English Muffins

Wonderful recipe! I will never buy them from the store again! The English muffins are lovely when toasted; light and crisp. Mine were full of nooks and crannies! They are perfect with honey butter. In order to make sure you English muffins "work out" and aren't too dense, try these tips: Use bread flour instead of all-purpose. It has a higher gluten content which will aid in the rising of the dough. When you "scald" the milk, don't let it boil! Just heat the milk to about 185F. When activating your yeast (warm water and yeast part of recipe) follow this guideline: use water that is between 100F-115F for dry active yeast, and 120F-130F for instant active or rapid rise yeast. This isn't a necessary step in the recipe, but it will let you know if your yeast is "active". I add a pinch of flour and sugar when I do this step to "feed" the yeast. It will froth like mad! Like a previous poster noted, don't play with the dough too much after the first rise, it will lessen the amount of air in the dough. Handle it carefully! Last tip, after the second rise they will puff up. Carefully, transfer them to the greased skillet, using a spatula, and they will stay puffed up. The muffins will only "deflate" once you turn them over. Hope this helps someone!

Ok, these are definitely NOT English Muffins. They are buns. Yeast raised buns. And, it's a decent recipe for buns. Cooking buns on a pan is unusual, but makes for a nice crust. English muffins are very different -- they are a bit chewey, and they have a coarser crumb with lots of big holes that leave all the bumps and ridges that make them very crispy when toasted. To acheive this, the dough is usually very soft like a batter, and it contains both yeast and -- added near the end of the raising -- some baking soda. They also contain eggs or egg whites to help make them chewy. Sorry, but this is simply misnamed/categorized. I made this though. It produces nice buns for hamburgers, etc., and they toast like white bread.

Great recipe - but don't expect these to be anything like the more famous "store bought" kind. These are definitely a bit more "dense". I used butter-flavored shortening and instead of the griddle, I did mine in the oven. I lined a tray with parchment paper and baked them at 375 for 8 minutes, flipped them and let them go for another 8 minutes. They were really good toasted with butter and jelly. Next time I might throw some cinnamon and raisins or some dried cranberries and orange zest into the batter for a little something different.......

My english muffins came out great except the interior texture of the muffin was more the consistancy of a bagel rather than an english muffin. The inside was more dense and did not have the "holes" an english muffin has. The flavor was very good though. Due to having to take my daughter somewhere, I cooked part of the muffins after a 30 minute final rise and the rest of them after an hour rise and the ones which were allowed to rise longer were nicer and bigger. Delicious toasted and topped with cream cheese!!

My husband and I were very impressed with this recipe! I did have to alter the cooking of the dough: low heat for about 8 min. on each side, and frequently turning them to brown evenly. Delicious!

I am still in the process of making this recipe. However, I do have a question. The recipe states to add the sugar to the shortening and milk. It also says to add the sugar to the yeast and water mixer. I have added the sugar to the milk mixture for ease in dissolving the sugar. The dough has risen beautifully and the muffins are rising before cooking. It seems funny to 'bake' the muffins in the frying pan.

These were very tasty. They are best would cooked slowly. It takes time but the English Muffins are delicious. They keep well for about a week and toast well.

I love these! The yeast will proof faster if you add the sugar to the water/yeast mixture, but I've made it both ways and it works just fine.

Great Recipe as is! However, I did make some changes. Substituted butter for the shortening. Heated butter, milk, water until melted and proofed the yeast right in the warm liquids. Only added flour until the dough wasn't sticky anymore. After cutting dough out let them rise on baking pans covered in coarse corn meal so that I wouldn't have to transfer them and lose their second rise air. Baked in a 350 convection oven for 8 min and flipped and did another 8 min. They didn't have just a brown top and bottom, can do that in a pan, but had an all over golden brown color. Serve this for breakfast at me cafe, hope this helps!

This recipe was a good one. They looked pretty and the dough was great to work with. They didn't taste like store-bought english muffins, more like a dinner roll. I baked them at 350 for 8 minutes per side as other reviewers suggested, which produced a more even color. I'll be making these again!

These are wonderful!! I found them very easy to make. Made them early in the am, and by lunch my family had eaten half of them....got about 20 from the recipe. I froze the rest and they held up very well. I will certainly use this many times. Thank you so very much!!

To get a lot of nooks and crannies: -Keep the dough as wet as you can while still being able to form it. The more moisture, the larger the holes will be. Just use a generous amount of flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter when patting it out to 1/2 inch. -After the first rise, do not punch it down. Spoon it gently onto the floured counter top and pat out, trying to deflate as few air pockets as possible. -After you cut them out and let them rise again, be very gentle when you move them to the griddle; keep those air pockets intact! For more flavor: Double the salt. Otherwise the bread is a bit bland.

I now have made these muffins twice. Before the end of this week, it will be again. Because I love making bread with much experience, I've made some changes. SOME CHANGES I'VE MADE. I did NOT roll out and then cut with circle. I rolled them into a log and cut with a knife or pastry cutter. 18 slices perfect size. You can press into shape once cut. Easier to get into a log if get a log and cut in half. Then cut into 9 equal pieces. Add a good TABLESPOON Salt instead of the teaspoon in the recipe. Salt is the only ingredient that gives bread its taste. Also, I used NO Cornmeal. Instead I have a pancake eletric grill. Once formed, I place them directly on grill, let rise 1 hour then put on 11 minutes 1st side on 300 F. 10 minutes 2nd. side. I do spray the grill with food release. (Pam) The shortening, I used butter flavor Crisco. What a great thing ! THESE will be gone before breakfast which you made them for. Wow! Please enjoy!

I got the nooks and crannies, must admit, I roll out to 1/4", then fold the dough over on itself, then cut to 3 1/2" circles. Let rise a long time, I have a cold kitchen, it takes longer. And freeze half after they are cooked in my cast iron frying pan, slightly greased each time with PAM spray, as needed. Will look for future recipes from you Linda.

what a treat these were! the kids gobbled them up fast and they are picky! I enjoyed them myself as well...just a bit confused though about the sugar (when to add, since it is mentioned twice. I added it with the shortening and milk)

This is almost identical to my moms recipe for English muffins, except she added 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg with the sugar, and didn't roll and cut the dough but formed it into 24 balls and let rise. In order to get nooks and crannies you need to handle the dough as little as possible, make sure it doubles in the second rising, cook it slowly on low heat, don't push down on it when it is cooking, and Fork split. The texture is all in technique not ingredients.

The nooks and cranies come from the air bubbles (co2)left in the dough after the first rise. When you punch down the dough, you let the air out of the dough by popping those bubbles. If you want nooks and cranies, form the muffins, then let the muffins sit for 15/20 minutes to rise again, the yeast will have a second chance to develop the co2 and alcohols that make the pockets (air bubbles) or what we call "nooks and crannies". This is a great recipe, its easy, and as a chef, I'm happy to have this in my repetoir.

This truly are better than store bought. Well worth your time.

These muffins taste great! I would have appreciated a bit more info in the recipe. I was left wondering whether I'd risen them long enough, what to do with the extra dough when cutting with a biscuit cutter, how hot the griddle should be etc... In spite of this, they turned out great. I only made one change; on my second batch (after finding the left-over dough tough & hard to roll out), instead of cutting with a biscuit cutter, I cut rectangles with a pizza wheel. They don't look like store-bought but taste the same and no wasted dough!

Easier than I ever imagined! After reading the reviews I used bread flour instead of all purpose flour and butter flavored crisco instead of shortening. I opted to make the dough in the bread machine on the dough cycle. Then I formed a log without messing with the dough too much. I cut it into 9 almost equal pieces (next time I'll do 12 because they were really big) I used my Tupperware hamburger press form (the circle only) and my fingers to press the dough into perfect circles. I let them rise on the parchment lined cookie sheet I was going to bake them on for an hour in the oven with the oven light on. I took the cookie sheet out, preheated the oven to 375 degrees. Baked 8 minutes on one side, flipped them, 8 minutes on the other side. They are lite, airy and wonderful. Will make again!

This is one of the best english muffins I have ever tasted!! I did change only one thing. Use bread flour instead of AP flour. Make sure your yeast is fresh and active and to use water heated to 110 to 120 degrees. I have made this many times over and have advice for proper frying: I have an electric stove. Ten is high, zero is low. I used 1 which I would say is medium/low. Fry 3 or 4 at a time in a frying pan with a LID. Use about 1 capful of frying oil for EACH SIDE for about 8 minutes; with the lid on your english muffins, it will fry, bake and rise at the same time. It comes out a beautiful golden brown and is perfect every time.

Perfect! Make sure to let them rise for soft, fluffy insides. The first rise should be at least an hour, second rise at least 45 minutes. I used a large martini glass to cut large rounds of dough. Thanks!

Great recipe! I didn't change anything except after reading the reviews for this recipe, I was very careful not to over handle the dough, and I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper and baked them at 375 for 8 minutes, flipped them and let them go for another 8 minutes. Wonderful! =)

These are awesome english muffins. The recipe can be easily converted to vegan (I used almond milk and saffola.) It's easy to make and the whole family loves them!

these were very delicious and my family ate each and every one of them. i agree that these muffins are better than any store bought brand.

Most definitely only use 4.5 to 5 cups of flour. What I do is dump flour in a pile onto my counter, make a well, and pour liquids into the well. Slowly stir with a fork or your hands, incorporating the flour "wall" into the liquid. You'll know when to stop incorporating more flour. The dough almost tells you to stop! I make pasta this way, also. I've made the recipe as written, and have also made it using one part whole wheat flour to two parts AP flour. The whole wheat version doesn't rise as much (both during proofing and pan frying) but does yield a higher crunch after toasting. I'm allergic to corn so I omit the cornmeal. Instead I lightly sprinkle kosher or sea salt on both sides of the muffins as they're fresh out of the pan fry stage. Love these muffins but they do need a little TLC. I'm going to upload a picture of muffins I made tonight that are the wheat version and cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter. They are delish!

When you can't get English Muffins or even when you can, this is a great recipe. My Husband loved them.

Extremely yummy! They were all gone in a day and a half. I wonder what they would be like if you substituted honey or molasses for the sugar? I'm going to try it next time.

I followed the ingredients exactly as listed, but changed the technique a bit. I warmed the milk in the microwave- I've found it's more difficult to accidentally scald it that way. I used half bread flour and half all-purpose flour. The breadmachine did the kneading for me, but I transferred to a greased bowl for the first rise. I allowed the dough to rise for at least an hour before lightly punching, rolling out to 3/4" (not 1/2") thickness. Baked at 375°F, but won't brown them on the griddle until I'm ready to eat/serve them (I'm the only one in the house who eats English muffins). All in all, the flavor was great, and allowing the dough sufficient time to rise will develop tons of "nooks and crannies" during baking.

This is an ok recipe but it does need to be altered! We make them with 100% whole white wheat flour and honey. Extremely delicious! Instead of rolling the dough I put it in a log and sliced. Reduce flour to 5 cups, increase liquid and yeast by an additional 50%. After making this both in the oven and stove top I must say that the oven is definitely better. Some say that pan frying them will get you the nooks and crannies but it does not. In fact, they rise much more in the oven and have more nooks and crannies because of this. PLUS, the recipe states to pan fry them for 10 minutes each side, mine were quite brown after 5 minutes on medium heat. The second batch I moved the heat down quite a bit and they were still brown way before the 10 minute mark. Put them in the oven at 350 for 7-8 minutes each side.

Loved the flavor and texture of these muffins. One recommendation, though -- don't just "sprinkle" the cornmeal on the parchment paper; be generous enough with it that the dough cannot stick at all to the paper. Mine stuck in places, and that caused the dough to deflate as I moved them to the skillet.

This is a great recipe. I used butter instead of shortening. I also wanted to cook them all at once, so I baked in a 350 degree convection oven for 8 minutes, turned and baked for an additional 7. They're delicious!

I would give these a 5 in overall taste, but since they were supposed to be english muffins and ended up tasting like really good rolls, I gave them 3. I subbed margarine instead of shortening (personal peference) but kept everything else as is. Using a fork to seperate did keep the nooks and crannies in tact, but the texture was not that of a regular english muffin. I also baked these at 375 for 8 min on each side on a greased baking sheet and they turned out beautifully. I halved the recipe and ended up with 12 nice sized muffins. I am planning on trying alton brown's english muffin recipe, as it makes a wet batter, and seems to be more of the texture I was looking for.

this is great

These English Muffins came out so great, and I have fun making them. To make them a little bit healthier, I used 3 cups of whole wheat flour and 3 coups of all-purpose flour.

Well... I had high hopes for this recipe based on the great reviews and star rating, but... sorry, I have to agree with one or two others, that these are not English Muffins! They LOOK about right, but they don't taste right, they don't feel right, they don't smell right. I can't give them any more than a 2-star rating primarily because of the claim that the are better than store bought... Nah! I'll take the store bought over these any day.

Great recipe! Here's what I did: I made the dough in my Kitchenaid mixer with the dough hook. I subbed out one cup of flour for wheat flour and added 1T honey to the liquid mix to make these more like the Honey Wheat variety you can get in the store. Delicious. I would add the flour gradually and stop when a soft dough ball forms. I think I ended up using 5 1/4 cups flour. 6 cups would have made this too dense. Also, I recommend bread flour, as others have said. When I put these in the griddle, I added about a tablespoon of butter to the oil. When they were nicely browned on both sides, I finished them in a 400 degree over for 3 minutes to make sure they were done through. I was able to get 21 good-sized muffins. I put most of them in the freezer and plan to make mini pizzas on them for my sons' sack lunches for school.

Mine didn't turn out dense at all! They were beautifully fluffy and soft with nooks and crannies. I did bake them, not pan fry... I just don't have the time to tend to the fire/pan. My husband is over the moon - he hates the 'freezer burn' taste of the store-bought kind. Oh yes, I did use butter instead of shortening cuz that's all I had on hand. The aroma is beautifully buttery and delicious. Thank you!

These were easy to make (I cheated and made the dough in my bread machine) and really tasty.

These were amazing! They are SO much better than store bought. I'm ruined now because I can never go back. It was very easy and I didn't have any problems at all. I'm not sure what the "nooks and crannies" is all about but if we're talking air bubbles or holes, I didn't have any of that. The only thing different I did was use the bread flour instead of all purpose. I see a lot of reviews saying not to handle the dough much after the first rise, but when I cut my muffins I had to knead it or stick the remaining dough back together to keep cutting until my dough was gone; waste not want not. It didn't appear to make any difference at all. They all came out wonderful! This is definitely going to be my recipe of choice, here on out. The only thing I would suggest to do different (besides the bread flour) is to use a 4-5 inch cutter. Mine was a 3-inch and was a bit small. They're still very good, but small.

This is a great recipe. Mine turned out just like Thomas' English muffins - although I cut them out and baked them, rather than cooking them on a griddle. I threw corn meal on a baking stone, placed the cut out muffins, buttered the tops and sprinkled more corn meal on the top. They were beautiful. I served them w/ clotted cream and peach preserves - no THAT is a decadent treat

MUCH better than the recipe I've been using for over 20 years!! To prevent deflating, after cutting out, place muffins directly on the griddle, then let rise as directed. Then, begin on a very low heat. If using electric griddle or fry pan as I usually do, start heating around 250 degrees. You can either leave it at this temp & cook about 15 min. per side (till slightly golden), or increase heat a little and cook for less time. This may take longer, but I never have the problem of them deflating. If using stove top, I begin them on low, then increase temp a bit after pan is hot.

Very good and easy to make. Excellent texture and taste. Using this recipe, and a 1-pound coffee can for a cutter, it makes perfect hamburger buns. After rolling out dough 1/2-inch thick, cut with coffee can and place on lightly floured 11 x 16 baking pan. Lightly brush tops with butter, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 400-deg F for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack then slice.

This was my first time making English muffins. I put all ingredients in my Breadman with the yeast last on top of the flour. Put on dough cycle. After 90 minutes I placed on counter and cut in half. I didn't roll out, just patted slightly and cut. Got 20 muffins about 3/4 inch thick. I place cornmeal in a soup bowl and after cutting each I placed into the cornmeal, pressed down both sides into the meal. I then placed onto baking sheets covered in cornmeal. I used my large cast iron skillet. Must be kept on lowest heat setting. I flipped them several times as they were getting dark. I did manage to cook them for 20 minutes. I made a loaf out of the 2nd half and baked for 25 minutes at 420. I used a standard canning jar ring to cut the muffins. A larger ring would be better. The muffins are delicious and loaded with nooks and crannies. My husband loves the bread.

I am giving these a 4 star because I strongly feel they should be baked in the oven for best results. I tried frying them on the stove with very poor results so I put the rest of the muffins in the oven at 350 degress for 1o minutes, turned them over and backed for another 8 minutes. They turned out great, not burnt like my results on the stove. Also much healthier by baking them too. Taste is great. I will be making these again but for sure baking them in the oven

Excellent and easy to make. It might be noted that if using rapid rise yeast just add dry yeast to dry ingredients (flour, salt etc) then blend in. Premixing yeast is not neccessary if using dry rapid rise type. This makes it even easier to make these excellent muffins.

Tasted like buns and texture was about the same as well.

This were really good and look like store bought english muffins. If possible, let them rise(second rise) in the pans that you are going to cook them in. I let them rise on the counter and when transferring them to the pan,the muffins deflated somewhat from the rising process and lost some of the crevices. I cooked them in an electric skillet on 300 for 20 minutes and they were perfect.

We love this recipe. We have made a few variations, however....We use trans fat-free shortening, and have had luck adding raisins to the dough. We also mix the dough in the bread machine, then take it out to roll it and cut it into shapes. We don't use grease in our frying pan, and then we put the finished muffins in the oven (at temp 200) to wait for the rest to cook in the pan. We take them all out when they are done, and put them in food storage bags.

After reading reviews from many people emphasizing to be very gentle with the dough, I really tried my best to handle it as little as possible after the first rise. I did end up using pretty much the whole amount of flour as the dough was sticky until it was all in there and used butter instead of shortening as that's what I had. I did the log-cutting method since I didn't want to have any wasted dough and I ended up with 20 muffins. I also added a pinch of sugar when proofing the yeast and let the muffins/dough rise in a warm oven (30 minutes for each rise). I cooked about half in a pan on the stove and about half on my electric griddle. The ones on the stove browned a bit better (maybe I needed higher heat on the griddle?). My muffins fork split just fine and made the traditional "nooks & crannies" with some muffins fluffier inside than others. They do come out a little denser than storebought, but quite excellent! I toasted and buttered a muffin from my first cooking batch and was saddened to discover that my jelly had gotten fuzzy in the fridge :( So, I topped them with sliced cheese instead. My four year old inhaled his and I'm planning to get more jelly this afternoon!

After the muffins have been formed place them on a cookie sheet that has been covered with a very thick layer of cornmeal. This will keep the muffins from sticking after they've risen the second time and makes it very easy to slide a spatula beneath each muffin when they're ready to cook on the griddle. Still working over the cookie sheet, gently transfer the risen muffin from the spatula onto your other hand to let the excess cornmeal fall away before sliding it back onto the spatula and then onto the griddle. All the extra cornmeal on the cookie sheet can be tapped onto a flexible plastic cutting sheet and then transferred back to the cornmeal container for reuse in the future.

These are great! I was so scared at first, since this was my first time really working with dry yeast! I took other reviwers' suggestions and handled the dough lightly. I also only added about 3/4 of the suggested ammount of flour and only left the circles of dough out for 15 minutes to rise, they then rose on the griddle. They were delicious! Full of nooks and crannies, just the way they should be!

Eat your heart out Thomas's

Yay! No more packaged muffins! I used a bread machine through the first rise & rolled mine out to about a half inch & let them rise an additional 45 minutes. Yummo!

These were so yummy! Tons of nooks and crannies. I did switch out butter for the shortening, and instead of rounds I used a pizza cutter and made squares to avoid having to re-roll the dough. YUMMY!

This is the second time making these muffins very good my family loved them today I added 1 tbl of cinnamon and 2 tbls of brown sugar to the mix they are even better....yummy

Fantastic! I love english muffins and I love these better than any I've ever bought. Thank you so much, I've added these to my recipe box and my collection of favorites. I'll be hard pressed to buy store bought again. :o) :o)

First time baking bread...and it turn out ok. I only added about 5 cups of flour. I will do it again and will half the recipe.

These are FANTASTIC. It is noteworthy to share a couple of secrets. First, do not worry! These WILL rise even more when on the griddle. My first time making them, I was worried that they would be flat. No chance of that. Second, better than putting them on wax paper sprinkled with cornmeal, put them on a greased baking sheet. I tried it both ways, and once raised, the muffins deflated when I tried moving them from the wax paper to the griddle. Not so with those on the greased sheet. Even though english muffins are often buy one get one free at my local store, I'd still rather make them with this recipe. They are that good!

The first time I made them, they were just awful. Since I often bake with yeast, I should have been more careful: 6 cups of flour is WAY too much! They were like hockey pucks. Made a second batch using 4 cups of flour. Significantly better in texture; I even had a few nooks & crannies! Took some reviewer's advice and let them rise right on the griddle, rather than lose the second rising by moving them. They taste OK, but I'm probably not going to make them again. The flavor is bland, a bit yeast-y, and the texture too bread-y. The dough might make a nice dinner roll but it's not a great English muffin.

6 cups of flour? this dough was impossible to work with after adding all of the flour the recipe called for.

I could not believe how easy these were to make. The flavor is wonderful and the texture is so much better than store-bought. The griddle on my stove was browning them too fast, so the second time I made them, I used a large electric skillet on low....worked perfectly! Muffins cooked slowly, all the way through, without getting overdone on the outside. I LOVE this recipe! Thanks very much, LindaPinda!

Sorry wasn't impressed with them. It was a texture thing. It was crisp and crumbly, not like an english muffin, soft and slighty chewy. Thanks for posting the recipe though.

Excellent Recipe! My first "from scratch" yeast recipe and it was so easy and the finished product is delicious. I did end up baking these @ 350 for approx. 8 min on the first side and 7 min on the second. I attempted to use an electric griddle (only griddle I have) and the one I have is too hard to regulate the temp and I burned the first couple of muffins. Baking worked out perfectly. I will make these often. Thanks for sharing!

My were hockey pucks. Maybe my yeast was too old- easy to make

I've made these many times for friends and my food co-op, and everyone loves them. They're wonderful to have around for breakfast or a snack. Sometimes I substitute 2 cups of the flour with 2 cups of whole wheat flour, which makes them especially crisp and a bit more dense. You'll get more "nooks and crannies" if you let them rise a bit longer after rolling out and cutting the dough, about 45 minutes instead of 30. I'd also recommend experimenting with flavors - adding things like cinnamon or honey. Once you've fooled around with this recipie a bit and figured out the way you like them best, you'll never want to buy store bought english muffins again!

The flavor of these muffins are 5 star with a couple of alterations. I used double the amount of yeast and was able to only knead in 5 cups of flour before the dough became too thick. Using a large electric griddle, cooked for 10 minutes per side at 280 degrees. Very good results with these alterations. Will make again!

A solid recipe, very easy and time effective as far as muffin/biscuit recipes go. A lot of reviewers say they didn't get the "nooks and crannies" typical of English Muffins; I would suggest activating the yeast before mixing (a pinch of sugar and flour into the water mixture) Also beware of over-kneading the dough after you punch it down. All in all a great recipe, especially if you like thicker muffins.

Awesome and easy recipe. For me, living in Spain, I can't find English muffins anywhere, but after making this recipe I've decided to stop looking. This was my first solo attempt at bread making, and it was not only easy, forgiving, and challenging enough, but the end result is wonderful. I heeded other reviewers advice to handle as little as possible after the first rise, and though the dough seemed super bubbly and very fragile, I carefully transfered the risen muffins to the oven and cooked 8 min at 375, per other reviewers directions, then flipped with a spatula and cooked another eight. Though the muffins looked too light when 8 min had past, by the time they were done they had browned nicely on both sides- a lovely golden color. They only get brown where they touch the pan though, so don't expect golden color all around, mine were still mostly white on top. Since I always split these with a fork, I had plenty of nooks and crannys. Next time I'm going to try with bread flour to see if I get bigger ones. I used some corn muffin mix in place of the corn meal (basically the same thing) and it gave the muffins a very subtle and pleasant sweetness to the crust. I have used these for breakfast, snacks and even as pizza crusts for personal pizzas (no leftovers). Delicious!

very good recipe!!! i didnt get big nooks and crannies but these are sooo good! Some helpfull tips: I use 5 cups of flour, but i guess it depends on where you live.. i let the dough rise 1 hour for each rise covered and close to the warm oven. I used butter instead of shortening because im not sure where they sell shortening in chile. the tricky part is transferring these to a skillet ( i used a large lightly greased cast iron skillet): you have to handle them the least possible for them not to deflate.. use a GREASED spatula so they dont stick to it. cook on very low temp. I flipped them about twice each side. GREAT FOR A FIRST TIMER AT USING YEAST .. soo easy although if it werent for the girls at the exchange i wouldnt have been able to make these!

This was my first attempt at English muffins. I had fun and they're everything I hoped for in homemade. I will definitely be making these regularly in the future. I added my sugar to the proofing yeast. I can't imagine that matters, only that it dissolves. I didn't rush the second rise. Made 18 muffins. I used my large carving fork to split each one. When you pull them apart, they have lots of nooks and crannies. They're really something to sink your teeth into. Thank you for sharing this Linda.

So happy to report that these turned out delicious! After reading a bunch of reviews I did make a few adjustments. Used honey in place of the sugar, butter in place of the shortening, added about 2 Tbl of ground flax seed, and used only about 4 1/2 cups of flour (6 would have been way too much!) I baked them on a cornmeal sprinkled (don't skimp on the cornmeal) baking sheet at 375 for 8 minutes per side. After they were done in the oven I finished them on the stove top in a warm cast iron skillet (no grease/oil) for 2-3 minutes per side. That final step gives the muffin the "finished" look of an English Muffin. Don't skip that last step. I fork split several muffins and toasted them up once cooled. Plenty of nooks/crannies and oh so yummy! No more store bought for us!

these ended up bland tasting and fluffy :( I'm wondering if I let them rise too much? I will be trying them again though!

This is the third time I've made these muffins and they are perfect every time! because I'm not so handy with a griddle, I took the advice of one of the other reviewers and baked them in the oven at 180Celsius for about 20 -25 mins. Perfect every time!!

Wow - this is tough to rate. As a bread product I give it a 5. As an english muffin I give it a 2. The flavor is NOT english muffin like. The nooks and crannies were definately NOT there even though I followed all the other suggestions. I will make again - but not as english muffins. These make great buns and I love the skillet baking.

These were easy to make and tasted good, nothing outstanding, but just good homemade bread. My children and nieces and nephes really liked them , and they go wonderful with "Cinnamon Honey Butter" from this site. I finished mine in the oven, because I didn't have time to stand over my electric griddle. I fried them for about 10 mins total, flipping as needed to brown them evenly, and then put them on a baking sheet and baked them at 250 for about 10 or so more minutes. They finished nicely and freed me up a bit. I'll make these again, and since they make a lot, you can easily freeze a batch. Next time my kids can help! Thanks Linda for sharing a good old family recipie!

Good for a grilled bread...not english muffins in flavor profile or texture.

I tried again and skipped the punch down part.I also tried to bake them but, they were NOT AS YUMMY!oh yes the second batch turned out so much more bodaciously awesome.thank you linda for sharing this.Also I didn't knead much. The less you play with the dough the better. I even got nooks n crannies this time. you just want to add enuf flour to where the dough is not sticky roll out and use a big cup with a wide lippet. IF YOU WANT BIG MUFFINS I stirred by hand cuz I had no mixer. HOPE THIS HELPS HAPPY COOKING TO ALL! :)

Really good results with this recipe. I use half whole wheat flour and half bread flour, and lately I've been making them sourdough by omitting the yeast, adding 1 cup of sourdough starter, and leaving 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 cup water out of the original recipe. If you make them sourdough, it's best to make the dough the night before and let it rise overnight in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge an hour or two before shaping to take the chill off, and then proceed as normal. They are really delicious with homemade peanut butter and honey or bananas.

These english muffins are awesome. Ever since I made them about 2 months ago, my husband refuses store bought ones. He brags about them to everyone. I do use a little less flour than it calls for. Thanks for the recipe

I used butter instead of shortening and the buttery taste was very pronounced. I also cut the flour to 5 cups. For the "real" english muffin flavor, I simply cut and toasted. It was great.

Too bad this recipe doesn't have the true "nooks and crannies" of the english muffins we all love. They look great and are simple to make, but even fork split- no holes. Too bad, because the taste is good, but unfortunately, they are not true english muffins.

This was a very easy recipe to use. I too cut the flour back to about 4½ cups and they came out perfect.

This recipe is AMAZING! I had never made English muffins before and I love doing something new. I followed the recipe exactly and the taste is perfect. I actually amazed myself! Next time I will try adding cinnamon and raisins. Thank you Linda Pinda for sharing.

Fun-tastic! Made these with the kids and used rings I purchased especially for Eng. muffins. You can also use tuna cans with both ends removed. The only "change" I made was to use soy milk. Deee-lish! Be sure to use a fork to split the muffins so that when you tear them open they have the nooks and crannies. Cutting with a knife will give the muffin a flat surface.

Tasty and delicious they puffed up perfectly and were actually crunchy an amazing

These are 3 star becausee the way the recipe is written it won't work out so well. 6 C of flour is too much. I stopped at 5, since it's typical to stop short and add just as much as it takes to make the dough the right consistency... it was still too much and the dough was tough. Unless your kitchen is really warm 1/2 hour is NOT going to be enough time to get your final rise in. I think the reason this recipe is so highly rated is because homemade bread that is fresh is amazing, even if imperfect. I'm certain that when the original poster makes these they are amazing, it's just one of those recipes that needs to be written REALLY well and it isn't... even to an experienced baker like myself.

Fantastic recipe! I just made some for my fiance and I for our breakfasts in the week, and WOW! They are fantastic. Nooks & Crannies, great flavor, it has everything! Original owner of this recipe, you have Mr. Thomas beat! I changed the melted shortening for veg. oil/canola, and still turned out great. Also, these cooked up much faster than I expected with a gas range stove.

These looked like english muffins on the outside, but the inside was just a regular bun texture. An english muffin should have lots of nooks and crannies. This was an ok bun recipe, but by no means is it even close to an english muffin.

Good! I used half whole wheat flour, and cooked them in my electric skillet at 325. Had to keep the lid on to keep the 10 minute time but well worth it! The texture is similar to bagels, but it is still very good. Thanks!

Very nice - I took the advise of others & baked them 8 min a side at 375 - then finished them 2-3 min a side on a griddle set at low. Perfect! Definitely do NOT handle the dough much after the first rising. Saving this recipe in my favorites - Thank you

This was my first time making English Muffins and it certainly will not be my last using this recipe! They turned out perfect! At the suggestion of some others, I placed the cut dough on a greased cookie sheet to rise. To transfer the dough rounds to the hot griddle I dipped a metal spatula in flour and they slid right off. I halved the recipe which gave me eight 3 1/2" muffins. You may not need all of the flour as the recipe states, just enough to make a soft dough. I preheated my electric griddle to 225 degrees. It is amazing how high they rise after being placed on the griddle. I used a fork to cut through the muffins, giving the muffin the desired texture. This will be the perfect recipe for the hot summer months, fresh and homemade bread without heating up the oven! I just had to give this recipe a try, and I am glad that I did.

TOP NOTCH IN MY BOOK! These were easy to make and very tasty! I was worried about them rising good enough, but when they sat on the griddle for a minute they rose beautifully! My husband loves! I am making more for my parents who love english muffins. Going to also try some wheat ones! I substituted 1 cup of the flour for wheat flour. It came out delicious again! This is incredible dough! I can't quit making them. I freeze them and have them handy when I want to take out just a few. I give them away and people love them!

These English muffins were awesome. I followed the directions exactly, except for letting my bread machine do the mixing for me. My machine isn't designed to hold that much dough, though, so I couldn't let it finish the complete dough cycle (it would have spilled all over the sides). When they first came off the griddle, these were warm and soft and delicious. My 5 year old loved them, but she said they tasted just like bread, so she didn't see what made them "English muffins," but after fork splitting and toasting them, we got that wonderful texture you expect from an English muffin. There were tons of nooks and crannies, but they didn't quite get to the size of what you might find in a Thomas's--next time I make them, I'll do it by hand and work at the texture, but there WILL be a next time, and another, and another....

Real authentic English Muffines... at least they tasted like it... great recipe... the only thing I would change is when you "bake" the muffins in the skillet use low heat... mine got burnt on the outside before i realized it and turned it down and had to continuely flipping them creating a more dence muffin... other than that just be careful when transfering to the skillet so they stay risen nicely... try using a spatula... my family ate these up pretty fast... definately a keeper..

I'm not an expert chef, and I hardly have the patience to watch dough raise... but, WOW! This recipe is amazing. Better than Thomas's or Bay's! This English muffin addict will not buy them in a store again.

Great! and easy. I prepare the dough the night before and let it rise in the fridge. Then proceed with the recipe.

Beat the batter until you are sure the gluten is developed. This will make the larger air pockets. Do not include fat in the recipe because this makes the bread soft. If it is still too soft for you, use water instead of milk. If it is not soft enough, add a tbs of fat.

These were absolutely delicious. Even my mother, who has always hated the English muffins we bought in the store, loved these (she put butter and sprinkled onions over one still warm from the griddle-mmm.) I wanted to make mine with half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour, but I wound up using three cups whole-wheat and only one-plus all-purpose, since I could tell while forming the dough that six cups were going to make the dough far too dense. They were still wonderful, and they look beautiful! Thanks for the recipe.