Lightly spiced with bursts of fruity goodness these cranberry and gingerbread English muffins make a delightful breakfast, brunch or snack. They’re soft, fluffy and made to be toasted and smothered in butter, to make use of all those nooks and crannies!
Add on your favourite spreads, fruit and even a dollop of whipped cream to make it into a tasty treat. Or simply serve with butter, as it’s just as tasty on its own!
Sweet English muffins have got to be one of my favourite breakfast items, right next to the classic variety! Crispy, fruity and lightly spiced with an alluring golden glow. What’s not to love about these toasty vehicles for all the spreads and toppings?!
The addition of gingerbread in these homemade English muffins gives it a bit of festive magic. Providing a seasonal twist to your classic muffin, along with cranberries for a touch of sweetness and a burst of flavour.
Ingredients for Homemade English Muffins
Making your very own English muffins is a fairly simple process.
Here’s what you’ll need to whip up your own batch…
- Gingerbread Syrup: This adds not only a bit of sweetness to the muffins but also a touch of festive spice. The sugar in the syrup helps to feed the yeast so that it can develop carbon dioxide gas, which enables the bread to rise (source).
- The recipe for gingerbread syrup can be found here!
- Or you may use maple syrup instead if you like, it just won’t have the extra touch of festive flavour.
- Hot Water: Combines with the syrup and is then cooled to the right temperature for the yeast. It needs to be warm enough so that the yeast can develop and activate. If it’s too hot the yeast will die and if it’s too cold the yeast won’t activate or get frothy and bubbly.
- A good way to test this is with the back of your fingers. The water should be warm enough that you can comfortably touch it for 3 seconds.
- Yeast: Helps to make this dough rise and create all the wonderful nooks and crannies that can hold butter, spreads and jams.
- Strong/High-Grade Flour: Also known as bread flour. This helps to hold the structure and texture of the muffins as well as gluten development.
- Salt: To help bring all the flavours together.
Related: Check out this post for more on salt and its purposes
- Gingerbread spice mix: A wonderful combination of festive spices, giving these homemade English muffins a fun new flavour and colour. It includes ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Find the recipe here!
- Dried cranberries: Adds a lovely fruity addition to this English muffin recipe! Dried cranberries can be found in the baking aisle of your supermarket.
- Cornmeal: The finishing stage that enables English muffins to create their signature crispy exterior. Generously sprinkle it over the dough before it rises for the final time.
- Cornmeal is made from dried corn kernels that have been ground up. Textures range from fine to medium and coarse. Labelling can get a little confusing at times and I used polenta for this recipe (it’s the coarse grind of corn kernels).
Recipe Tips & Notes
Activating yeast
The first step in this recipe requires you to activate yeast. This can be done by stirring active dry yeast in a warm mixture of water and sugar (the gingerbread syrup). The coating on the yeast at this point begins to break down.
Once stirred, allow to sit until the yeast rises to the surface and starts to foam as per the image below. This will take around 10 minutes.
Mixing the Dry Ingredients Together
The second step is to add the flour, salt and gingerbread syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer and give it a quick stir to combine. This is to make sure that all the spices mix well with the flour and that no unpleasant clumps are apparent.
Mixing and Kneading
The next step is adding the foamy yeast mixture, melted butter and cranberries to the dry ingredients. At low speed, combine the ingredients with the dough hook attachment. Continue to knead together until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. This should take about 5 minutes and it will still be both soft and sticky, which is exactly what you want.
Dough Rising
Using a dough scraper or spatula transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and/or a clean tea towel. If you find the dough is sticking to your tools, you can give them a light spray of non-stick cooking oil and it should make it easier.
Leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. This can be done in the warmest room in your house or in an oven brought up to temperature and then turned off for your dough to rest.
Portioning and Shaping
Once doubled in size, the next step is portioning out the dough. First, prepare a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper, then sprinkle over a generous amount of cornmeal and set it aside briefly.
Tip out your dough onto a lightly oiled work surface (using non-stick cooking spray) and then divide it into 6 equal portions. I find the best way to do this is with a dough scraper, lightly oiled with non-stick cooking spray.
Then using either the dough scraper or lightly oiled hands, working one piece at a time, bring the edges of the dough into the centre and seal to create a ball. Place on your prepared tray, leaving space for the dough to rise and expand, about 3cm or so.
The Second Rise
Flatten each ball slightly into disks and sprinkle the top with an even layer of cornmeal. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking.
Allow to rest in a warm place, until the dough has risen and is nice and puffy.
Cooking
Heat either a skillet or griddle to a low temperature (I used an electric griddle which worked well and maintained heat throughout the cooking process).
Then cook each muffin on the first side for 9 minutes or until deep golden brown. Flip on the other side and cook for a further 5 minutes, until toasted and also deep golden brown. You’ll know if they’re done when you touch the sides and it bounces back slightly and feels light and airy. If the sides still feel heavy and doughy and do not bounce back when touched they are not quite done.
Tip: If you find that your muffins are getting too dark and are not cooking in the middle, you can transfer them to the oven and bake at 160C for a further 5 minutes or until baked through.
Once cooked through, allow to cool for 5 minutes on a cooling rack.
Tip: One of the easiest ways to break them apart while still warm is with a few forks. The forks can be used to carefully pry the muffin open as you make your way around the exterior.
How to Eat English Muffins
Serving Suggestions:
Homemade English muffins are best served toasted and while still fresh. You could just smother them with a generous helping of butter or better yet you could also…
- Add on your favourite jam, marmalade or fruity coulis. My personal favourite is an apricot jam which makes it even sweeter. However, you could also try berry jam, mandarin marmalade or even breakfast marmalade.
- Pair it with some fresh fruit, such as sliced banana or pears, tinned fruit like Black Dorris plums or even frozen fruit such as berries.
- Combine it with your favourite spread. Something along the lines of peanut butter, almond butter, Nutella or a flavoured butter such as maple.
- Pair it with some dairy! Including cream cheese, ricotta, a dollop or two of cream, yoghurt, mascarpone, a few slices of brie or camembert or even ice cream for a dessert vibe.
Storing your Homemade English Muffins
If you’re planning to eat them right away, these muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Alternatively, you could also store them in a freezer for up to 3 months.
If you do plan on doing it this way, I suggest first splitting them open, so you can just pop them straight from the freezer into the toaster. Otherwise, it becomes a little bit of a challenge to split them after they are frozen.
Homemade Cranberry and Gingerbread English Muffins
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp (80g) gingerbread syrup*
- â…” cup (150 ml) hot water
- ½ tsp (3g) active dried yeast
- 1 ¾ cup (263g) strong/ high grade flour
- ¼ tsp (2g) salt
- 1 ½ tbsp (10g) gingerbread spice mix*
- 1 tbsp (15ml) melted butter
- ½ cup (60g) dried cranberries
- Cornmeal for dusting
Instructions
- Dissolve the gingerbread syrup in the hot water and allow the mixture to cool until warm.
- When warm stir in the yeast and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add flour, salt and gingerbread spice and mix until well combined.
- Add in the yeast mixture, butter and cranberries, then knead with the dough hook attachment on low speed until the mixture comes together and a smooth dough forms, about 5 minutes. It should begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl and will still be soft and sticky.
- Using a dough scraper or spatula gently transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- Generously dust a large lined baking tray with cornmeal and set aside.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface (with non-stick cooking spray) and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Working with a dough scraper and lightly oiled hands, take one piece of dough and form a ball, by bringing the edges of the dough into the middle and sealing.Then place on the prepared baking tray seam side down. Flatten balls slightly into a disk and dust an even layer of cornmeal over the top. Continue with the other pieces. Then cover and set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes or until risen and puffy.
- Heat a skillet or griddle to low heat. Then working in batches if necessary, cook muffins for 9 minutes on the first side, until the dough has puffed up and is dark golden brown. Then flip and cook for a further 5 minutes until toasted and dark golden brown. When you touch the sides, it should bounce back and feel light and airy, not heavy and doughy. *See notes
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack then use forks to gently split the English muffins open. Serve toasted with butter and your favourite spreads and toppings!
- If not eaten straight away, these muffins, once cooled, can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
If you give this homemade English muffin recipe a go, don’t forget to tag @theculinaryletter and #theculinaryletter, so I can see all your wonderful creations!
Until next time, stay curious!
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