English muffins are small, flat, round yeast leavened bread items. Most commonly, they are sliced horizontally and then toasted and buttered. English muffins always take more time in the toaster than regular pieces of bread. In addition, we recommend that you avoid eating them prior to being toasted. They don’t taste good unless toasted.

In the United States, toasted English muffins are often served as a breakfast food. They can be served with sweet toppings like jellies and jams, or alternately they can be served with savory toppings (my favorite) such as sausage, bacon, eggs, or cheese…or all four.

Most larger grocery stores in America have multiple varieties of English muffins for sale apart from the ‘regular’ kind. Other options include extra crispy, sourdough, and whole wheat.

The word muffin is believed to be Low German muffen meaning “little cakes”. Prior to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, most homes did not contain an oven so muffin hawkers would go door to door selling their muffins as a snack bread. This gave rise to the traditional song “The Muffin man”.

In the United States, the muffins are called English muffins to distinguish them from muffins, which are a sweet baked quick bread baked in a muffin tin.

English muffins are readily available in many British supermarkets and bakeries. However, they are simply called muffins there. The American style muffin which we briefly mentioned earlier, is sometimes referred to as an American muffin for clarity.

English Muffins are used as the bread component of the famous Egg McMuffin from McDonald’s as well as a lot of different breakfast sandwiches from other restaurants and convenience stores as well. However, I will always choose a croissant breakfast sandwich over an Egg McMuffin if given the choice.

Most importantly, English muffins are a key component in Eggs Benedict and other variations of the dish. I have a great recipe for Eggs Benedict and an easy way to make that seemingly elusive sauce known as Hollandaise sauce. You can check it out here: Classic Hollandaise Sauce And Eggs Benedict