Delicious homemade English muffins are so much better than store-bought! Soft yet chewy, this easy recipe takes only 7 ingredients! Perfect for brunch or an afternoon snack.
Combine 2 cups of the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if mixing by hand). Stir briefly with a dough hook to combine.
Add the butter and the milk, and mix on low until a dough forms. The dough should be soft, not stiff. If the dough doesn't come together, add more milk, little by little. If the dough is wet and sticky, add a little of the ¼ cup flour you've held back.
Mix at medium speed for 8 minutes (or 10 minutes, if mixing by hand), until the dough is soft and tacky. (Tacky is like a Post-It note - it leaves behind little residue on your finger if you press it.) If the dough sticks to your fingers and leaves dough behind, add in a little extra flour. The dough will pass a windowpane test at this point (see notes).
Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm area for 60-90 minutes, until dough has doubled in size.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 6 equal pieces (each about 3 ounces/85 grams in weight). Take the edges of each piece and pull them underneath themselves to form a tight ball. Continue pulling the dough underneath itself as long as it takes to get surface tension.
Place balls of dough on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Spray the tops of the balls, sprinkle with more cornmeal, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for another 60 minutes, until they have doubled in size again.
Heat a griddle to 350F, and preheat your oven to 350F as well. Slide a spatula underneath each piece of dough to transfer it to the hot griddle. (If you don't have room for all the English muffins, keep the remaining dough covered.)
Cook on the first side for 5-8 minutes, until well browned. Flip and cook for another 5-8 minutes, until you can't cook it longer without scorching it.
Transfer cooked English muffins to a baking sheet. Immediately bake in the 350F oven for another 5-8 minutes to cook the middle. (If you couldn't griddle all your muffins at once, do not wait for your remaining muffins; this will mess up the cook time.)
Repeat the cooking process with your remaining pieces of dough. Cool completely before splitting and toasting. Store in an airtight container.
A soft dough is essential for making these muffins. I've held back a little of the flour because it's easier to add flour to a wet dough than it is to add liquid to a dry dough.
Windowpane test: take a small piece of dough and flatten it out with your fingers. It should stretch and not tear easily, and you should be able to get it thin enough to see light through it.
Cold kitchen? I often preheat my oven for 1-2 minutes, then shut it off and put my dough in it to rise.
Adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice