Best Homemade English Muffins Recipe
The best recipe ever for homemade English muffins. So much better than store bought--you may never bother buying them again.
Ingredients
- ½ cup lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft 28 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour plus 3 tablespoons more for kneading
- Semolina flour or cornmeal for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine lukewarm water and sugar. Stir well to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle in active dry yeast and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes or until foamy.
- Stir down the foam and add milk, butter, salt and all purpose flour. Stir to incorporate all the ingredients, allowing the butter to become thoroughly mixed through. The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
- Sprinkle some flour onto a kneading surface and turn the dough out. Begin kneading the dough, sprinkling on a little more flour to prevent sticking. The dough will be quite wet and soft, but do not add more than 2-3 tablespoons of flour. Use a bench scraper to assist in kneading if necessary, scraping the dough and slapping it onto the surface. The more you knead it, the less sticky it will become.
- Knead dough for a total of 6-8 minutes or until it is no longer so sticky but very smooth. It should still be very soft. Oil a clean bowl and place the dough inside, tossing around to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
- Once risen, punch down dough and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a tight ball, pinching the seam at the bottom. Flatten out slightly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle on some semolina or cornmeal. Place each flattened dough ball onto the baking sheet, allowing room for expansion. Sprinkle a little more semolina or cornmeal onto each ball and cover with a damp towel to rise another 45 minutes. They should be a little more puffy but not doubled.
- Preheat a skillet or large pan on low heat. You may need to cook the English muffins in batches depending on the size of the skillet. Cook however many muffins you can without over crowding for 7-10 minutes on each side. Check the bottoms to be sure the muffins are not burning; you want them to cook thoroughly on the insides. Increase heat if necessary if they are taking too long to become golden brown. Flip and cook another 7-10 minutes. Repeat with second batch, if necessary.
- Transfer English muffins onto a wire rack to cool before slicing and enjoying. You can also serve them warm.
Notes
You can also make the dough in a stand mixer with the dough hook if you do not want to knead by hand.
For whole wheat English muffins, substitute 1 cup of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour.