Easy Dairy-Free English Muffins Recipe

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Easy Dairy-Free English Muffins is a simple homemade breakfast recipe that brings a classic, fresh, and cozy morning favorite straight to your table. Made without milk or butter.

Making dairy-free English muffins at home is surprisingly easy.

With just a few basic pantry staples and using warm water instead of milk, you can whip up a batch of warm, chewy muffins that toast up perfectly.

After they're ready, all you do is toast them. Then add whatever spread you like for a delicious breakfast or light meal anytime.

And this recipe uses oil, so they're made without milk, butter, or margarine.

They're very easy to make. The longest part is just waiting for the dough to rise while you do something else!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for dairy-free homemade English muffins

Can I freeze homemade English muffins?

Yes. Let them cool completely, slice them open, and store them in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.

which ingredient replaces the milk in these English muffins?

This recipe uses water to keep the recipe dairy-free.

Can I use a milk substitute like oat milk instead of water?

Yes. While water works great for a basic dairy-free recipe, using an unsweetened milk substitute like oat milk or almond milk adds slightly more fat and protein to the dough, which may help enrich the crumb and enhance the interior texture and nooks and crannies.

Do I need a special griddle to cook English muffins?

No special equipment is required. A heavy-bottomed skillet or cast-iron pan cooked over medium-low heat works perfectly.

How do I get the signature nooks and crannies?

Instead of cutting the dough with a knife, use a fork to pierce and split the English muffins apart after baking. This preserves the internal airy pockets and rough texture needed for optimal toasting.

Note that since the recipe contains water and not milk, the nooks and crannies may not be as pronounced.

Can I use cornmeal for the pan?

Yes. Dusting the pan or skillet with a little cornmeal before cooking prevents sticking and gives the bottom crust that authentic bakery-style crunch. You can also use semolina if you don't have cornmeal.

Why mix yeast with sugar and warm water?

Most dough recipes that include yeast will give instructions to mix the yeast with warm water and sugar and set aside until it bubbles before using it. This is NOT part of the recipe but rather a short process called "proofing" to ensure that your yeast is alive because if it is not, your dough will not rise.

In order to proof your yeast, you need to let the yeast, warm water, and sugar mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to see if it develops foamy bubbles. If it does, your yeast is alive. Otherwise, it should not be used.

The water for proofing must be warm in order to activate the yeast because if it is too cold, nothing will happen, and if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Warm is between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (or 40 and 43 degrees Celsius). I usually just put my finger in the water, and if it is comfortably warm, I use it.

The sugar is used in proofing because yeast eats the sugar and releases gas (carbon dioxide), which is what causes the bubbles. If there are no bubbles, either the water was too hot or too cold, or the yeast is simply dead.

Note: If you are CERTAIN that your yeast is alive, then this process is unnecessary.

What is the difference in using oil vs. butter or margarine in the recipe?

Both margarine and butter are solid fats at room temperature, and both contain more saturated fats than oil.

While margarine and butter will change from a solid to a liquid when heated, they will change back to solids when cooled again. Oil stays liquid at all temperatures. Oil also coats flour better in the preparation process before baking.

Butter "creams" better than margarine, but one cannot cream oil at all.

When converting a recipe from butter or margarine to oil, the general conversion rate is 1 to ¾ (although if you are doing more than one batch, you might need to reduce the oil because I have found that baked goods come out oily in this case).

And when converting from oil to margarine or butter, typically the ratio is 1 to 1¼ and from margarine and butter to oil, the ratio is typically 1 to ¾.

What are some fun facts about English muffins?

The original "English" muffin, or griddle muffin, was around since the 1700s at least and was a soft, doughy, flat bread cooked on a griddle rather than baked in the oven and was softer and doughier than 

They were a staple in working-class homes in Victorian London and sold on street corners by "Muffin Men" who would walk through neighborhoods advertising their freshly baked goods by ringing a bell.

What Americans call an English muffin was actually created in 1874 by an English immigrant named Samuel Bath Thomas.

Thomas opened a bakery in Manhattan, modified the recipe, and called them "toaster crumpets," but the American public began calling them English muffins to differentiate them from quick-bread muffins.

Today, of course, you can get Thomas' English muffins in the grocery store with all of their nooks and crannies.

Here are some other delicious recipes to enhance your mornings:

Want to make another type of bread at home?

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Yield: 12 servings

Easy Dairy-Free English Muffins Recipe

5.0 Stars (3 Reviews)

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Delicious and simple English muffins, made without milk, margarine, or butter.

Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups warm water
• 2 ½ tablespoons oil
• 1 large egg
• cornmeal or semolina (or you can use farina in a pinch)

Instructions

1. Mix the water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and let sit for around 5 minutes or so until it froths to check that the yeast is active. *
2. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. Mix in the oil and egg with the dry ingredients and then slowly add the water mixture (if it has frothed—if it hasn't, your yeast may be dead and you will need to start this step again with live yeast). Mix well until the dough is smooth.
4. Cover with plastic wrap (or a towel) and let sit until it approximately doubles in size (how long this will take will depend on the warmth of the room—I have had it take as little as half an hour in a very warm room).
5. Lightly cover a surface with flour and pour the dough out onto it. It will be very sticky. Gently spread out and pat the dough until it is around ¾" thick or so and level (more or less).
6. Line 1-2 baking sheets with baking paper and sprinkle with a generous amount of the cornmeal or semolina.
7. Cut out round pieces of dough using a 3-inch round cutter and carefully place them on one of the baking sheets (the dough will be loose).
8. Take the leftover scraps and carefully flatten together, cut out more round pieces (sprinkle more flour if you need to), and also place those on one of the baking sheets.
9. Cover all of the dough circles loosely with plastic and leave to rise for around half an hour or so until they have poofed up a bit.
10. Place a large skillet over a low heat until it is warm. Then, sprinkle cornmeal or semolina in the skillet.
11. Carefully place the raw muffins, one at a time, in the skillet, making sure not to crowd them, and then cover the skillet.
12. Cook for around 5 minutes or until the bottom has slightly browned and then carefully flip and cook the other side for around 5 minutes or until it also has slightly browned.
13. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.
14. Refresh the cornmeal or semolina in between batches (ie pour out what was used from the previous batch and sprinkle fresh).
15. When ready to eat, gently pry apart with a fork or cut with a serated knife and then toast.

Notes

*You can skip this step if you are SURE that your yeast is live and just add the yeast and sugar to the dry ingredients and then slowly add the water as directed.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 253Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 191mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 7g

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