English Muffins

Appears in
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

By Andrew F. Smith

Published 2004

  • About
English muffins are flat, circular breads, about one inch high, usually made from flour, milk, butter, and yeast, and they are often dusted with cornmeal. The muffins are cooked on a griddle, sometimes with special English muffin rings. English muffins have a golden-brown top and a white middle so soft that the muffins are horizontally split with the fingers or a fork (not a knife). English muffins are toasted and can be spread with butter, jams, and jellies or used as a sandwich bread.

Some early muffin recipes produced what we now call “English” muffins. Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) contains a muffin recipe of flour, yeast, salt, and water.