Easy homemade English Muffins – Recipe
Did you know, that there are originally no ‘English’ Muffins in England? They’ve something similar called ‘Crumpets’, which are usually made with baking soda and from a thick batter. An English immigrant created his American version of a British crumpet and called it English Muffin. That happened all in the late 1800s in New York and since then, fresh homemade English Muffins are a beloved breakfast treat for many Americans.
The small round yeast-leavened and griddle baked breads are the base for the famous Eggs Benedict. Enjoy them just smeared with butter or add jam, scrambled eggs or cottage cheese.
How you make healthy homemade English Muffins with a bread mix
Today there are many recipes out there for the American English Muffin. Tradtionally, there is no milk, egg or even baking poweder/soda in an authentic recipe. A true version is simple based on a bread dough made with yeast and/or sourdough.
Following instructions make you 12-16 gorgeous English Muffins. NOTE: Use a digital scale to measure the water in gramm (oz NOT fl.oz)!
Dough:
1/2 Bread Mix RHEINTALER (or WURZELBROT)
5 g / 1 TSP Cane Sugar
100 g / 3.5 oz Water
40 g / 3 TBS Butter, unsalted
255 g / 9 oz Water (reduce by 1-2 TBS for WURZELBROT!)
extra Flour for dusting (& optional coarse Corn Meal)
Instructions for making Homemade Engl. Muffins
STEP 1 – Mix the 1 TSP cane sugar into the flour-mix.
STEP 2 – In a small skillet on lowest heat warm up the 100g water with the butter, just until the butter is almost melted. TiP: Add the buttery water into the 260g water in case the pan was too hot.
STEP 3 – Add all (lukewarm) water into the flour-mix and combine until everything is equally incorporated. It will be very sticky. Scrap down the bowl sides, cover all and let rest 25 min.
STEP 4 – Now ‘stretch & fold’ the dough in the bowl from every side into the middle. Use wet or floured fingers whatever works best for you. The dough gets firmer. In case you can not knead it, just let it sit for another 15 min and do again a round of ‘strech & fold’.
OR you can use a stand mixer and knead for 5-6 min on low with a dough hook. It is a soft dough, finish it on the floured counter for ~1min before shaping.
Now dust your counter top lightly with flour, shape a round, put the dough back into the clean bowl, cover and let rise for 80-90 min at room temperature.
STEP 5 – Punch down the dough, bring it back on a lightly flour dusted workspace and knead it for 1-2 min to receive a smooth surface. Shape it round, cover, rest for 20 min.
STEP 6 – Now shape your homemade English Muffins. Use flour to roll out the dough (II, III).
I) The classic rolled way – divide the dough in 12-16 equal pieces, use a digital scale and shape the pieces in rounds: Bring the edges of one piece into the middle, turn it upside down so the smooth side is up. Now roll it into a ball with a hollow palm. Repeat with all pieces.
II) The classic cut outs – use a rolling pin and gently roll out the dough into ca. 12×12 inch. Use a cutter (or e.g. a glass, lid…) with a diameter of 3.5 – 4 inch. TiP: for leftover dough – only lay it back together and pinch the edges with your fingers. When you knead it again, let it sit for another 15 min before going ahead.
III) The easiest way – make squares! Roll out your dough into a rectangle of ca. 12×15 inch. Then cut 12 – 20 pieces, depending on the size you wish and how thick you’ve rolled out the dough. Use a pizza cutter, a big knife or dough scraper for an easy handling.
How to bake English Muffins the right way
STEP 7 – Sprinkle a baking sheet generously with flour or coarse cornmeal, or line it with a tea towel. Let the pieces rise for 15-20 min until puffy. Then preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C and have your iron griddle or heavy pan ready. TiP: we prefer to preheat the cast iron griddle with the oven and then move it on the stove top.
STEP 8 – Cook each English Muffin ~2-3 min per side until they’re nicely golden brown (no butter/oil is needed!). Make sure the griddle/pan gets not too hot. When cooked, set them back on the baking sheet and repeat until the sheet is full. Finish them for 13-15 min in the oven, depending on the size.
Let them completely cool on a wire rack before you enjoy them. TiP: For a quick breakfast treat – freeze them already pulled apart and toast them with the setting ‘frozen’ in your pull down toaster.
How to best open homemade English Muffins
Cut it with a knife? Hell no! Just rip it apart? Yeah, kind of, but only doing this with your fingers can result with pieces wildly ripped apart. The best way to open English Muffins more controlled is to use a fork. With the so called ‘fork splitting’ you poke around the perimeter and pull it gently open with your fingers. That way you will end up with nice nooks & crannies what make the characteristic of an English Muffins. Don’t forget the final step, toast it to your liking and enjoy with your favorite toppings!
You made some delicious English Muffins with one of our bread mixes? Show us! #breadistaworld
You can make our English Muffin version with the artisan bread mixes RHEINTHALER (contains flax seeds) or with WURZELBROT which make each 2 batches of these breakfast staples, a total of up to 32 per bag.
