English Muffins

English Muffins are small yeast raised flat breads that are baked on both sides on a griddle. They are eaten by splitting them (pulling them apart with two forks is the best way, revealing the “nooks and crannies”), toasting them (or putting them under the grill with the torn sides up), and slathering them with butter / jam / whatever.

There are two basic methods for making English muffins. One is to make a dough, pat it out, and cut it in rounds like you would for biscuits. The other is to prepare a batter-like dough that's cooked on a griddle like a pancake. To keep the batter from spreading, you'll need English muffin rings, round metal cookie cutters, or biscuit cutters.

I have found, for more 'holey' muffins, the dough must almost be a batter and the dough should be let to rise to create the bubbles that make the holes. The dough should have an 83 – 87% hydration. The key is to not deflate the dough as it rises and is handled. Handle the dough very carefully so that the holes remain. Alton Brown’s recipe has you use a scoop when forming the muffins. The No-Knead recipe has you pat the dough down and cut with the rounds with a cookie cutter. The second recipe also has you "ferment" the dough to give it more flavor and more holes.

From looking at recipes, videos and reading about the history of muffins in general, it seems to me that these are keys to making good English Muffins with holes:

  1. English Muffin dough should be a muffin batter, not a dough that can be kneaded.
    Muffin batter (I'm not thinking of English muffins here) cannot really be kneaded; it is too sticky. Looking through the history of muffins, I noticed that the Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook has recipes for Raised Muffins (basically English Muffins) made with yeast and others made with baking powder. There is no mention of kneading, and the yeast muffins are made by "filling" buttered muffins rings after the dough has risen overnight. They are then baked in an oven or on a griddle. The baking powder muffins are listed immediately after Baking Powder Biscuits and are baked in gem pans. Rice and Oatmeal muffins are cooked in muffin rings or in gem pans.
    Websites often wonder how our modern muffins evolved from English muffins, but I think the key that they miss is that they are both made with a batter (although I can't confirm this, all the recipes below are made this way). The recipe could very well have changed from English muffins to muffins after baking powder became a new way to raise baked goods. They are muffins because they use the same form of dough - a batter instead of a dough that can be kneaded. https://history-in-the-making.com/ made the Berry Muffins recipe from the same Fannie Farmer cookbook. It was the earliest recipe she could find with berries in them. This is what she said, "The texture is definitely more like biscuits than like muffins – a little bit drier than muffins, which makes them great as a vehicle for jam or to have along with tea."
  2. Long ferment overnight to produce all the holes.
  3. Handle the batter-like dough very carefully so as to not deflate.
  4. Use a very low flame for baking them. The pan should be hot enough so the yeast gets a good boost so they raise more, but turn the burner down ater the muffins are place in the pan.
  5. Use a tip from Gemma at https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/ to cover the frying pan with a cover when you first put them in. Steam will build up helping to keep the outside of the dough softer so you get more of a rise, Remove the cover once they are flipped. Like using a spray of water or a covered cast iron Dutch oven to bake bread.
  6. Remove the rings after flipping them the first time so you get the bulging sides.
  7. After the initial flip, flip the muffins every few minutes so that they don't burn.

Also see History of English Muffins

English Muffins
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

We tried this recipe and thought they were good. They had the "English muffin holes," but thought the flavor was not quite a match to commercial muffins. I'd like to try another recipe and compare. Or let the dough ferment in the refrigerator overnight so it develops more flavor. The amount of yeast would have to be adjusted to a smaller amount. Using buttermilk or sour milk would also add to the flavor. SEE NOTES BELOW FOR A MODIFIED RECIPE

1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup hot water
1 envelope dry yeast
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (can substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for 1 cup white)
Non-stick vegetable spray
Cornmeal, for sprinkling on griddle (not in Alton's original recipe - reviewers suggested using it)
Special equipment: electric griddle, 3-inch metal rings, see Cook's Note*

In a bowl combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and hot water, stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Let cool.

In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the dry milk mixture. Add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat the griddle to 300 degrees F. Sprinkle with a little cornmeal.

Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings onto the griddle and coat lightly with vegetable spray.

Using #20 ice cream scoop (20 scoops per quart), place 2 scoops (not quite 1/2 cup) into each ring and cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and flip rings using tongs. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack, remove rings and cool. Split with fork and serve.

*Cook's Note: Small tuna cans with tops and bottoms removed work well for metal rings.

To eat, split and toast. Great with orange honey butter, or cream cheese and jam.

Yield: 8 to 10 muffins

NOTES

from https://delishably.com/, Vespa Wolf

She found this problem with Alton Brown's recipe: "the texture. More bready than chewy, the muffins resembled a breakfast roll rather than an English muffin. And the nooks and crannies were non-existent." Brian and I did get the nooks and crannies but the flavor was not there.

She then "tried recipes that call for a thicker dough, cut out like a biscuit. This method only makes breadier muffins. At a friend's suggestion, I added baking soda at the end of the final rise. Still, no nooks and crannies and the texture also fell short. . .

"Then I realized that the problem was not so much the ingredients as the method. I was sure over-proofing the yeast with an overnight rise would be the answer to my problem. I went back to Alton Brown's recipe, tweaked it slightly and left the batter-like dough to rise overnight in the fridge. In the morning, I scooped the dough into muffin rings and cooked them on the griddle. Voila! Authentic English muffins, with a chewy texture and enough nooks and crannies to please even the Queen of England."

(Also see Sourdough English Muffins)

This is her recipe:

Perfect Homemade English Muffins

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon flour

1/4 cup dry (powdered) milk
1 Tablespoon sugar (brown or white)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons unbleached flour [bread flour?]
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees Fahrenheit or 43-46 Celsius)
1 Tablespoon plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Proofed yeast (see step 1, below)
Extra butter, softened, for greasing rings
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Step 1: Proof the Yeast

Yeast is a living organism and must be activated to make the bread rise.

Heat 1/4 cup water to about 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, or 43 to 45 degrees Celsius. It should feel warm to the touch, not hot. Water that is too hot will kill the yeast, but if it's too cold, the yeast won't be activated.

Add 2 teaspoons active dry yeast and stir. Add 1/4 teaspoon each of sugar and flour.

Let the yeast rest for about five minutes. It should begin to foam and smell like baking bread.

From this point, you can proceed to the next step, below.

Step 2: Mix and Bake

Combine the dry ingredients (powdered milk, sugar, salt and flour) in a medium mixing bowl.

Add the wet ingredients (melted butter, water and yogurt) and proofed yeast to dry ingredients.

Use a hand or stand mixer, processor or bread maker to knead the dough. Consult the manufacturer's instructions. This takes approximately 5 minutes.

Pour dough into a medium mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave it overnight in the refrigerator.

By morning the dough should have "overproofed," which means it will have fully risen and begun to collapse. Remove mixing bowl from the refrigerator and set on countertop while preparing the muffin rings.

Grease and flour muffin rings. Grease griddle and dust with cornmeal.

Set rings on griddle and turn heat on low. [These must be cooked slowly. The nooks and crannies form as the muffins are cooked slowly!]

Grease a 1/4 cup measure. Scoop 1/4 cup of dough into each ring.

Place a baking sheet on top of the rings [she used a 2-burner griddle for cooking] and allow to cook on the first side for 6-10 minutes, depending on the temperature of your griddle.

Flip rings over and cook on the second side for about 6 minutes, being careful not to burn them. [I would remove the rings at this point to get the puffy sides.]

Transfer English muffins to a 350 Fahrenheit oven for 5 minutes to finish them.

Enjoy them warm or, better yet, let them cool before splitting and toasting. Serve English muffins full of nooks and crannies with plenty of real butter!

Yields 12 muffins

Mixing and Baking Tips

  • Plain yogurt gives the muffins a pleasant "sourdough" flavor.
  • You can use a hand mixer, bread maker, food processor or stand mixer to knead the dough.
  • Overproofing the dough, recommended here, makes it rise high then begin to collapse, which gives the English muffins their unique texture.
  • Authentic English muffins are cooked on a griddle. You can use either an electric or stovetop model. I finish mine in the oven so as not to over-brown them.

No-Knead Homemade English Muffins
from https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/

All the nooks and crannies you love made right at home with my Homemade English Muffins recipe! I’m so excited to introduce you the yet another no-knead bread recipe! Similar to making sourdough, this too is a fermented dough. You get an amazing crust, flavor, and bubbly texture, BUT you don’t need a starter! In this recipe what creates these pockets of air are the bubbles formed during fermentation. After the 18 hour fermentation period you can put your dough in the fridge for up to 3 days.

This is a sticky dough, but it should not be really wet.

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2oz /355g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups (5floz/142ml) milk
1/2 cups (4floz/115ml) water
1 tablespoon butter

In a medium bowl, add the flour, yeast, and salt. Mix briefly.

In a separate jug, add the milk, water, and butter. Pop it into the microwave for 15-30 seconds or until it's lukewarm and the butter has melted. Take care not to let it get too hot.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you form a dough. The dough will be quite soft and a little sticky. [She just mixed the dough in the bowl and pulled it to the center. No kneading.]

Once the dough has come together, just scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover tightly with cling wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Now let it sit at room temperature for a minimum of 12-18 hours. (If you want to cook off your muffins at a later time then pop the dough in the fridge after 18 hours.)

The next morning, the dough will have doubled in size. Turn it out onto a floured surface [do not deflat the bubbles out. Be careful handling the dough from here on in]. Cover with cling wrap and a kitchen towel and let rest for just 10 minutes.

After resting, the gluten will have relaxed. You can now roll it out [she didn’t roll it in the video, but just patted it down a bit - it is a very soft dough] to about 2 cm or slightly over an inch in thickness. (In the video I said roll to 1 cm however I found this to be very thin later.)

Using a 3-inch cookie cutter dusted in flour, cut out rounds and transfer them to another a baking tray lined with parchment. Any scraps can be re-rolled and made into another muffin. Note: At this point, you can place the muffins in the fridge to be cooked off later.

Cover the muffins with plastic wrap and a tea towel and let it rest for about 40-45 minutes. After 45 minutes, the dough circles will have puffed up a little. Proceed to cook!

Cooking the English Muffins:

Heat a large nonstick frying pan over a steady, medium to medium-low heat.

Using a flat spatula, carefully move over the English muffins onto to a non stick frying pan and cover with a lid. [She did not grease the pan. The lid is to help them raise more.] Leave at least a 2 inches between each muffin. It makes 8-10 muffins so you will probably need to cook them off in two batches. Take extra care when moving your muffins to avoid compressing the dough and knocking out the bubbles.

Cook on this side for about 6-7 minutes. The steam created with the lid on will help the muffins rise and cook through fully.

Flip over and cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes.
Set the muffins aside to cool down before eating them fresh. These muffins also toast up really well.

Store for 4 days at room temperature or freeze for up to 8 weeks.

Servings: 8 English Muffins

English Muffins
from Stella Parks’ BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

Stella begins her history of the English Muffins in this book with the Muffin Man, who would roam the streets selling muffins in the afternoon. In the morning the muffin man would mix his dough and set it to rise as he sold his muffins. When he came home, he would portion the dough into metal hoops or improvised molds pressed in trays of flour. After an overnight rise, the muffins were baked on a hot griddle.

She tried several early rcipes for English Muffins, but given the lack of ingredient amounts, she had to guess at the amount of flour to add and always ended up with "hamburgers buns." Then she found a recipe in a 1901 issue of Everday Housekeeping that described English Muffin dough as "almost too stiff to stir and altogether too soft to knead." She then realized this was her problem. She was adding enough flour so she could knead the dough; instead this was "America’s first no-knead bread!"

The recipe uses just a little yeast to allow for a long, slow rise.

Key Point: In summer, the dough will need to be kept cool - try proofing in the fridge.

3 2/3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cornmeal
2 tablespoons butter or bacon fat

Make the dough:

Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, salt and yeast, followed by milk and melted butter. Cover with plastic and let stand at cool room temperature (60 to 70 degrees) until spongy and roughly tripled in volume, 10 to 12 hours.

Shape & Second Rise:

Without stirring the spongy dough, dollop twelve 1/3-cup portions onto a cornmeal-covered baking sheet. Pinch with damp fingers to tidy their shape, then sprinkle with cornmeal, cover loosely with plastic, and refrigerate for another 10 to 24 hours.

Finish the muffins:

Set the tray of dough out at room temperature, and preheat an electric griddle to 350 degrees or heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Brush the hot griddle with butter. Transfer the puffy dough portions to the hot surface, gently stretching the dough to widen each muffin to 3 1/2 inches. Cook until the muffins are golden brown on the bottom, about 8 minutes. Dab the tops with melted bacon fat, flip with a spatula, and griddle as before.

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes to set the crumb, then split by hand to create those coveted nooks and crannies. Toast fresh muffins before serving.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature or up to a month in the fridge.

Yield: 12 3 1/2-inch muffins