Homemade English Muffins. Nothing can beat them straight off the griddle or gently toasted. They are soft, slightly chewy & perfect for breakfast or snacks. No oven is required & they are so much nicer than store-bought!
Picture for one minute, one of these homemade English Muffins, straight off the griddle, spread thickly with my Easy Vegan Butter and topped with a dollop of vegan lemon curd ......
I have been eating these English Muffins like they are going out of fashion recently and even I stopped in my tracks at the thought. They are quite simply, irresistible.
They really aren't all that difficult to make either. They do however take a bit of time but almost all of that is hands off time and it is so, SO, worth the wait. See my video below for a step by step guide.
You can also make the dough for these English Muffins in a bread machine if you have one. Directions are given below.
No oven is required. They get cooked on a griddle or in a skillet. That's what gives them their beautifully golden tops and bottoms. And those beautifully golden tops and bottoms give them their distinctive chewiness. Watching them grow on the griddle is so fun too. They really are like little puffy clouds!
They are just perfect while very fresh, eaten just as they are. Nothing can beat them right off the griddle! However, they really come into their English Muffin-ness properly when split and toasted. Their little nooks and crannies get all crispy and golden and they are the perfect vehicle for all sorts of toppings.
Serving suggestions
Vegan butter and jam is my favourite topping for these muffins, but they also work incredibly well with all sorts of other accompaniments. Try them:
- Topped with your favourite tofu scramble
- Used as a base for a vegan eggs benny (there is a recipe in my cookbook)
- Turned into mini pizzas for the kiddos
- Used instead of bread for sandwiches or as an alternative to burger buns
- Toast and top with your favourite toast toppings (avocado, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms etc).
Fork splitting
What the heck is fork splitting? Well, if you want maximum nooks and crannies for superior butter catching, use a fork to split your muffins rather than using a knife. I really should have shown you how in my video but I didn't think about it until afterwards. I might make a quick add-on next time I make them but until then, here is a pretty rudimentary video that shows how.
Hungry for more?
For more English style vegan recipes, check out these great options:
- Vegan English Pancakes
- Vegan Digestive Biscuits
- Bubble & Squeak
- Vegan Yorkshire Puddings
- Baked Strawberry Semolina Pudding
Homemade English Muffins
Author:
Ingredients
- 375g / 3 cup all purpose white flour (strong white flour in the UK) , you can also sub half of this for wholewheat flour. No more than half though as otherwise they will end up heavy
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast , sometimes called quick or fast action yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 30mls / 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil , measure in liquid form and make sure it is at room temperature when added. You can sub this for any other flavourless oil or vegan butter
- Approx 200 mls / ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons tepid water , you might need a little more
- some extra flour for kneading and rolling
- Optional cornmeal for dusting
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
- Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
INSTRUCTIONS
- If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, add all ingredients (except the cornmeal) to the bowl and mix for around 7 - 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. My Kitchen Aid Pro suggests using setting 2 for dough. Once it starts coming together after a minute or two in the mixer, give it a little poke and add a drop or two more water if it feels dry, giving it a chance to mix in between additions, until it is a very slightly tacky to touch dough.
- If you do not have a stand mixer, add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl. (See recipe notes for bread machine advice).
- Pour in the water and liquid (but room temperature) oil then stir briefly to combine and absorb the dry flour. Add a little more water as required to make a very slightly tacky dough.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes until the dough is completely smooth and elastic. If after a few minutes of kneading it feels sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time, kneading in between additions. It should be slightly tacky but not sticky.
- When kneaded properly, if you put your hands either side of the ball of dough and squeeze inwards, it should bounce back slowly when you let go.
- Once the dough is kneaded adequately and is smooth and elastic, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Use a bowl cover, damp clean dish towel or cling wrap. Leave in a draft free area until it has doubled in size (around 1 hour although this will vary depending on how warm the environment is). You will get the best flavour by not rushing it so I advise just leaving it on the kitchen counter and not moving it somewhere really warm to speed it up.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle it with cornmeal or flour if you don't have cornmeal.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin until it is about 1 inch thick. Make sure it is even all over.
- Use a cookie cutter (about 3 inches in diameter is good) to cut rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheet. If you don't have a cookie cutter use the top of a glass or a mason jar lid. Be sure to cut carefully and get as many as you can out of the first batch of rolled dough because the muffins from the first batch are always slightly better than those made with the remaining dough.
- When you have cut as many as you can, ball up the remaining dough as gently as you can and re-roll it then cut out the remaining muffins.
- Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with more cornmeal (or flour) then cover and leave again until almost doubled in size. It won't take as long this time. Usually about 30 - 40 minutes.
- If you have a griddle, heat it to a medium low heat. I have an electric Cuisinart Griddler and set mine to 350°F. If you don’t have a griddle you can use a heavy frying pan or skillet instead.
- When the griddle is to temperature, or when your skillet is preheated, place as many muffins as will fit comfortably (with sufficient room to turn them easily), VERY gently on the griddle. It’s important to be as gentle as possible because you don’t want to knock any of the air out of them.
- Cook for 5 -7 minutes until beautifully golden on the bottom, then VERY gently turn them over and cook for another 5- 7 minutes.
- Remove and place on a cooling rack.
NOTES
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Jessica Gibbon says
these look amazing!! quick question, should i oil the griddle or the skillet? or cook it dry? thanks for the recipe! :)
Melanie McDonald says
I never do. They should be fine without. Enjoy!
Ace Ayala says
Hi, I just wanted to ask about the type of cornmeal I should use for this recipe should use. Should I use finely grinded cornmeal or should I use medium grind cornmeal?
Melanie McDonald says
It doesn't matter. Whichever you would prefer the texture of. I use whichever one I have at the time.
Jess the Baker says
Ok, so should we be using bread flour or all-purpose? Those flours have different gluten contents and will make a difference. You say all-purpose/strong flour (if in the UK) but again, all-purpose is NOT the same as strong flour.
In the UK vs. the US:
“Plain Flour” = All-Purpose
“Strong Flour” = Bread Flour
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm very familiar with the flour types as I'm English and live in Canada and spend a lot of time in the U.S (in normal times).
As per the recipe you need to use strong flour if you are in the UK or all-purpose flour if you're not (i.e in the US or Canada).
Plain flour in the UK is not the same as American and Canadian all-purpose flour and there is no flour labelled as all-purpose there.
Plain flour has a very different protein content and isn't good for making bread. All-purpose flour in Canada and the US really is all-purpose. You can use it to make bread, cakes and pastry etc.
Strong flour in the UK has a very similar protein content to all-purpose flour in Canada and the US. About 12 %.Plain flour has less than 10.
If you are in the US or Canada you could actually use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour but I prefer how the muffins turn out with all-purpose flour, hence the reason it's called for in the recipe.