English Muffins

The hands-on time for these no-knead, vegan English muffins is less than an hour, but you do need another few hours for rising plus an overnight stay in the fridge.
Yield 12 English muffins
Time an hour, plus time to rise and rest
Tools
  • large bowl
  • rubber spatula
  • medium bowl
  • whisk
  • large plate or pot lid
  • large rimmed baking sheet
  • large spoon
  • 12-inch heavy skillet
  • spatula
  • wire rack
Ingredients
  • 2 T lukewarm water
  • 1½ t yeast
  • 2 c bread flour
  • 1 c wheat flour
  • 1½ t salt
  • 3 T cold aquafaba
  • 1½ c cold milk (e.g., soy, oat, almond, or cashew)
  • ¼ c agave, malt syrup, or maple syrup
  • 1 c fine cornmeal*
  • 2 T vegan butter or grapeseed or deodorized coconut oil
Directions

Combine the water and yeast in the large bowl and set aside.

Whisk the aquafaba in the medium bowl until slightly foamy, then whisk in the milk and syrup.

To the yeast, add both flours and the salt and mix well. Add in the milk and continuing mixing until well blended. It should form a sticky ball; if not, add a bit more flour – though not so much that it’s no longer sticky.

Cover the bowl with the plate and let sit at room temperature for 4-5 hours.

Evenly sprinkle about half the cornmeal on the baking sheet.*

Drop large spoonfuls of dough on top of the cornmeal. You can wet your fingers and gently push/spread the dough to make better circles.

Sprinkle the rest of the cornmeal on top, cover** and refrigerate anywhere from 12 to 48 hours.

Heat half the butter or oil over medium heat, When it’s sizzling hot, lower to medium-low and add a few muffins, leaving plenty of space in between.

After 2 minutes, check the bottoms – if they’re not browning evenly, rotate each muffin 180 degrees and fry another 2 minutes until golden brown (4 minutes total, whether or not you need to rotate).***

Flip and repeat on the other side, then transfer to wire rack to cool.

Repeat with the rest of the dough.

When the muffins have cooled, use your fingers or a fork to slowly, gently break the muffins into 2 halves. It’s more fun and rustic-looking with your fingers, but easier with a fork.

Toast and serve with your choice of toppings, such as

Notes * I didn’t have any cornmeal but really wanted to make these, so I did without. The point of the cornmeal is to keep the dough from spreading after you’ve dropped the dough onto the baking sheet, and what happened is that they spread out in the fridge overnight. I used a rubber spatula to gather up the dough for each muffin, place it in the hot pan, and then carefully push/spread it into a (more or less) circular shape, and as you can see, they turned out great.

** Instead of plastic wrap, I turned a second rimmed baking sheet upside down and placed it carefully on top.

*** The original recipe says 8 minutes total per side but my first batch was badly burned after that time. Maybe because of the lack of cornmeal?

Inspired by So long, Thomas’s: These no-knead English muffins are the ones to beat (The Washington Post)

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Vegan no knead English muffins