English Muffins Recipe: Nooks and Crannies from Scratch

Milk, butter, and a little sugar make this a lightly enriched dough. Gentle cooking allows the center to set without burning the flat faces. A fork can then tear the muffin into two craggy halves for butter or jam.

Recipe note: The original ingredient amounts are retained below. Their arithmetic and explanations have been corrected, but the exact formula has not been independently kitchen-tested. Its predicted openness, three-quarter-inch shaping thickness, and timing need that practical check. For a separately developed alternative, King Arthur’s Bread Flour English Muffins use a different formula and provide their own method. Do not combine the two ingredient lists.

The Dough and Its Hydration

Compared with many brioche formulas, this dough contains a modest amount of butter and no egg. But English muffin doughs themselves vary: some are quite soft, while others are firm enough to roll and cut. A style name does not establish one required hydration or make every muffin dough wetter than sandwich bread.

Here, 310g milk divided by 500g flour is 62%. That is a baker’s percentage counting the whole milk as the liquid. It is not 62% actual water. Using approximate ingredient composition of 87% water for milk and 16% for American-style butter gives 269.7g plus 4.8g water, or 54.9% of the flour weight. Different products vary. Adding the butter’s water to the whole-milk convention would give about 63%, not 65%.

These are different accounting conventions, not different physical doughs. King Arthur explains those distinctions and ingredient water fractions. More liquid can change handling and crumb, but a percentage alone does not guarantee holes.

Ingredients

Yield: Ten larger or twelve smaller muffins, with approximately 869g dough before dusting.

Use plain cornmeal or semolina for the surface, rather than treating it as additional measured dough flour. Different grinds feel different when toasted.

Equipment

Use a scale, bowl or suitable mixer, dough scraper, skillet or griddle, spatula, and probe thermometer. A heavy pan can help moderate temperature changes but does not guarantee even heat. An electric griddle or suitable nonstick pan can also work; follow its preheating instructions.

For cut rounds, use a food-safe round cutter. A purpose-made cutter avoids the sharp edges and uncertain coatings of a cut-open food can. You can also divide and flatten by hand without a cutter.

Method

1. Mix the dough

Mix flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add milk and combine until cohesive, then incorporate the softened butter and knead until smooth and elastic. Use your mixer’s approved dough-hook speed and batch limits. For example, KitchenAid warns against exceeding Speed 2 for yeast dough. A generic instruction to knead at medium speed is unsuitable for every machine.

By hand, work on a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough develops elasticity. Time varies with technique and flour; a ten-minute timer does not establish identical development to a mixer. Avoid working extra flour into the dough merely to make the surface completely dry.

The original target final dough temperature of about 76–78°F / 24–26°C is a reasonable working target, not a result guaranteed by 90°F milk. Friction depends on the machine, speed, batch, and duration. It is not a fixed 24–28°F temperature rise. Measure the dough and adjust ingredient temperatures on the next batch if needed.

2. Bulk ferment until aerated

Place in a lightly greased bowl and cover. At roughly 75–78°F, the inherited estimate is one and a half to two hours, aiming for a puffy dough near twice its initial volume. Yeast activity and dough temperature can change that schedule.

A fold during bulk can help a dough that needs more gluten development. It is optional when mixing has already supplied sufficient strength; a fold at precisely forty-five minutes is not an essential muffin step. Use visible expansion and dough condition rather than a poke mark alone.

3. Divide or cut

For hand-shaped muffins, divide into ten pieces of 86.9g or twelve of 72.4g. Round, allow to relax if necessary, and gently flatten to roughly three-quarter-inch discs, keeping their thickness even. Larger pieces will be wider at the same thickness. This thickness is retained from the original and needs practical validation with the formula.

For cut muffins, pat or roll evenly and press a round cutter straight down. A three-inch cutter gives one size, but exact yield depends on thickness, dough expansion, and scraps. Gently gather scraps and let them relax before recutting; do not promise another two muffins beyond a mass-based yield. More shaping guidance is here.

Dust both faces lightly and set on a dusted tray. Keep waiting portions covered so their surfaces do not dry.

4. Proof until puffy

The inherited estimate is thirty to forty-five minutes. Look for a noticeable lightening and puffing of the dough rather than an exact 50% increase in thickness. Fermentation before cooking matters; the griddle does not supply all the rise.

Move proofed muffins gently. Overproofing can weaken them, but spreading also depends on dough strength, liquid balance, and handling. Slackness alone does not prove overproofing.

5. Cook gently and check through the middle

Use a moderate-to-low cooking setting appropriate to your pan and burner. Labels such as low or medium-low are not calibrated surface temperatures. Start gently and use one muffin to assess browning and center cooking. Do not hold your hand close to a hot pan to judge its temperature, and do not assume a thirty-second pause removes excess stored heat.

A seasoned griddle may work without added fat. A light greasing can help release on other suitable surfaces; a small amount of oil does not disqualify an English muffin. Keep dusting meal from accumulating and scorching between batches, and follow the cookware maker’s directions.

Place muffins with room to expand and to turn them easily. Brown the first face gradually, flip with a spatula, and cook the other face. Six or seven minutes per side is not a reliable guarantee, especially for thick muffins. Published methods vary substantially: King Arthur’s bread-flour version allows seven to fifteen minutes per side, while its newer preferment version uses longer cooking. Those are comparisons, not proof of this formula’s exact time.

Check a muffin through the side with a probe so the tip reaches its center. The bread-flour recipe uses about 200°F / 93°C as a doneness cue; other developed formulas differ. Temperature supports the assessment, but the crumb must be set and free of wet dough. Test the first muffin after cooling enough to split safely.

If the faces have browned before the middle is cooked, transfer to a tray in a 350°F / 177°C oven and continue until the center is done. Do not cap that finish at five minutes regardless of thickness. An oven finish is a useful part of the cooking method, not a failure to make a real English muffin.

6. Cool, split, and toast

Cool on a rack before opening; the crumb firms as it cools, and cutting very hot bread can seem gummy. Fifteen minutes may be a useful starting rest for a small muffin, but is not a guarantee that every size is ready.

For a rougher surface, pierce around the circumference with a fork and gently pull the halves apart. A knife makes a smoother cut; it does not make the entire crumb denser or erase every internal gas cell. Fork-splitting changes the exposed surface, not the fermentation that formed the crumb.

Toast to your preference, or serve without toasting if you prefer. Both are legitimate ways to eat a fully cooked muffin.

Where the Holes Come From

Yeast fermentation produces carbon dioxide, and mixing establishes gas cells that can expand during proofing and cooking. Heating expands gases and increases water vapor while the dough’s structure sets. Hydration, development, fermentation, shaping, and heat transfer all affect the result. Steam is part of that process, not a sufficient explanation on its own.

More milk does not give a linear increase in holes. Adding 10–15g to this formula would raise the whole-milk percentage from 62% to 64–65%, not 68%; it would also change the handling. Do not use that adjustment as a guaranteed cure for density.

Oven-baked muffins can also have a porous crumb. King Arthur’s Baked Cinnamon English Muffins are a complete oven method, with a different formula and pan arrangement. An oven does not prevent gas cells or water vapor from contributing to expansion.

Variations Need Their Own Formula

Whole wheat: Replacing part of the bread flour changes absorption and dough behavior. The former instruction to add exactly 15–20g milk for any 30–40% replacement was untested. Choose a developed whole-grain version or test the change deliberately.

Sourdough: A 150g starter at 100% hydration contains 75g flour and 75g water. Removing 75g milk is not compositionally the same as removing 75g water: it also removes milk solids and less than 75g water. Starter activity also determines bulk fermentation, so replacing instant yeast does not establish a four-to-six-hour schedule. King Arthur’s sourdough English muffins are a separate developed recipe that includes both starter and commercial yeast; they should not be described as a starter-only conversion.

Cinnamon, raisins, or seeds: These can change fermentation, moisture, and surface browning. The former exact cinnamon-raisin quantities were not tested with this formula. Seeds can be applied during shaping, but watch small surface pieces for scorching. A topping is a preference, not a fix for a poorly developed base dough.

Storing and Troubleshooting

Cool before sealing. For plain muffins in a cool, dry kitchen, wrapped room-temperature storage is suitable for short keeping; freeze well-wrapped portions for longer keeping. Split before freezing if convenient. Toasting from frozen works, but depends on muffin thickness and toaster settings rather than a guaranteed three minutes.

Enrichment can influence tenderness, but does not guarantee this recipe outlasts all lean breads or stays mold-free for a fixed number of days. Hot, humid kitchens and perishable fillings require different storage decisions. Discard moldy bread rather than trimming it. See our bread storage and freshness guide.

Brown outside, wet inside: Reduce overly aggressive surface heat and finish cooking the middle, using the oven if needed. Thick portions or short cooking can cause this even without an unusually high burner setting.

Flat muffins: Check proof, handling, development, and the formula. Reducing milk by a fixed 10g is not the answer to every case.

Dense or chewy crumb: Check weighing, development, fermentation, and complete cooking. Too much added flour, insufficient proof, and the underlying formula can matter. Overmixing is only one possibility, and cutting with a knife does not explain an otherwise dense loaf structure.

More diagnostic guidance is in our bread troubleshooting guide.