They look fabulous. If they have flavor ... and toast nice ... who cares about holes? It's probably a hydration thing ... per AnnT.

Crud, now I want toast n Nutella

I've made them for years with rings and never could get the holes right either. I suspected that the dough needed to be much moister, more like pancake batter that forms holes as they cook. But you need the rings to keep their shape with dough so runny.

I just searched for recipes by photo and found this, based on an Alton Brown recipe...this is how I want mine to look...guess I'll be prompted to try again.

http://shesimmers.com/2009/03/homemade-english-muffins-complete-with-nooks-and-crannies.html

They aren't holey! Crumpets are, not muffins. Yours look perfect. Never seen a holey muffin in 60 years lol

I was about to type what Islay has already said. Muffins- not holey. Crumpets- holey. My mother used to mix the two up and it drove me crazy because I like muffins, not so keen on crumpets. I'd go to visit and she'd say, "Would you like a muffin?" "Yes please!" I'd answer and get my mouth all set for a tasty muffin. Then a crumpet would appear. Big letdown.

Crumpets have holes on the outside. English muffins have holes on the inside that are only revealed upon splitting. I've never split a crumpet.

I've only made crumpets, and they had lots of holes, but I decided that I don't like them. However, I have kept the crumpet rings (in the garage).

I make the King Arthur sourdough English muffins and my DH is a fiend for them. My freezer just isn't big enough for all the baked goods I need to keep in rotation.

Olychick, any bread can have holes in it but it isn't the aim as it is in crumpets.

They look amazing!

Olychick, that's how I want my English muffins to look. They do taste better that way, absorb the butter or cream cheese much better with the holes. Have yet to try to make them.

Well, I disagree about holes. Maybe we're using different terms? I want an uneven crumb when they are split with lots of nooks and crannies, as is shown in the photo I posted. Every English muffin I've ever eaten (except my home-made) has looked like that. No holes on the outside (like with crumpets) but holey inside, when split.

Exactly, Olychick. That's the texture (which does influence taste) that I want out of this food, too!

I agree proper English Muffins have lots of nooks and crannies on the inside ...not exactly holes...but certainly not " tight ". My best results have been a wet dough , fried on the griddle in rings, finished in the oven.

Crumpets on the other hand are "holey" on the outside and have a totally different texture....almost rubbery...but in a good way.

Love them both.

Ah Annie, those look soooo good! I think Sleevendog's explanation of the baking soda seems good - for adding those cranny-nooks : ) Sigh... I've never made my own muffins or crumpets, both of which I love! Gonna have to now!

Olychick, that's the texture I was going for and I even split them with a fork, but mine were more dense. They TASTED like English muffins but the texture was just....wrong. The recipe did not call for baking soda, so when these are gone, I'll have to try Olychick's recipe. I have a batch of old tuna cans with the tops and bottoms cut out, I've used them since back when you actually could cut the bottoms and tops out of cans. That's what I use for rings, they work pretty well, actually, and I have a dozen of them. This recipe made 14 pretty large muffins, though, and I baked them all at once on the electric griddle.

I've never made crumpets, although I've eaten them. I do prefer English Muffins, but I like either. I don't think I've ever met a bread product that I didn't like.

Annie

Here is queen Delia's recipe.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/english-muffins

Just to throw another twist into this discussion, if you have ever tried the outstanding Model Bakery english muffins - this is the St. Helena/Napa Valley bakery that became famous when Oprah said she has them mail-ordered to her on a regular basis - they are noticeably different than standard or even homemade English muffins.

The crumb is rugged and yet tender, when split in half. It's clear just from picking one up the dough has a high oil content. The muffins are dusted with coarse-ground cornmeal. Very high quality flour and a definite taste of salt. They toast up better than any muffin brand we've ever tried before.

They are actually not great for sweet jams, but my DH and I are big fans of cheese toasties. Model's EMs are the best ever for cheese toasts! As soon as we tried our first ones, I told my DH that I was sure this was a variant of focaccia dough.

A few months later, one of the bakery founders admitted in an interview that it was indeed "a kind of focaccia-like dough."

So....some of you might want to do some experimenting at home!

Lars, have you cut your crumpets in half?

Here is my breakfast toasted muffin waiting for its pear jam. Yum.

I thought Lars' crumpets were cut in half above - the 2 with the lovely holes?

Yes, I did cut my crumpets in half. I think I toasted them (they aren't in the photo), but that still did not make me like them. For the effort, I would rather make pancakes or crêpes. I only made them because I had heard about them often from indirect sources, and that made me curious.

Lars, that's not a crumpet. A crumpet doesn't get cut in half, and the holes are formed on the upper surface as it cooks. That looks more like a thin muffin.

You cook the crumpet, let it cool, then toast it so that it is crunchy in the outside, soft in the middle and covered in melting butter lol

https://www.google.com/search?q=toasted+crumpet&oq=toasted+crumpet&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.8567j0j7&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=OpHKqp-eUrs8HM:

Thanks for that picture, Islay, I think it confirmed that words not product are what was causing confusion here. Yours certainly have the nooks and crannies.

Crumpets look like something I’d like to try, but here I am again confused. Please confirm whether they’re cooked on one side only. Lars isn’t the only one who flipped; Jamie Oliver does, too, and yes British! Although they did stay more holey.

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/classic-crumpets/

Yes, you cook both sides but the holes are in the top, go almost but not quite to the bottom, you toast it before eating it hot and it doesn't get cut in half as you hutternthe side with the holes which are big, not little bubbles...as in Jamie's. As you can seem they're quite thick. Lars, eat a good one before you condemn them to the crumpet bin in the sky!

tried the red star recipe ... added baking soda to try to increase nooks and crannies, will add baking powder next time. I started them on the grill top, browning them on both sides, and then finished them off on the stone in the oven. Very similar to the graham gem muffins grams made. I liked the powdered milk too ... good flavor all around. My SWMBO said it needed more salt ... ^_^

This is the thread I read awhile back, and I really liked the muffins. I bought the rings off Amazon and used the recipe that came with them.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5563903/english-muffins

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BB54V8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bragu, I thought the flavor was very nice, it just wasn't "hole-y" enough. I'll be interested to see if more baking powder helps that.

Thanks, Sherry. I'd love to keep the "4 grain" part of the Red Star Recipe but make the texture more like a traditional English Muffin. I'm going to have to compare your recipe to the one I used and see if I can find the differences, I guess.

Annie