a total of 1 1/4 tsp.Keep unused yeast in the fridge or freezer in a sealed bag or container.
    • Measure flour by weighing it in grams. Or, by scooping flour into a measuring cup and leveling it off with the side of a knife.
    • Dough: The initial dough will be sticky. Add just enough flour, bit by bit, as you knead it until it’s no longer sticky. Adding too much flour or punching down the dough after it rises will toughen the muffins.
    • Flavor: Add 1-2  tablespoons of honey (and a bit less sugar and/or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or pumpkin spice to the wet yeast mixture if you like. If you like a deeper more yeasty flavor, let the dough rise for a longer time (including overnight in the fridge).
    • Cooking: The muffins can be dry fried in a pan covered or uncovered. They will cook quicker with a cover. Spray the tops of the dough discs with oil before sprinkling on cornmeal. The cornmeal will adhere better.
    • For best eating texture, don’t cut your English muffin in half with a knife. Instead, use a fork (or your fingers) around the edges. to separate the two halves. This will create lots of nooks and crannies to capture that butter melting into your toasted muffin.
  4. Make Ahead:
    • Store the English muffins, once fully cooled, at room temperature for several days in a sealed bag or an airtight container. Or freeze them for up to 3 months.
    • Tip: Once cooled, I split the muffins into halves with a fork before freezing them. Then I pop the frozen halves into the toaster as needed straight from the freezer (no need to defrost). 
 
Nutrition values are estimates for one plain English muffin. 

Nutrition

Calories: 166kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 235mg | Potassium: 55mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?We’d love you to rate it above under ‘rate this recipe’ or in the comment section below. Thanks!

Creative ways to use English Muffins

It’s hard to beat English muffins smothered in butter with or without jam. But there are lots of other great ways to use them. Four of my faves are pictured below – eggs benedict, French toast, grilled cheese (inside out) and mini pizzas.

I also use them for appetizers like avocado crostini with balsamic drizzle, egg McMuffins, a base for classic egg salad, croutons, breakfast pizzas, garlic bread, a base for foolproof scrambled eggs, and hamburger buns.

Three easy no-pectin jams to enjoy on your muffins

Shortcuts

  • You can shave some time off the dough rise by placing the dough in a warm place. Check out the tip in the recipe.
  • When freezing English muffins for later use, I separate them into halves first. When I need one, I grab two frozen halves and pop them into the toaster. No need to defrost first.
pile of english muffins on cutting board.
4.95 from 77 votes (41 ratings without comment)

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118 Comments

    1. Hi Alycia. I am not a bread expert, but from what I understand from my research, you can replace the all purpose flour with hard wheat milled flour but you may need to add a bit more water and knead the dough a little longer to develop the gluten. On a 1:1 replacement, the texture will be coarser and denser, so you may want to first test a blend, like half milled flour and half all purpose. Just a suggestion. Let us know if it works out if you decide to experiment. Good luck!

  1. I’m so excited to try your recipe for the English muffins! I have been researching recipes& I like that I already have all the ingredients and the instructions looked easy to follow. I will follow up soon on how they came out😃

    1. Hi Charlotte. Good question. I haven’t tried a baking option so I can’t vouch for the texture of the muffins. The few recipes I found on Google required making the muffins in rings or using a special technique. It doesn’t seem as simple and straightforward as pan frying them, but you can certainly give it a try. If you do, I would love to know how they worked out.

  2. 5 stars
    1st time making english muffins( I’m not a fan…usually) but my client loves them and was out. So, homemade it is. So stinking good!!! Think I’ll add a touch more salt next time..I like to eat just plain bread. I’m sure with salted butter these would be perfect++

  3. 5 stars
    I make this recipe at least twice a week for some years now.
    Don’t ask me why l haven’t commented before, l should have.
    For me it’s the best, I have tried other ones so l know.
    I give these round our village and people love them

  4. I make a batch of these at least twice a month for my family. They are so good. This year I am making some with whipped honey butter as Christmas gifts for family and friends.

    1. Yes, you can freeze the dough. Here’s how: Make the dough, let it rise, form into balls, flatten slightly into disks. Then lay the muffin disks on a sheet pan and place in the freezer for a couple of hours until frozen. Transfer them to a sealed bag. Whenever you are ready to use them, defrost as many as you need overnight in the fridge and cook them as per the recipe. I hope that helps.

  5. Help!! I used fresh rapid rise instant yeast. Added 1 1/4 c water and sugar per recipe. Did not foam at all. Pkg directions says to add it dry to the flour mixture and not to proof it first. If I do that, there is no water in the dough mix. Should I just add 1 1/2 cups of plain water to do? Seems like too much. What should I do?

  6. 5 stars
    Been making these muffins for some months your recipe says 20 muffins but it only makes 12 at 105 grams nevertheless less there great

    1. Glad you enjoyed them Chris! The recipe only makes 10 muffins (not 20). Perhaps you printed a older version that doubled the recipe? We used to have a feature to double or triple the recipe but we disabled it as it caused some confusion.

  7. 5 stars
    My first time making English muffins was with this recipe. I didn’t have high hopes, as other recipes call for milk, egg, honey and this recipe is so simple. I just wanted to see how they would come out being ‘fried’ and not baked like bread. Well, they may be simple but they’re so good! I don’t need to look further, because why? I make them 1-2 times a week. After many batches, I’ve gotten it to where it works best for me. I use about 3 c of flour and only 1 c of water. I use the jar bread machine yeast and don’t proof it at all. Water (30 seconds in microwave) olive oil, and sugar in stand mixer bowl, add flour, salt, yeast, and mix with dough hook, medium for 5 minutes. Works every time for me. I get 8 muffins because we like them hearty! An English muffin splitter was a worthwhile purchase.
    Thank you for the recipe!

      1. I made the “mistake” of making these English muffins for neighbors and friends. You can imagine what happened next. Everyone loves them and wants more! I can’t thank you enough for this recipe, but thank you!

  8. Do you think it would be possible to decrease the salt? I’m looking for a lower sodium option but I know salt is necessary to control the rise? Any thoughts or suggestions?

    1. Hi Jessica. You are right that, without salt, the dough will rise faster. This may cause a change in texture and of course be much blander. Could you try perhaps half the salt instead? Or test the recipe without salt altogether and maybe add some other flavor like a tablespoon of honey or a pinch of cinnamon (added to the warm water). We would love to know how they turn out. Good luck!

  9. 5 stars
    My dough was way to sticky, i had to add about 1 cup and a half more, should i be using less water ? ): was pretty difficult with the measurements given for it to not be sticky

    1. Sorry to hear your dough was so sticky. You shouldn’t have to add that much extra flour. I wonder if you put in too much water at the start. Or perhaps didn’t measure the flour in the best way – either weigh it in grams or use the scoop and level method (scoop the flour into a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife). Did the English muffins turn out ok or were they too dense from adding too much flour?

    2. I found my dough VERRY sticky as well. I had to add a good amount of flour. I read somewhere, and I’m not sure how true this is, but depending on your region, If it’s more humid where you live the stickier your dough could be. I am from Florida where it’s very humid!

      1. You are absolutely right that humidity and climate can affect the stickiness of the dough. I suggest adding a bit of flour at a time until it’s not so sticky. (But a little stickiness is ok as you rise the dough. Then add a little flour to your cutting board as you prepare the muffins). I hope that works for you. Thanks for leaving a comment.

    1. Hi Kris. You can use whole wheat flour but the muffins will be coarser, denser and less airy. If you have the option, I recommend using only 1/4 of the the flour as whole wheat flour (or maximum 1/2 the amount). I hope that helps.

    1. Hi Teresa, Yes, you can omit the sugar if you need to. It is used to help activate the yeast and add a bit of sweetness, but you should be fine without it as the recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon. If you have a chance, let us know how your English muffins turn out.

  10. are you cooking a total of 9 minutes with a flip at 5 minutes along? Or 9 minutes then flip for another 5?

    So far we loved this recipe last time I made them so this is our new steady bff for English muffins. And I’ve tried 4-5 other English muffin recipes! I forgot this time to divide the dough and shape and cut them, so they should still turn out but I was less smoothed when I followed all your directions the first go around lol.

    1. We are pleased to be at the head of the pack in the English muffin contest! 🙂 The timing is at total of 14 minutes – 9 minutes on the first side, 5 minutes on the second side. Enjoy!

    1. The cornmeal adds a touch of crunch and is traditional on English muffins, also keeping them from sticking to the pan, but you can skip it and dust the muffins lightly in flour instead. I know many don’t have cornmeal lying around in their cupboards. Let us know how they turn out!

  11. I tried this recipe and the dough was SO sticky I couldn’t work with it- I ended up having to add a tone of flour to it. The muffins looked great when done, but they were really dense and seemed almost undone inside? Not light and fluffy like you’d hope. What do you think went wrong??

    1. Hi Maddison, Sorry to hear you had trouble with the dough. I know that’s frustrating . If the muffins were dense, it most likely means you added too much flour. As you can see from other comments, most people’s muffins worked really well. The dough will be sticky, just let it rise even if it’s still a little sticky. You can add a little flour, but not too much. I hope that helps and you will try again. Please let us know if you do!

    1. I haven’t tried adding raisins and cinnamon, but I looked it up for you. Here’s what I found. Mix the dough ingredients including the cinnamon and knead it for 5 minutes as per the recipe. Then mix in the raisins, kneading for a minute more to distribute them evenly. Then let the dough rise. So you will be adding the raisins between step 2 and 3 in the recipe. I hope that makes sense. Please let us know how it turns out!

  12. 5 stars
    My 13 yo daughter and I had so much fun making these! They were outstanding.
    We cooked them in cast iron pans, over the coals in our 200 year old fire place. Embracing the history our home and banishing the winter blahs with delicious carbs. Thank you!

  13. 5 stars
    I make at least one batch of these a week I’m the only one that eats them. This is a very easy and a very good recipe, I recommend it

    1. It’s not essential if you don’t have any. The cornmeal adds a bit of crunch and prevents sticking, but you can dust them with flour instead. This will prevent sticking (with no crunch of course).

    1. Hi CP. I’m so glad the muffins worked well. If you’re using them in the next few days, you can store them in a ziploc bag or airtight container at room temperature. Then just toast as usual. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. A trick I use is to split the muffins into halves with a fork before freezing them. Then I pop the halves into the toaster as needed straight from the freezer (no need to defrost). All this is in the recipe notes. Enjoy!

  14. 5 stars
    Wow! They came out great! English muffins seemed like they’d be hard to make but they came out great. The first time I thought they’d be too small so made them a little bigger, but the second batch I made exactly 1/10 of recipe 2.4 oz. Perfect!thanks for the great recipe they are delicious! Wishing site let me post a picture

    1. Wish I could see a pic too, but happy they turned out so well. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment Michele. We always appreciate them 🙂

  15. 5 stars
    I made these several weeks ago and they were so easy to make and turned out perfectly. I’m on my third batch today as my husband and I are putting together a breakfast themed gift basket for family for Christmas this year. These are going to be delicious with our homemade apple butter and grape jam! Thank you so much!

    Did anyone try these with 1:1 GF flour? What brand was used and how did they turn out? Could the recipe be followed or were any adjustments made?

    1. What a lovely idea to make a gift basket with homemade English muffins and jam – so thoughtful. Thanks for sharing. I haven’t tried them with gluten free flour, but please let us know how if works if you try it. I’m sure some of our readers would appreciate the information.

  16. 5 stars
    The first 5 just came out of the pan and it’s so difficult to wait to try them! These were so easy to make (as everyone has indicated). I’m going to try making them with gluten free 1:1 flour. Has anyone tried this and if so how did they come out?

  17. 5 stars
    Oh my stars! What a fun food to make! Thank you for such wonderful instructions. I’m making the English Muffins for a second time. Everyone loved them !

    1. Hi Carmi. Yes you can. Keep the dough in the bowl in the fridge loosely covered and let it rise in the fridge. The next day (maximum two), let it warm up/relax and come to room temperature before cooking the muffins.

  18. Please add the yeast mixture for step 2. Some new cooks or new to bread making might not know what to do with the yeast mixture from step 1.

    1. Hi Jen, I am not sure if this is what you are asking, but I just added some clarification in step 2 of the recipe “Add oil, salt and flour to the same bowl with the yeast mixture“. I hope that helps.

  19. 5 stars
    Made these today, family loved them. Made a double batch and giving half to my son-in-law for Father’s Day.

  20. 5 stars
    I love this recipe, I made it a few weeks ago and I’m making it again today. I didn’t have cornmeal either time and it still came out perfectly. Only complaint my partner had is all of them were gone too fast!!

    1. Funny! My suggestion is to double the recipe and freeze! Glad you liked them and thanks for leaving a comment Kelsey.

  21. 5 stars
    I can’t rave about this recipe enough! Made me never want to buy another store bought English muffin again! I made turkey bacon egg McMuffins with them and my family devoured them!

  22. 5 stars
    THESE ARE BOMB. I didn’t have cornmeal so I just sprinkled some flour after spraying them with oil- also works!
    Fabulous and fluffy, fork tip excellent.
    I will never ever buy these again.
    I used AP flour, canola – will experiment with avocado oil too!
    I used more flour for sure.
    Outstanding ❤️

    1. Sorry Becky, I don’t know enough about sour dough starters to help you out. If you do try it though, please let us know if it works so I can add a note in the recipe.

  23. We wanted sausage English muffins for breakfast but didn’t want to go to town. Found this recipe. Ended up having them lunch but it was so good!

  24. Hi! Made them yeaterday and I wish somebody would tell me how to divde them evenly. Mine wer very differnt in size. And the next time I will not flatten them while backing . Found it easy to do . Will try again.

    1. Hi Marlene, I’m glad you will try again – you’ll be a pro next time I’m sure. It’s not critical that the muffins are all the same size. But if you prefer that, here’s an easy way to divide the dough into 10 more-or-less even pieces. First, divide the dough into two unequal parts – roughly 40% and 60% (instead of 50-50). Then take each half and divide that in half, then the two pieces in half again. Hope that helps. Good luck!

    2. I always weight my dough on a kitchen scale and measure based on the weight divided by the amount of product I want. My recipe was 726g and I made 10. So, between 72 & 73g each.

  25. Love this recipe – have made it several times! Today I used a combination of red fife, hard red, and rye flour from Brodflour. It’s freshly ground flour, and light as a feather. Next time, I might try them with cheddar cheese!

    Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Hi Fran, So glad you let us know about your successful (and healthier) flour combination. Great idea – thanks! And let us know if you try the English muffins with cheese.

      1. 4 stars
        My muffins looked perfect but no nooks and crannies. These were like bread inside. Of course they tasted good though. What did I do wrong?

        1. Hi Sadie, Well I’m glad the English muffins tasted good. A few things I know of may have affected the lack of nooks and crannies. First, over kneading the dough. You want minimal handling to create an open structure in your dough. Second, the muffins need to cool for a good 10 minutes to allow the crumb structure to set. (It’s hard not to rip one open right away though). Finally, the best way to cut an English muffin is with the fork method. This help keep a more ragged surface. I hope these strategies will help the next time you try the recipe. Let us know.