English muffins

Name: English muffins
Yield: Makes 10
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: For the starter; 50g strong white bread flour; 2g dried active yeast (not fast-action); 50ml milk; For the dough; 250-300ml milk; 8g dried active yeast; 400g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust; 1 rounded tsp fine salt; 1 tsp caster sugar; 30g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease; Vegetable oil for greasing; You’ll also need…; 8cm round cutter

Rebecca Woollard

Published: 20 Mar 17
Updated: 26 May 25

The traditional English muffin is a perfect thing: dense, chewy, made to be toasted, then slathered in butter. They’re completely different from the spongy, sweet muffins that have eclipsed them in popularity (although they have their place). Follow food writer Rebecca Woollard’s step-by-step recipe guide to English muffin perfection.

“The original English muffin is one of my favourites for breakfast or afternoon tea – and they’re not hard to make,” says Rebecca. “I’ve used a simple starter dough for my recipe because it gives a deeper flavour – just give it a quick mix, leave for a few hours, then use. Apart from that, all you need is a heavy-based frying pan and a bit of patience. Once you’ve made your own, no shop-bought muffin will ever be good enough.”

Try your hand at crumpets next.

Makes 10
Hands-on time 50 min,  plus rising and proving, and 12-24 hours for the starter

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Ingredients

For the starter

50g strong white bread flour
2g dried active yeast (not fast-action)
50ml milk

For the dough

250-300ml milk
8g dried active yeast
400g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust
1 rounded tsp fine salt
1 tsp caster sugar
30g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease
Vegetable oil for greasing

You’ll also need…

8cm round cutter

Method

Make the starter at least 12 hours, or up to 24 hours, in advance. Mix  the 50g flour and 2g yeast in a large bowl, then stir in the 50ml milk to form a thick paste. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere fairly cool (not cold) and dark (the mixture will expand a little and bubble up).
To make the dough, heat the 250-300ml milk in a pan to just steaming. Cool to lukewarm, then stir in the 8g yeast and set aside. Put the 400g flour in a large mixing bowl with the salt and sugar, then stir in the starter.
By the time that’s done, the warm milk should be frothy. Add it to the bowl with the melted butter, then stir to bring it together into a dough.
Tip out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until elastic and smooth (or use a stand mixer and dough hook for 8-10 minutes).
Transfer to a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warm to rise until doubled in size for 1 hour (or leave overnight in the fridge).
Once risen, knead the dough again on the work surface to redistribute the air bubbles (known as knocking back).
Roll out using a rolling pin until 2-3cm thick.
Use an 8cm round cutter to stamp out 8-10 discs from the dough, re-rolling the dough.
Put the discs on a piece of baking paper, scatter with a little flour and cover loosely with cling film. Leave to prove (rise) for 25-30 minutes until puffed.
Heat a wide, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and grease with a little butter. Carefully transfer 3-4 of the muffins into the pan using a fish slice, turn the heat down to low-medium and cook for 6-7 minutes, making sure they don’t burn on the underside. Once golden on the bottom and the sides are starting to look cooked, carefully flip the muffins and repeat. Transfer to a wire rack while you cook the rest.
Split in half, butter and eat straightaway or cool completely before toasting.

Recipe from February 2017 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Per muffin

Calories: 211kcals
Fat: 4.1g (2.4g saturated)
Protein: 6.9g
Carbohydrates: 35.8g (2.1g sugars)
Fibre: 1.5g
Salt: 2.1g

delicious. tips

If kneading by hand, add 250ml warm milk in step 2, and use as little  flour on the surface as possible. Too much extra flour will make them hard. If you’re making the dough in a stand mixer, use 300ml milk. The softer the dough, the better.

Keep the dough as soft as you can while still keeping it workable at step 2. More moisture will result in fluffier muffins – a hard, dry dough will rise less.

Keep an eye on the dough while it’s rising and proving (step 3). We noticed a couple of our batches rose quite quickly, so if the dough has doubled in size before the time is up, go ahead and finish the recipe. Don’t wait for the full time.

You should get 10 muffins out of the dough (step 3). If you find you have to re-roll the dough, the last couple won’t be as uniform as the first batch, but they’ll still taste good.
These are so good eaten warm, fresh from the pan, but they’ll keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Once cooled, they’re best toasted.

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English muffins

Ingredients

Method

Nutrition

delicious. tips

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