Homemade English Muffins

annie1992

7 years ago

I've made English muffins before, and they were very good, but lacked that airy texture with the nice holes to catch butter. I got a new recipe from Red Star Yeast, 4 Grain English Muffins, so I thought I'd give those a try.

Baked on my electric griddle, they rose nicely:

Browned well:

And toasted nicely:

Actually, I thought this one should be a little more "toasty", but Ashley ate it and she likes her bread basically warm, not very toasted, just warm enough to melt the butter.

However, they still weren't very "hole-y", even though I split them with a fork just as instructed. Are homemade English Muffins just denser than the commercial ones? Mine had much better flavor, but the texture just was more like English Muffin Bread than English Muffins. Any more liquid and I would have had to pour them into forms, like batter...

Annie

Featured Answer

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)

7 years ago

Thank you Annie!

What a coincidence. I was researching vintage graphics last night and ended up on youtube, old commercials...Gains burgers, Thomas English muffins...

I made them last fall and had to look up my recipe here from 2014. Printer was out of black ink so could not print a hard copy...(started doing that recently).

It links the same recipe in Olychick's post.

My posted thread link, HERE

(pretty hilarious that Grainlady completely ignored me as she tended to do)

I did not give up and came up with a recipe cobbled together and made exactly what I was looking for...nooks and crannies.

"As one clichéd saying goes: if you don’t stand for something, you fall for everything. To apply this to a recipe search, unless you know exactly what you look for (taste, appearance, texture, etc.), any recipe that does not produce catastrophic results seems good to you. And that’s fine. In the end, an ideal recipe is one that gives you what you want."

^Quote from Oly's link.

Most important I found is stir/beating the wet dough in the same direction keeping the gluten strands in order. Stretchy. Unbroken.

Secondly important is adding baking soda just before pouring into the rings. And another pinch of baking soda for the second batch just before into the rings. (I only have 4 rings. The recipe makes 8).

Recipe printed for my file book!

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Comments (29)

bragu_DSM 5
7 years ago
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
Olychick
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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
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Traditional crumpet recipes, but not nearly as tasty, or as quick and easy to make as sourdough crumpets (I linked above). CRUMPETS 1/2 c. warm 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1 t. sugar 1 c. milk 2 T. butter 1/2 t. salt 2 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 t. baking soda 1 T. tepid water In a large mixing bowl combine warm water and yeast. Add sugar and stir to dissolve yeast. Set aside. In a small saucepan heat 1/2 c. of the milk and the butter until the butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in salt and remaining 1/2 c. milk. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Add milk mixture to yeast mixture and stir to blend. Mix in flour with wooden spoon. The batter will be very lumpy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and secure with an elastic band. Set aside to rise for 1-1/2 hours or until the bubbling action slows and the mixture begins to collapse in on itself. Place 4 crumpet rings on a griddle, allowing the sides to touch. Set over medium heat and spray all surfaces lightly with vegetable oil. 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Add sugar and stir to dissolve yeast. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the orange juice, milk, butter, orange zest, and salt. Whisk to combine, then stir into the dissolved yeast. Add the flour and mix in with a wooden spoon. Follow the same procedure listed in the recipe above to complete the crumpets. Makes 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Almost any bread recipe will make holey, moist, chewy English muffins. The dough should be slightly over\-kneaded and much wetter than bread dough. Keep a bowl of water handy to dip your hands in while kneading the dough in order to keep it well\-hydrated, rather than kneading in flour. HONEY WHOLE-WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFINS (source: Stonyfield Farm Yogurt Cookbook) 1/4 c. honey 1-1/2 c. warm water 2 T. active dry yeast 1-1/2 c. plain yogurt 1/2 c. water 1 t. salt 1 t. baking soda 7-8 c. whole wheat flour (you can use 50/50 whole wheat and unbleached/bleached all-purpose flour for a less-hearty English muffin) 1/2 c. cornmeal (I omit this and use semolina instead) In a tall glass, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm water/honey; stir to dissolve. Set the yeast and water mixture aside to proof for about 10-minutes, or until the yeast begins to bubble. Combine the yogurt with 1/2 c. water and warm slightly to remove any chill. Pour the yeast/water mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the yogurt-water mixture, salt, and soda. Beat in as much of the flour as possible, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is stiff. Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead in more flour, a little at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky. 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Islay Corbel
7 years ago
They aren't holey! Crumpets are, not muffins. Yours look perfect. Never seen a holey muffin in 60 years lol
colleenoz
7 years ago
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.
Olychick
7 years ago
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.
PRO
Lars/J. Robert Scott
7 years ago
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).
jerzeegirl (FL zone 9B)
7 years ago
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.
Islay Corbel
7 years ago
Olychick, any bread can have holes in it but it isn't the aim as it is in crumpets.
User
7 years ago
They look amazing!
artemis_ma
7 years ago
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.
Olychick
7 years ago
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.
artemis_ma
7 years ago
Exactly, Olychick. That's the texture (which does influence taste) that I want out of this food, too!
User
7 years ago
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.
2ManyDiversions
7 years ago
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!
annie1992
Original Author
7 years ago
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
Islay Corbel
7 years ago
Here is queen Delia's recipe.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/english-muffins
Jakkom Katsu
7 years ago
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
7 years ago
I found this photo of crumpets I made back in 2008.
Islay Corbel
7 years ago
Lars, have you cut your crumpets in half?

Here is my breakfast toasted muffin waiting for its pear jam. Yum.
2ManyDiversions
7 years ago
I thought Lars' crumpets were cut in half above - the 2 with the lovely holes?
Lars
7 years ago
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.
Islay Corbel
7 years ago
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:
Lars
7 years ago
Here's how it looked while cooking.
foodonastump
7 years ago
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/
Islay Corbel
7 years ago
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!
bragu_DSM 5
7 years ago
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 ... ^_^
User
7 years ago
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
annie1992
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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

Homemade English Muffins

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)

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