Bread-flour English muffins with the classic craggy interior, finished with a skillet sear and a bake to set the crumb. Long process, mostly hands-off. Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s Light and Crispy English Muffins.
At a Glance
| Yield | 10 muffins |
| Active | ~1 hour |
| Total | ~12.5 hours (includes 8-16 hr overnight chill) |
| Oven | 400°F |
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bread flour | 2 1/2 cups (390 g) |
| Instant or rapid-rise yeast | 1 1/2 tsp |
| Table salt | 1 1/4 tsp |
| Water, room temperature | 1 1/3 cups |
| Honey | 1 1/2 tbsp |
| Semolina flour, for dusting | 1/2 cup |
Method
Mix
Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk water and honey together, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir until no dry pockets remain. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
Stretch and fold
Do two rounds of stretch-and-fold: lift the dough at one edge, stretch upward, fold across the bowl. Rotate 45° and repeat about a dozen times. Cover, rest 20 minutes. Repeat the whole set once more.
Bulk rise
Flip the dough seam side down, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Portion
Lay 10 four-inch parchment squares on a baking sheet. Lightly spray with oil, dust with semolina. Spread more semolina in a 10-inch circle on the counter. Turn the dough out onto it seam side up.
Shape
Gently press the dough into an even round. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut the end strips into 2 pieces each; cut the middle strips into 3 pieces each (10 total). Shape each portion by folding the corners into the center, then pinching the sides together to make a rough round. Set seam side down on the parchment squares.
Overnight chill
Cover and refrigerate 8 to 16 hours. The long cold rest is where the flavor and structure come from.
Warm up
Pull the sheet from the fridge and let the muffins sit covered at room temperature until puffy and soft, 45 to 60 minutes. About 40 minutes in, put a 12-inch skillet on medium-low to preheat, and heat the oven to 400°F.
Sear
Bump the skillet to medium. Working in batches of up to 3, invert muffins into the skillet. Don’t move them; cook until spotty brown on the bottom, 45 to 60 seconds. Flip and repeat on the second side. Return to the baking sheet.
Bake
Bake until golden and the largest muffin registers 205°F internal, 8 to 10 minutes.
Cool
Invert onto a wire rack and cool completely, at least 1 hour. Split with a fork (never a knife) so the nooks stay ragged. Toast to serve.
Notes
- Fork-split, don’t knife-split. The cratered interior is the whole point. A knife gives you a smooth cut.
- Semolina is what gives the outside that classic gritty crunch. Cornmeal works in a pinch but the texture is different.
- The overnight chill is not optional. Attempting to skip it gives you dense muffins with no flavor.
- Storage: cool completely, then bag. Room temp 2 days, frozen up to 2 months. Toast from frozen.
Source
Adapted from Light and Crispy English Muffins — America’s Test Kitchen. See the original for photos and the full write-up.