Homemade English Muffins

overhead view of white plate with 4 toasted English muffins halves topped with melted butter

Full of nooks and crannies (for collecting butter...mmmm), this easy and quick homemade English muffin recipe is made with a batter, like pancakes on a griddle and finished in the oven.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 16 minutes

Total Time 56 minutes

Servings

Calories 172kcal

Author Marie

Ingredients

Mixture 1

½ cup non-fat powdered milk (see notes for substituting with milk)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter (or shortening)
1 cup hot water

Mixture 2

2 ¼ tsp instant dry yeast
⅛ teaspoon sugar
⅓ cup warm water

To Make the Dough

All mixture 1 and mixture 2
2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for flouring English muffin tins

To Cook the English Muffins

Non-stick vegetable spray
Cornmeal for dusting griddle or semolina or farina
3- inch metal rings not necessary but will make them easier to shape; can also use round cookie cutters or biscuit cutters that are about 3 inches in diameter

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, combine ingredients for mixture 1: the milk powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, shortening, and hot water and then set aside until cooled
In a small bowl, combine ingredients for mixture 2: add the yeast, ⅛ teaspoon sugar, and warm water and stir to combine
After about 5 minutes, combine mixture 1 and mixture 2, ensuring that the mixture 1 has cooled sufficiently (if it is still hot, the yeast in the second mixture could be killed off)
Beat the dough until well combined, cover bowl with clean towel, and set aside for 30 minutes
In the meantime, grease and flour your muffin rings (I used cooking spray and then dipped each ring into flour and shook the extra off)
Preheat griddle at low-medium heat (250 to 300 degrees) and preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Sprinkle cornmeal (or semolina or farina) on top of griddle (grease first if it isn't nonstick), then set the muffin rings on top if using
Fill each ring with about ¼ cup of batter, sprinkle tops with more cornmeal, and then cover the rings with a flat try or inverted baking pan
Cook on griddle at low-medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes per side and then transfer to a baking sheet, place in oven, and finish baking for 10 additional minutes
Alternatively, you can cook completely on stovetop/grill by cooking over medium heat [350 degrees] for 5 to 6 minutes per side and then flip to other side. (they are a bit more prone to burning without using the oven step, so take care to check carefully at 2 minute intervals).
Do not use a knife to cut these open - use a fork to carefully open each one to get those nooks and crannies

Notes

If using metal rings, do not overfill them or they will stick to the top tray you use to cover them when baking/cooking.
You may substitute milk for milk powder by eliminating all water from recipe and using warmed milk instead.
Split these muffins with a fork, not a knife, in order to get the most nooks and crannies.
The center of the muffin should register 200 degrees when finished (using an instant read thermometer).
You can use an electric griddle, stovetop griddle, frying pan, (anything with a wide flat surface) to cook these.
Make sure to sprinkle the griddle/pan generously with fine cornmeal (you can also use semolina or farina.)
If the cooking surface isn't non-stick, make sure to spray it with vegetable oil spray (before adding the cornmeal).
Check the bottoms after 2 minutes or so using a spatula to make sure your temperature isn't too high and you're not burning your English muffins.
Instead of finishing these in oven, the English muffins can be completely cooked on griddle or stove-top by cooking longer on each side (I find it easier to lightly brown them on each side and finish in the oven).
These freeze well – freeze leftovers in sealed plastic bag or container for up to one month.

Baker's percentage:

flour, 240 grams (100%)
water, 283.6 grams (128%)
milk powder, 34.5 grams (14%)
butter, 14 grams (5.8%)
sugar, 12.5 grams (5.2%)
yeast, 10 grams (4.2%)
salt, 6 grams (2.5%)
Total = 624 grams (259.7%)

78 grams of batter for each English muffin; to scale recipe, divide needed grams of dough by 624 grams (total batter weight in current recipe) to arrive at a "conversion factor", the conversion factor is multiplied by each ingredient for updated weights needed. You can also simply double the recipe.

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown.

Nutrition