Making english muffins at home from scratch is so easy you’ll wonder why it took you so long to make them!
English muffins are one of those foods items that are just so versatile. They taste great in the morning with peanut butter, butter or jam. Or they can be a little bit more substantial breakfast option as a breakfast sandwich. At lunch, it could be used as the crust for mini pizzas. Or a delicious sandwich, I like the heartiness an english muffins brings to a sandwich.
Don’t you just love all the nooks and crannies that cradle the topping of your choice? And the crispy edges once an English muffin is toasted?
Oh I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
However you like your english muffins the good news is you can always have them at your finger tips. They really are simple to make. Do you want to know the hardest part? Waiting for the dough to rise! Since the first time I made these muffins from scratch my family refuses to eat the store bought ones! Once you make them for yourself you’ll really notice the total lack of flavor the store-bought ones have.
In my recipe there is sugar and honey. These two ingredients really have distinctive taste differences. You can use one or the other, but I have found that using both adds that extra depth my family enjoys.
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast ( 1¼ ounce envelope)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1½ cups lukewarm milk
- 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) softened
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 4 cups flour
- olive oil - for bowl and hands
- cornmeal - for dusting pans
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment add milk to the bowl.
- Sprinkle yeast over milk and let sit for 10 to 12 minutes until the yeast becomes foamy.
- To the foamy yeast add sugar, honey, salt, and flour and beat on low speed.
- Gradually increase the speed to medium and continue until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl (about 8 minutes) the dough will be soft and sticky.
- Lightly coat a medium size bowl with olive oil and transfer the dough to it. Cover and set in a non-draft area.
- Let rise for 2 hours.
- Coat hands with olive oil and pinch a plum size piece of dough off, form a ball and place on a cornmeal dusted cookie sheet.
- Continue this until all the dough is gone.
- Cover and rise for 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat a cast iron skillet to medium/low heat. Add enough cornmeal to lightly cover the bottom of the skillet. Using a spatula add 4 muffins to the skillet.
- Cook for 5 to 6 minutes until golden brown.
- Flip the muffins and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Tap muffins for a hollow sound to make sure they are cooked inside.
- If the muffins brown before they are cooked all the way through just pop them in a 325 degree oven and cook for approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.