Homemade English Muffin Recipe (easy step by step)
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.
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 you can expect
I searched for a simple English muffin recipe 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!
The recipe I used is from Truffles and Trends. 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 under 2 hours in total – unlike many that take 6-24 hours or more. Added bonus – the muffins are vegan.
Becoming a pro at making these English muffins? Then try our easy naan recipe.
Ways to use your homemade 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 and hamburger buns.
Tailor To Your Taste
Here are a couple of variations and substitutions you can try.
Flour
- Substitute 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for extra nutrition. You can even use whole wheat flour up to half the amount of flour, but I don’t suggest going any higher as your muffins may have a coarser, denser texture.
Yeast
- 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.
Flavor
- A deeper more yeasty flavor is developed with longer dough rising time (including overnight in the fridge), but since English muffins are usually eaten with toppings, I don’t think it’s worth the extra time for this recipe. You can try adding 1-2 tablespoons of honey to the dough mixture if you like.
Tips for making English muffins
- 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 1 1/4 tsp.
- Keep unused yeast in the fridge or freezer in a sealed bag or container.
- Measure the flour by weighing it in grams. Or, by scooping flour 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 will toughen the muffins.
- 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.
Shortcuts
- You can shave some time off the dough rising 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.
Make Ahead
- Store the English muffins, once fully cooled, at room temperature for several days in a sealed bag or airtight container. Or freeze them for up to 3 months.
- Tip: Once cooled, split the muffins into halves with a fork before freezing them. Then pop the halves into the toaster as needed straight from the freezer (no need to defrost).
Three easy jam recipes for your English muffins
All of these recipes have no pectin.
Other delicious breakfast ideas to try
- apple French toast casserole
- baked French toast casserole (sinful!)
- Montreal bagel recipe
- sous vide poached eggs (with easy hollandaise sauce)
- lemon blueberry pancakes
- super moist banana bread (no mixer needed)
- ricotta pancake recipe with caramelized bananas
- pumpkin spice pancakes
- make ahead breakfast burritos with caramelized onions
- instant pot oatmeal recipe (with steel or rolled oats)
How to make English Muffins (step by step)
Homemade English Muffin Recipe (step by step)
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.
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 1/4 cups warm water it will feel warm on your wrist
- 1 tablespoon sugar (12.5 g)
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast (2.83 g) e.g. Rapid-rise yeast (Note 1)
- 2 tablespoon oil (canola, vegetable or neutral olive oil) melted butter is fine too
- 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour or bread flour (344 g) 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 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.
Notes
- If you don’t have instant yeast: you can use 1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast instead.
- 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.
- Make Ahead:
- Store the English muffins, once fully cooled, at room temperature for several days in a sealed bag or air-tight 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
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!
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 !
Yay!! Happy you all loved them! Thanks for leaving a comment.
Can you make the dough ahead of time and leave in the fridge and bake the next day?
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.
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.
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.
omg omg omg, cant wait to try these, I live in Spain and they don’t sell them here!! Thank you
A new business haha? Hope you enjoy them. Let us know how they turn out.
Made these today, family loved them. Made a double batch and giving half to my son-in-law for Father’s Day.
Clever gift! Glad you liked them 🙂
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!!
Funny! My suggestion is to double the recipe and freeze! Glad you liked them and thanks for leaving a comment Kelsey.
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!
So glad the family loved them! We appreciate the comment.
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 ❤️
We really appreciate your comments Gretchen. So glad the English muffins worked well!
Can you incorporate sour dough starter in these to make sourdough muffins?
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.
King Arthur flour website has a great sourdough discard recipe for english muffins!
Thanks for the tip!
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!
Wow – fast work Jess! Good for you. Glad you liked them 🙂
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.
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!
Next time weight the dough then divide into equal pieces. It will make them look amazing!
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.
I’m so excited I tried this recipe! They are so delicious and easy to make! Thank you
I think – hope – you’ll love them Beth!
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!
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.
Very good recipe, with great directions for novice bakers. Love the fresh muffins.
Thanks Judi. And thanks for leaving a comment! We always love to hear from our readers.
So much fun to make them,. They were delicious,
Delicious and fun – good!
Loved these and will make them again!
Love to hear that! Glad you enjoyed them Karyn.
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?
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.