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Why homemade English Muffins? Certainly, you can buy ready-made English muffins at the supermarket, but if you make them fresh at home, you will never go back. My son Liam certainly wouldn’t!
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Difference between English muffins and regular bread
English Muffins are bread rolls usually used for breakfast. They can be served with regular butter and jam or with a more substantial breakfast with bacon, eggs, and sausages like the American egg Benedict.
The main difference between English Muffins and regular bread rolls is the way they are cooked. The Bread rolls are baked in the oven while the English muffins are grilled on a skillet or griddle.
Compared to my homemade panini bread rolls, English muffins don’t have eggs. However they do have milk and butter, so they are not vegan.
This is why English muffins are lighter than regular rolls, and well combine with a rich breakfast with sausage, bacon, and sunny-side-up eggs.
Bread machine vs regular mixer
To make the dough for the English muffins, you can either use a regular mixer or the bread machine.
The difference is that with the bread machine you put all the ingredients in, the wet ingredients first then the dry ingredients, and the bread machine does all the rest.
The basket will warm up just enough for the yeast to activate and the dough will come out perfectly without any effort.
Once the dough is ready you can proceed into cooking them.
Instead, with the regular mixer, you have to activate the yeast first, then prepare the dough, then let it rest.
It is not difficult to do either way, but if you do the dough with a bread machine you can focus your attention on some other tasks, which is a great time saver especially if you have a hectic life.
I do prefer to use a bread machine, and you can read more in my article here: Bread machine. You can find more of my favorite kitchen items in my amazon shops: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
If you don’t have a bread machine, you can find detailed instructions to make the dough by hand or with an electric mixer in this article: Brioche & Bread Rolls’ dough without a bread machine
Other tools you need
The English muffins are grilled, therefore you need a griddle or a skillet with lid to cook them.
It is very important to have a lid as they need to be covered to properly cook inside.
The muffin dough is very soft, and to make a nice round muffin shape, the dough should be poured into a mold when cooking on the griddle- measuring approximately 4 in – 10 cm in diameter.
For that, I use the side ring of the Mini hinged cake molds, as an alternative, you can use metal cookie cutters. You will need 4 rings otherwise you have to cook them one by one.
I also recommend heavy-duty fire gloves BBQ as you will have to remove the molds to turn the muffins.
I also use a silicone brush to butter the skillet and the molds.
How to make English muffins
Prepare the dough
Making the dough with the bread machine
- Mix together all the wet ingredients: milk and melted butter
- Mix together all the dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar, and yeast
- Pour in the bread machine basket, first the wet ingredients and then the dry
- Turn the program to “dough” (no cooking) and let it run, normally the dough will be ready in 1.5 hours
If you don’t have a bread machine, you can find detailed instructions to make the dough by hand or with an electric mixer in this article: Brioche & Bread Rolls’ dough without a bread machine
Getting ready to cook them
Prepare all the tools you need while the griddle is heating on the fire, you will need:
- 4 ring mold diameter 4 in – 10 cm
- A brush for butter
- 20 gr of butter slightly warm
- The spatula to flip the muffins
- Fire kitchen gloves for high temperature
Once the griddle is hot, you are ready to proceed.
Warning: the griddle should be at medium heat. Too hot will burn the base of the muffins, too low will not cook the inside.
Cooking the muffins
- Butter the griddle
- Butter well the inside of the rings with the brush
- Place the rings on the hot griddle
- With a large spoon pour the dough inside the rings
- Cover the top and let it cook for at least 10 minutes.
- You don’t need to smooth the top of the dough as the muffins will fill the mold as they rise while cooking.
- After 10 minutes, check the base to see if it is brown and the muffins hold their shape. If they do open the molds and remove them
- Turn the muffins on the other side
- Lower the heat in the griddle, and cook the muffins covered for a further 7 to 10 minutes. You need to ensure that the griddle is not too hot; otherwise, it will burn the outside of the muffins.
- Once the cover of the grill is down ensure sufficient heat builds up inside so that the muffins will bake properly.
How to make sure the muffins are cooked
- It is important that the griddle is not too hot to burn the muffins and not too low otherwise the muffins will not cook properly inside.
- To be sure the muffins are cooked inside, insert a pin inside the muffins; if they are done it should come out clean. If there are residuals of fresh dough attached to the pin they need to cook longer.
- If you need to cook the muffins longer but the outside is getting burned, put them in the oven at 355 F – 180 C.
- Once you make them a couple of times, you will find out the best setting for your stove
- When they are done, let the muffins rest for a few minutes as they will be easier to cut.
Making muffins on the outdoor bbq
During the summer I make the muffins on my outdoor Weber barbecue. I bought a griddle just for that.
There are 2 main advantage of making the muffins on the outdoor barbecue:
- As I usually serve an Irish breakfast with my muffins, I can cook the sausage and the vegetables on the same griddle and keep them warm
- When you close the cover of the barbecue, I can create a griddle/oven combination to grill and bake the muffins at the same time. As there is a thermometer on the Weber cover, I can check the temperature and make sure my muffins are not burning
How to eat English muffins
In the USA they are served as a base of Egg Benedict: bacon, sunny-side-up egg and a Bearnaise sauce.
Our favorite way to have English muffins is with an Irish Breakfast, which since in France you cannot find the main ingredients, it is not so Irish after all.
When we go to Ireland we stock up on Irish puddings and we do a proper one.
To find out more about my links to Ireland, you can read the about me page.
Otherwise, you can simply serve them with butter and jam, and that is what my friend Beth did.
As part of a Recipe exchange from our Facebook Group International Food Bloggers Cooperation, my friend Beth from Binky’s Culinary Carnival had to choose a recipe from my blog and make it herself.
I was not surprised when she decided to try this Homemade English Muffin, she also has two boys age 18 and 26.
They loved them so much and she has already made them 3 times, and I think she is still going for more.
Check out her blog and her amazing pictures. She has wonderful homemade jams to serve them with.
If you are making these homemade English Muffins, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.
📋 Homemade English Muffins
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tbsp melted butter
- 2 cup flour
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pkg yeast (2 tsp)
Grilling
- 2 tbsp butter
Equipment
Instructions
Making the dough with a bread machine
- Mix all the wet ingredients: butter and milk
- Mix all the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, and yeast
- Pour the ingredients into the machine and set the program for dough, no cooking.
Making the dough by hand or with an electric mixer
- If you don't have a bread machine, you can find detailed instructions to make the dough by hand or with an electric mixer in this article: Brioche & Bread Rolls' dough without a bread machine
Getting ready for the griddle
- Once the dough is ready prepare the griddles.
- Prepare all the tools you need while the griddle is heating on the fire
- You need a 4 in – 10 cm ring, a brush for the butter, 20 gr of butter slightly warm, the spatula to flip the muffin, Kitchen gloves for high temperature.
- Once the griddle is hot, you are ready to proceed.
- Warning: the griddle shouldn't be too hot nor too low. Read more the notes below
Cooking the muffins
- Butter the griddle
- Butter well the inside of the rings with the brush
- Place the rings on the hot griddle
- With a large spoon pour the dough inside the 4 rings equally
- You don’t need to smooth the top of the dough as the muffins will fill the mold as they rise while cooking.
- Cover the top and let it cook for at least 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, check the base to see if it is brown and the muffins hold their shape. If they do open the moulds and remove them
- Turn the muffins on the other side
- Lower the heat in the griddle, and cook the muffins covered for a further 7 to 10 minutes. You need to ensure that the griddle is not too hot; otherwise it will burn the outside of the muffins.
Making sure the muffins are cooked
- Once you cover the griddle, ensure sufficient heat builds up inside the pan, so that the muffins will bake properly.
- To check if the muffins are cooked, insert a pin inside the muffins; if they are done it should come out clean. If there are residuals of fresh dough attached to the pin they need to cook longer.
- If you need to cook the muffins longer but the outside is getting burned, put them in the oven at 355 F – 180 C.
- When they are done, let the muffins rest for a few minutes as they will be easier to cut.
For a complete brunch
- In the meantime cook the bacon, the mushroom and the tomatoes on the griddle.
- To cook the eggs, use the same rings used for the muffins, this way they will be the same size and will fit perfectly. Watch out not to break the yoke of the eggs when pouring them inside the rings!
- Serve with a glass of orange juice, or if you want to make it more festive for the adults, add some Champagne to make a Mimosa! –
Video
Notes
- A VERY IMPORTANT POINT TO REMEMBER: when using the bread machine the ingredients should be placed in the exact order as listed above, liquids first.
- It is important that the griddle is not too hot to burn the muffins and not too low otherwise the muffins will not cook properly inside.
- To be sure the muffins are cooked inside, insert a pin inside the muffins; if they are done it should come out clean. If there is still fresh dough attached they need to cook longer.
- If you need to cook the muffins longer but the outside is getting burned, put them in the oven at 355 F – 180 C.
- Once you make them a couple of times, you will find out the best setting for your stove
- When they are done, let the muffins rest for a few minutes as they will be easier to cut.
- With the Weber barbecue, it is easier to balance the heat between the griddle and the oven, a thermometer attached to the cover indicates the temperature inside the oven.
- As I usually serve an Irish breakfast with my muffins, and with a Weber barbecue I can cook the sausages and the vegetables on the same griddle and keep them warm
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago
I’d love to try this recipe. I bet they are so much better homemade!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish
My mom used to make homemade English muffins. I miss them. Not sure why I haven’t attempted them. I certainly will be changing that soon. Lovely recipe! They look so delicious!
Laura
they are and with school starting Monday I am getting ready to treat the boys with it
Patty @pattysaveurs.com
I love the look of these English muffins and want to try your recipe for tomorrow’s brunch, I’m sure we’ll all love them! Thanks for the recipe Laura!
Laura
I am delighted to hear that Patty. Let me know how it goes