Split open with a fork reveals the nooks and crannies and regular holes through out the crumbs interior, just waiting to be toasted to a golden perfection and slathered with butter and enjoyed with your favorite fruit preserve and morning coffee or tea. You’ll be one happy person as you take that first delicious bite of crisp, crunchy, chewy, and flavorful toasted Homemade English Muffin. Your world will never be the same.
Making your own English Muffin is one of the most satisfying things you can do. The ingredient list is short and simple. The process is straight forward. In fact this style of yeasted baked good is called a “Straight Dough.” Meaning all the ingredients are incorporated at once, mixed, kneaded, fermented, and then baked or in the case of English Muffins griddled or pan baked. Most “Straight Doughs” can be made from start to finish with in a 4 to 5 hour period.
Bakers Percentage and why it is good for you to know:
This recipe for the English Muffin is highly hydrated dough, 75% to be exact. So what does that mean to you, the baker? When looking a recipe for bread you can start to note the weight of other ingredients the flour in the recipe. Especially the water to flour. This will tell you before you even start to mix how firm or loose the dough will be when handling it. The higher the hydration, the stickier the dough will be through the kneading and shaping process. A dough with higher hydration will also have larger irregular open texture in the crumb structure through out the baked good. Where as dough with lower hydration will have a more uniform crumb with small and very even holes and texture and will be very easy to handle while kneading and shaping.
The formulation to find the percentage of the ingredient by weight to the flour by weight is to divide the weight of the ingredient by the weight of the of flour and then times it by 100 to get the ingredient percentage in the recipe. The flour percentage is always 100%.
Here is an example formula: (ingredient weight ÷ flour weight) x 100= Ingredient %
Example using the English Muffin Recipe:
(341 g. Water ÷ 454 g. Flour) x 100 = (75% Water by weight to 100% Flour)
Once we know what the water percentage in the recipe will be we the baker can then adjust how we handle the dough through out the mixing, kneading, fermentation, folding, shaping, and final proofing process. Because this dough is highly hydrated it will be very sticky during the entire kneading and shaping process. So we incorporate a process called folding. Folding the dough twice during the fermentation replaces “Punching Down” the dough. Folding increases the strength and elasticity in the dough with out damaging the gluten structure. This technique can be used with any wet dough. Check out the folding technique in my Homemade English Muffins at the video time stamp (2:43) and (3:17)
To learn more about “Bakers Percentage” click on the link for King Arthur’s Flour website for a more in-depth details: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/professional/bakers-percentage.html
The full instructional video for Homemade English Muffins is at the bottom of this blog post. Follow this link to “LIKE” and “SUBSCRIBE” to my YouTube Channel “Just One Bite, Please?” http://www.youtube.com/c/justonebiteplease/
Equipment: (Shop my Amazon Page for Ingredients & Equipment)
- Glass Mixing Bowls
- Measuring Cups and Spoon or Electronic Baking Scale
- Rubber Spatula
- Plastic Bowl Scrape
- Metal Dough Divider
- Wooden Cutting Board
- Plastic Wrap
- Non-Stick Spray
- 5 Quart Heavy Bottom Pan with Lid/Cast Iron Pan with Lid
- Half Sheet Cooling Rack
- Half Sheet Pan
- Cornmeal
English Muffins (yields 8)
- Measured Grams Ingredients
- 1- ½cups 341 g. Water
- 1 tsp. 3 g. Instant Yeast
- 2 tsp. 15 g. Turbinado Sugar (Raw Sugar Crystals)
- 3-¼ cup 454 g. Bread Flour (Unbleached, Unbromated, King Arthur Bread Flour)
- 1-½ tsp. 12 g. Sea Salt (fine)
Mixing the English Muffin Dough:
- In a mixing bowl combine the water, yeast, Turbinado sugar, and half the bread flour. Beat together with a rubber spatula until the mixture looks like a thick pancake batter.
- Add the remaining bread flour and the salt. Combine with the rubber spatula until the dough just comes together.
- Scrape and turn the dough out on the work surface and knead for 6 to 8 minutes. The dough will be sticky. Do not add any extra flour to the work surface as you knead.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled container, cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour of fermentation turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and fold. (See video for folding technique, Time stamp 2:43 and 3:17)
- Place the dough back into the oiled container, cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 1 more hour.
- After 1 hour, turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and fold.
- Lightly oil the work surface again and place the folded dough onto the oiled surface. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, divide the dough into 8 pieces each weight approximately 102 grams each.
- Lightly flour the wooden cutting board and set aside.
- Lightly flour the work surface and gently round each piece of dough by bring the outside edge to the center and pinching to form the dough into a round.
- Turn the dough over an place the seam on the floured work surface and lightly pat the rounded dough into a disk.
- Place the dough seam side down on the lightly floured cutting board. Continue to pre-shape the remains pieces of dough and placing them on the floured cutting board.
- Cover pre-shaped dough with plastic and rest for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes. Reshape the pieces into discs that are about ½ inch thick and 3-½ inches across.
- Sprinkle cornmeal on the cutting board and place the discs seam side down onto a cornmeal and cover with plastic let proof for 1-¼ to 1-½ hours.
- To see if the dough is ready to be cooked. Test the dough by lightly pressing the dough with your finger tip. The indentation should hold and not spring back completely. This is know by bakers as the “Poke Test.”
Griddle Baking the English Muffins:
Pre-heat the cast iron pan for 10 minutes over medium low heat before griddle baking the English Muffins.
- Traditionally English muffins are “baked” on a griddle or in a pan. To do this, preheat a heavy skillet or griddle on medium-low heat for 10 minutes before cooking the muffins.
- Place 4 muffins into the pre-heated dry pan leaving room between each muffin. Place the lid on the pan and coo/bake with a lid on the pan if possible, this will ensure even cooking.
- Bake/cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. Check the bottoms as the English Muffins are bake/cooking and adjust the heat if necessary. This will need to be done in two batches.
- Place the baked/cooked English Muffins onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before fork splitting and toasting.
- Split with a fork, toast, and slather on butter and your favorite jam or preserves.
- Enjoy!
Note: The Homemade English Muffins freeze beautifully. Place in an airtight freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw the English Muffins at room temperature, fork split, and toast to enjoy!
Shilpa Khanna
Hi Alejandro
Love all the bread recipes of yours , which ofcourse have tried so far 😌 ..
I want to try this one but don’t have bread flour at hand , can I use all purpose flour instead ?
Many thanks
Shilpa
Alejandro Ramon
Hello Shilpa, It is wonderful to hear from you. Yes, you can use all-purpose flour. Just know that the dough will be slightly stickier as there is less protein in the flour. You won’t need to make any adjustments to the recipe. I’d love to hear about your baking adventure making the English Muffins. Thank you for taking the time to write. Happy Baking!
Doris
Hi Craig! Love your videos! I was wondering if I can use regular white sugar instead of Turbinado sugar , if yes then how much? I also want to sub part of the bread flour with white whole wheat flour. Can you recommend up to how much and also how to adjust the water since it will absorb more water?
Alejandro Ramon
Hello Doris,
It is nice to meet you. I appreciate you waiting for my response.
Yes, you can use granulated white sugar to replace the Turbinado (Sugar in the Raw) in the recipe. You would use the same amount.
The whole wheat flour will change the hydration of the dough as it contains bran and wheat germ which absorbs much more water. I would recommend replacing 54 grams of Bread Flour with Whole Wheat Flour to produce the same final texture and crumb structure as the original recipe. I’d love to hear about your final results.
Thank you for taking the time to write and ask your questions. Happy Baking and Happy New Year!
Alejandro Ramon, Just One Bite, Please?
colin196950
Alejandro i still feel intimidated working with the yeast, but I manage to cook your ENGLISH MUFFINS with success !!!
You inspired me to continue working my relationship with the yeast 😋
My next challenge will be baking your white sandwich bread… Thank You for sharing your baking knowledge . I LOVE BREAD ✨✨Claudia
Alejandro Ramon
Hello Claudia, Congratulations on your baking success making the English Muffins! It is so wonderful to hear you’re pushing through and taking the challenge of learning to bake with yeast. I’d love to see your baking creations. If you like you can email pictures of your baking creations at justonebiteplease@hotmail.com
Thank you so much for taking the time to write. Have a wonderful day!
Alejandro Ramon
Hello Claudia, I appreciate you waiting for my response. I’ve been catching up with all my correspondence this week. Congratulations on your baking success making the English Muffins. Baking is a skill that with more practice you’ll become comfortable with expanding your experience to other recipes. I recommend to new bakers to find a few recipes they like and make them at least once a week for 3 months. Working with the same recipe will give you an understanding of the variables that come with baking with yeasted dough like weather change and humidity. Each time you’ll learn to minimize the variables to create consistent baked goods. I’m excited to help you on your baking adventures. Please let me know if you should have any questions. Thank you for taking the time to write and have a wonderful day!
Shirley Tan Min Choo
Hey Alejandro,
Finding you is like finding a gem. I just started to learn how to make some type of bread during this COVID 19 lockdown at home. I find your website very informative and very interesting. I don’t have an oven so English Muffin using a pan to cook is just great.
Thank you for your passion in teaching and educating.
Shirley Tan
Alejandro Ramon
Hello Shirley, It is nice to meet you. Welcome to the Just One Bite, Please? community of cooks and bakers. I appreciate you for taking the time to write and share your thoughts with me and our community. Please let me know if you should ever have any questions about this or any of my other recipes. Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Craig Whitley
First of all, a very well done website.
Made these yesterday and on the Nook & Cranny scale 100%. Taste 100%, texture 80%.
I used a well seasoned cast iron skillet with a tight fighting cover and found it very difficult to keep from burning especially the 2nd side {ended up using 4 min instead of 5 minutes}. I did achieve a 207 to 210 final internal temperature on all the muffins.
The crust was quite tough, almost bagel like. These are the first English Muffins I have grilled dry, as all my others used butter and the crust, on those other recipes was fine, but failed on the Nook and Cranny scale, 50% at best.
These muffins are also the first I have used KA Bread Flour rather than KA AP Flour. I’m sure the Bread Flour helped maximize the Nooks & Crannies.
So I am not sure what caused the tough crust. The cast iron skillet, the bread flour, the dry grilling or the fact that part of the resting time was on flour rather than corn meal.
Anyway, Superb taste and exactly what I want on the Nook & Cranny scale.
Thank you very much.
Alejandro Ramon
Hello Craig, It is my pleasure to meet you. I so appreciate you taking the time to write and share your baking experience making the English Muffins. Based on your description of the texture of the griddled and cooked English Muffins, I have a couple of suggestions for you to try.
I found its best to place the final shaped English Muffins on Cornmeal or Semolina as it doesn’t get absorbed into the wet dough as it is in the final proof. Make sure to lightly dust the tops with flour before covering with plastic wrap. Using to much flour on the board or on the top of the English Muffins will cause the flour to be absorbed into the dough as it ferments and then causes the crust to thicken and become dense.
he grilling pan should be preheated to Medium-Low which is between 275°F – 300°F (135°C – 149°C) As every range top is different it is important to understand what burner on your stove works best for this job. I suggest approaching this like making pancakes it is best to try one English Muffing first to see if you need to adjust the temperature up or down to obtain the perfect grilling temperature to obtain a light golden brown on the surface in the baking time suggested in the recipe.
Please let me know if you should have any other questions.
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your questions and comments. This will help others who might be experiencing the same results.
Best,
Alejandro Ramon, Just One Bite, Please?