Don’t you just love english muffins? My mom use to make them with wheat when I lived at home, but for years, no matter how much she gushed about the deliciousness of homemade “egg McMuffins” I wouldn’t try them.
Related: Check out our Gluten-Free Recipes index!
She was right though! And now that we’re a gluten-free family, I crave them all the time. Oh the irony, right?
Buuuut, it’s amazing how easily gluten-free grains can mimic wheat when they’re mixed together with just the right ingredients.
The big thing, when it comes to making gluten-free bread (and that includes these english muffins), is that the consistency of your dough is so much different.
You can’t handle the dough like you can wheat dough, and so you can’t shape it into cute little english muffin shapes, before letting it rise.
Nope. Instead, you’ve got to pour your dough into greased(!) molds, and let it rise inside. Otherwise, you just end up with a pancake. 😛
That actually makes it easy though! I don’t know about you, but I’m not all that great at making nicely shapes dough, whether it’s dinner rolls, bread loaves, or english muffins. Pretty is just not my thing I guess.
Of course the catch is – there’s always a catch, isn’t there? – that you need molds a.k.a rings. I cut the bottoms out of tuna cans, but that was a royal pain, so I don’t really recommend it. You can buy real, bonafide english muffin rings here on amazon though.
Then, after you’re done cooking the actual muffin part of the meal, you can crack an egg into your muffin ring, and have the perfect sized egg for your homemade egg ‘McMuffin’.
Or you can add your scrambled eggs and spinach if you’re into making messes like me…
Try this Gluten-Free English Muffins Recipe
PrintGluten-Free English Muffins Recipe
Who doesn’t love an English Muffin? This recipe makes delicious, gluten-free English Muffins for your breakfast.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/4 cups warm milk (about 105°F)
- 2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
- 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan or guar gum
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk.
- Set aside and allow to proof for 15 minutes.
- meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
- Pour yeast mixture over dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Batter should be thicker than pancake batter, but not thick enough to hold its shape.
- Heat an oiled skillet over medium-low heat.
- Grease muffin rings and place on skillet.
- *Optional step* sprinkle inside of muffin rings with cornmeal.
- Spoon muffin batter into rings to fill about 2/3 of the way from the top.
- Allow to brown for about five minutes.
- Flip, using a thin spatula (sometimes a fork will work better if you have difficulty getting your spatula under the ring).
- Cook for another five minutes or so until muffin is well browned.
- Use a butter knife to loosen the the muffin from the ring.
- Don’t be afraid to keep cooking them after the ring has been removed, and/or flip them a few more times if you’re not sure they’re done. Alternatively, you can also finish baking them in a 350º oven.
- Cool on a wire rack.
- Split with a fork.
- Enjoy!
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Rhonda says
How much xanthan gum do you add to the flour mix for this recipe?
Elise says
Thanks for catching my omission – sorry about that! I use 1 1/2 teaspoons.
Rebecca says
About how many muffins does this recipe make?
Elise says
6-8 depending on how large you make them.
Nancy Staley says
Hello Elise!
Why do you use pea protein in this recipe? I sure do enjoy your recipes.
Do you have an oatmeal raisen cookie Low carb recipe ?
Elise says
Hi Nancy, the extra protein adds more structure to the the batter, which makes it rise higher. That’s not to say the recipe won’t work without it though. 🙂
Lorrie says
I am not seeing any pea protein in this recipe?
Lois says
I finally got around to making English muffins when my hubby and I both decided we were hungry for egg mcmuffins. I chose your recipe as it looked simply and reasonably easy. You have a reassuring writing style. I used better batter gluten free flour as that is what I had. I left out the gum as it is already in the flour. I also have a dairy allergy so used almond milk. My dough was drier than what you described so I added about 1/2 c more almond milk. I used muffin rings in a cast iron fry pan. I cooked them slowly and finished them off in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. I found them easier to separate as soon as they came out of the oven. We toasted them, ate our scrumptious egg mcmuffins, had some with butter and jam. They were delicious! Thank you for a fast food fix I could eat!
Elise says
Thank you! I’m glad you liked them!
Lu says
Hi Elise
Quite some time ago, I printed out two recipes for english muffins, one of which you still have posted as your main recipe. The other which I can’t seem to find anymore was a recipe that I believe you said you used previously and it consist of corn flour, corn meal and ???????.
I was awaiting muffin tins before attempting to make them and I’ve since lost that recipe. Could you again provide it? You were talking about the present recipe and referred to the previous one in that dialogue. Help!
Al says
Hi Elise
I noticed you didn’t get a reply to that 2nd English muffin recipe that somehow disappeared. I have the recipe that is still posted and on it I have noted the ingredients for the 2nd one that did disappear. I think she referred to it as her original recipe. Here goes:
1C Brown Rice Flower
1C Corn Flower
1C Cornstarch
1TBSp Guar gum or Xntham gum
The cornmeal you refer to was for dusting afterwards.
Al says
The recipe I listed a few moments ago should have been addressed to Lu. I mistakenly addressed it to Lisa. Sorry.
Jessica Bax says
Can I freeze them? And can I make it for ahead of time? Won’t it get stale by next day? I’d like to make it for breakfasts for the whole week. Don’t want to cook every day.
Elise says
Yes, you can wrap them up well and freeze them.
Amanda says
Hmmm…not sure if I made them incorrectly, but the batter was so dry that I couldn’t even mix all the flour in. I added about 1 and 1/2 cups of extra milk, and it worked fine. Cooking them right now, and they smell yummmy!!!
Vincent says
I have made this recipe a number of times. Gluten, dairy and soy free. I need to add more almond milk to make the right consistency. I use SS rings in an electric griddle. Dust with corn meal. 1/2 C in each ring. After browning on both sides and a bit more to cook better I put in the oven at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean. However … no matter what I do to adjust cooking times, when I fork splitvtgrm they are under cooked inside. I have learned to put them face down in a griddle when ready to serve. This completes the cooking and they taste great, but there MUST be a way to fully cook them before. What am I doing wrong?? BTW. I added cinnamon and raisins. Everyone loved them!
★★★★
Nathan Moreau says
I’m confused on one part. you say in the explanation of the recipe
“Nope. Instead, you’ve got to pour your dough into greased(!) molds, and let it rise inside. Otherwise, you just end up with a pancake.”
But the instructions say to pour batter into the rings on a heated skillet to cook, allowing no rise time. Does it just rise sufficiently while cooking?
Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Elise says
Yes, it will rise while cooking. 🙂
Teddy says
Just attempted these for the first time, and I have to say they are very nearly right. Just a little tweaking on the length of time cooked to make sure they are baked right through. I’ve popped them back in the oven to see if it will cook the middle a little more.
This is a great recipe, thank you sooooo much, and it’s not complicated.
Fingers crossed we’ll be having them on Christmas morning!
As a side note, I didn’t use pea protein and they rose fine.
★★★★★
John Campisi says
I just tried your english muffin recipe. MY first attempt at any type of Gluten Free baking. I followed recipe exactly as described using King Arthur all purpse flour. The batter was very dry. Lke that of a wheat byttermilf biscuit but even drier. Any suggestions
Rw says
Where is the recipe? It is not showing in this post.
Rebecca says
I added 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. That gave them a little more lift.
★★★★★
Courtney says
These were amazing! In my opinion they taste just as good as regular English Muffins. I had to add extra milk to get the consistency you described but they are so good. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
★★★★★
Elise says
So glad you liked them!
Lisa says
I made my own gluten free flour since most are with almond flour and I am allergic. Had a similar issue to others that the dough was not batter like. Had to add more milk to get the consistency I wanted. Some of them cooked too fast and were gummy but I split them and toasted them and they were fine. Taste was good but does need a little work to get it there. I also finished in the oven to ensure they cooked more slowly
★★★★
Jen says
These are GREAT! Thank you!
★★★★★
Hope Engelhardt says
I made this, and not sure what I did incorrect. However when I added the wet to dry it was very thick. Not like thick pancake batter but like cookie dough almost. Any suggestions? I just added water until I got the consistency I felt was right. The only think I did different was use lactose free milk and flour that all ready had the xanthan gum in it.
Karen says
I tried these for the first time today. I used King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour. I used less than the recipe calls for, maybe about 2 cups. I eliminated the xanthan gum since this flour already has some in it. I used English Muffin rings and got about 6 good-sized muffins from this recipe. I let the batter, in the rings, rise in a warm place until almost to the top of the rings. I don’t know if this step is necessary but I would do it again. I grilled for about 6-7 minutes per side, on medium low heat until brown, flipped and grilled until brown. I then took them out of the rings, put them on a cookie sheet and baked @ 350° for about 7-8 minutes. They came out so good that I made another batch, doubled this time! Be sure to grease the rings well with butter, and don’t overfill. It will be difficult to get them out as they tend to spill over and cook on to the sides of the rings. I wish I could post a photo. These muffins look very much like Thomas…no real nooks or crannies but the taste is there! And, oh, I didn’t have any instant yeast so I used regular. After years of searching for a decent gluten free English Muffin recipe I think I may finally have found it!
★★★★★
Ellen says
Just curious: Why use yeast if you don’t let the dough rise any? Or am I missing something?
Louise says
Ok girlfriend you REALLY hit this one RIGHT. I had to check a couple of other places to get an approximate time to leave them in the oven at 350°… And I think 10 minutes does it. They may have been fine without having to do that, but I wasn’t sure what they were supposed to “feel“ like. I made these for the first time for church last weekend… There are three of us that are gluten-free. Nothing but rave reviews. My search for a great GF muffin has stopped right here. Nothing but compliments and raves. And it’s so simple. I’m going to make a double batch today. Bravo!
Roslyn says
Could the sugar be substituted for something more healthy like coconut sugar or maple syrup?
Lisa says
My GF flour has xanthan gum in it (store bought). Do I still need to add more Xanthan Gum?
Elise says
No.
Brian says
Tried these today and I found that the dough was way to thick. I probably ended up using double the milk to get it a reasonable consistency. I used 2% milk and I don’t remember the brand of GF flour but might be Walmart. I gave them 5 minutes a side on a 300 degree grill and then 15 minutes in the oven but they were still doughy inside. However they were delicious when toasted. Do you have any thoughts.
BrianM says
Tried these today and I found that the dough was way to thick. I probably ended up using double the milk to get it a reasonable consistency. I used 2% milk and I don’t remember the brand of GF flour but might be Walmart. I gave them 5 minutes a side on a 300 degree grill and then 15 minutes in the oven but they were still doughy inside. However they were delicious when toasted. Do you have any thoughts.
Natalie says
I’m planning to try making them with unsweetened almond milk. Have you ever tried to make them dairy free? Do you have any thoughts or suggestions of diary alternatives?
Thanks!
Natalie
Jenelle says
I made this recipe today with almond milk as I’m dairy free and the dough came out like pie crust dough. Any suggestions? I was thinking to add more almond milk or make a larger proof. It smelt amazing while cooking anyway!
Kathy C says
How many muffins does it make, so I know how many rings to buy?
Dee Adams says
I guess I missed how many this makes, so I know how many rings to buy. Help? TY
Lynn says
Do i still add xantham gum if the flour I use has it in it?