How to Make Easy English Muffins

Today we’re making easy English muffins ~ this simple recipe yields tall, fluffy, toast-able English muffins, nooks, crannies, and all. You’ll cook them right on the stove top!

homemade English muffins are easy enough for beginning bread bakers

Whenever I make homemade English muffins I wonder why I don’t do it more often. It’s the holy grail of breads as far as I’m concerned and perfect for beginning bread bakers. The dough is easy to mix together, and they cook right on the stove. Then there’s a fun factor in watching them transform from blobs of dough into that unmistakable English muffin shape. From start to finish you can be toasting your very own English muffins in a matter of a couple of hours. Get the butter and jam ready, this happens fast!

what you’ll need for homemade English muffins

• bread flour ~ this recipe makes standard English muffins with white bread flour, but once you master this you can vary it with different flour blends.
• instant yeast ~ instant yeast works quickly and doesn’t have to be proofed before using.
• milk ~ tenderizes the dough and helps it rise.
• egg ~ lightens and tenderizes the dough.
• sugar ~ helps that yeast rise even faster.
• salt ~ essential for flavor.
• semolina (a coarse Italian wheat flour) or corn meal for dusting the muffins and surfaces, it gives English muffins that characteristic sandy surface.

how to make easy English muffins

I like this English Muffin recipe because everything gets dumped all at once in to the bowl of the stand mixer and the dough comes together in 5 minutes. You don’t even have to fiddle with proofing the yeast, or anything else, for that matter.

1. Put all the ingredients except for the semolina into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (not the dough hook.)
2. Blend, first on low to mix everything together, then turn up to medium for about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl a few times if necessary. The dough should be sticky but elastic.
3. Scrape the dough down into a rough ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours until risen and puffy.
4. Deflate the dough and divide into 16 pieces. Roll them round and then pat into small disks.
5. Let rest 20 minutes.
6. Cook the muffins on low heat in a griddle or skillet until browned on each side and done through.

I was positively giddy watching these bake. Initially they puff up, and when you flip them they settle into that English muffin shape. I’ve said it before, but there is something so satisfying about making your own version of something that you’ve bought for years and always just assumed came out of a package.

tips and FAQS

more breakfast breads and muffins

• Muesli Toasting Bread
• Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins
• Paleo Fruit and Nut Breakfast Bread
• Darina Allen’s Irish Soda Scones
• Maple Oat Nut Scones (Starbucks Copy Cat)
• Perfect Blueberry Muffins

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3.79 from 76 votes

How to Make Easy English Muffins

How to Make Easy English Muffins ~ this simple recipe yields tall, fluffy, flavorful homemade English muffins ~ this easy bread recipe cooks right on the stove top!

Course bread

Cuisine American

Total Time 2 hours

Yield 16 muffins

Calories 177kcal

Author Sue Moran

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• a stand mixer is helpful
• an instant read thermometer is also a help

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm milk about 110 degrees
• 3 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast (one packet)
• semolina or corn meal for sprinkling on the griddle or pan

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

• Put everything except the semolina into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (not the bread hook.) Alternatively, if you have a bread machine you can set it to the dough cycle.
• Mix the dough on medium speed for about 5 minutes, The dough should come away from the sides of the bowl and be smooth and quite elastic. I had to scrape the sides of my bowl a couple of times.
  
• Scrape the dough down into a rough ball and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for about 2 hours until risen and puffy.
  
• After the rise, gently deflate the dough. This dough will be soft and sticky. Turn it out onto a surface that has been dusted with the semolina, or corn meal, and form it into 16 pieces. (First cut the dough in half, then cut each half in half, and again and again until you have 16 (more or less) equal blobs.
  
• Form the pieces into rounds, and then lightly pat them into disks about 3 inches in diameter. Make sure they are dusted on both sides with the semolina. Cover loosely with plastic and let rest for about 20 minutes. They will puff gently.
  
• Sprinkle your griddle or skillet with a little semolina or corn meal. Cook the muffins on a low to medium low heat for about 15 minutes on each side, until they are golden browned and done. They will puff up initially, and when you flip them you'll see them take on the traditional English muffin shape.
  
• You can test for doneness with an instant read thermometer…the inside should register 200 degrees F when they are completely cooked through. If they are very brown before getting thoroughly done on the inside, transfer them to a 350F oven to finish cooking for 5-10 minutes. Note: your muffins should not be getting brown right away, if they do, your heat is too high.
  
• Be sure to use a fork to split the muffins before toasting to bring out that famous English muffin texture.
  

Cook’s notes

• If you have an electric griddle, set it to 300F.  Otherwise, use low to moderate heat on the stove.  A griddle pan, or heavy bottomed pan, like cast iron, works well to modulate the heat.  The muffins have to cook through, so you don’t want them to get too brown too quickly.
• Work in batches so you don’t crowd your pan.

This post was first published in 2013, and has been updated and re-photographed in 2022. Recipe is from King Arthur Flour

Nutrition

Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 254mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 126IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg

The nutritional information for recipes on this site is provided as a courtesy and although theviewfromgreatisland.com tries to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.