Homemade English Muffins -

A basket of English muffins made without an oven.

5 from 1 vote

Homemade English Muffins

These homemade English muffins are surprisingly easy to make: golden and crusty on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. Perfect for breakfast or brunch, these delicious muffins are so good with butter and jam!

Prep Time2 20

Cook Time15

Total Time2 35

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: English muffins

Calories: 193kcal

Author: Natasha Minocha

Ingredients

Starter

3/4 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup Water
1/2 tsp Dry active Yeast

Dough

1 cup Soy milk You can use any milk of choice.
1 tsp Dry active Yeast
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Olive oil You can use melted butter.
1 tsp Salt
3 cup All purpose flour You may need some extra while kneading.
3-4 tbsp Cornmeal For the baking tray
1-2 tbsp Oil/butter For the skillet

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Starter

Mix the water, flour and yeast in a small bowl, till smooth.
Cover the bowl and put in a warm corner for 1 -12 hours. The starter will get bubbly and double in volume. The longer you let the starter sit, the better the flavor of the English muffins.

Dough

In the bowl of your stand mixer or large bowl, combine the milk and yeast. Scrape in the starter and whisk well to combine it all.
Stir in sugar, olive oil, salt, and 3 cups of flour, till you get a rough scraggy dough.
With a dough hook on your stand mixer, knead the dough till it comes together. This took me about 10 minutes. Add extra flour if the dough is very sticky.
I needed to add 2 tablespoons more.
The dough is ready when it comes together in a smooth, soft ball. It will be tacky to touch but not too sticky.
You can knead this dough by hand as well, on a well floured surface. The dough is very sticky to begin with, but it does come together nicely while kneading.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. You can also use the dough the same day after letting it proof in a warm spot for 1.5 hours or until doubled in size.
This dough can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Turn the dough out on a well-floured surface and cut into 12 equal pieces. Roll into balls.
Place on a baking tray sprinkled with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops with some more cornmeal.
Place the tray in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, typically 1 - 1.5 hours. Mine were really puffy in 30 minutes.
Heat a skillet/ saute pan to medium heat. Brush with oil/ butter and gently place the rolls 3-4 at a time onto the pan. Cook till the bottom of the muffins are golden brown 6-7 minutes. Flip carefully and cook on the other side for another 6-7 minutes.
Please adjust the heat if your muffins are browning too much or too fast. You can also finish these muffins in a preheated oven at 180C.
Cut the muffin horizontally, eat warm and fresh, slathered with butter. These are EXCELLENT toasted and keep well in the refrigerator for 5-6 days. Enjoy!!

Video

Notes

You can use the starter for making the dough after an hour, as long as it's bubbly and has doubled in bulk. But the longer the starter sits, the better the flavor.

You can use the dough the same day, after it's doubled, in about 1 - 1.5 hours. But again, longer proofing ensures more flavor.

If you're not sure if the English muffins have cooked through, you can place them in a preheated oven at 350 F / 180 C for 8-10 minutes.

Adjust the heat if your muffins are browning too much or too fast.

Wipe the skillet after cooking every batch of muffins. Brush with more oil or butter.

They taste the best when toasted.

You can certainly knead the dough by hand but a stand mixer is recommended as the dough is quite sticky.

Nutrition