Homemade multigrain english muffins, hot right off the griddle are a real treat to have for weekend breakfast or a Sunday brunch. Our family has been eating my Homemade Multigrain Bread for a long time now. I make two loaves every couple weeks, and it’s always been a breakfast staple.
The other day, though, Bill threw out a request. Could we try something else for breakfast?
Well, one man’s request is another man’s challenge. Our homemade english muffins have always been a hit with everyone, but I really wanted to try a multigrain version of that recipe. All I needed was the multigrain cereal mix I make all the time for our multigrain bread, and I was able to adapt a new, healthier version of our original english muffin recipe.
I don’t want to pat myself too much on the back here, but I got it on the first try! These multigrain english muffins are delicious, nutty, and amazing with butter.
I recommend using Hodgson Mill’s Active Dry Yeast, which is supposedly great “especially for whole grain flour.” Not sure how much of an effect this had on the recipe, but it turned out great, and the type of yeast used can have a big impact on a bread recipe.
Ok, let’s get started. It’s so easy, you’ll never buy any multigrain english muffins from the store again!
Multigrain English Muffins: Recipe Instructions
So I usually make my own multigrain flour, because I get to choose the quality of the grains I want. I just take whatever grains I have (see the list above), and zap them in the blender until they’re a fine powder.
You do need a pretty strong blender for the job and that’s what we do regularly for our popular multi-grain bread recipe. You can also buy multigrain hot cereal mix that’s already ground, like Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal.
If you are a real purist, you can use a good blender or food processor to grind each grain to a fine powder resembling flour, and mix everything together.
Check our our Cooking Tools page for our recommendation for the best blender for grinding flour from whole grains or for that matter, any job requiring a blender!
In a large bowl, mix together the multigrain flour and boiling water.
Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Stir in the yeast while the cereal mix is still warm. Cover and let stand for another 5 minutes.
Add the salt, sugar, and yogurt, and mix everything together.
Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until you get a firm dough. Knead the dough for 10 -15 minutes (I usually mix the dough by hand…it’s good for the soul. But you could also do this entire process in a mixer with a dough hook attachment).
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime, dust a small handful of semolina flour on a large baking sheet. After it’s rested, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about a ½ inch thickness.
Use a biscuit cutter or a water glass to cut circles out of the dough. Gather up the loose pieces, and roll them out again. Cut more circles. Continue the process until all the dough is used up. You should get 12-14 muffins.
Place the circles on the baking sheet with semolina flour. Shift them around to coat the bottoms of the muffins with the semolina. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let the muffins rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
Place a skillet over medium low heat, and use a pastry brush to brush a very thin layer of oil on the bottom of the pan. Cook the muffins in batches, about 6-7 minutes per side (12-14 minutes total for each muffin).
These are really great right out of the pan. Or you can pop them in the toaster quickly, before topping with butter and/or jam!
Use a fork to cut the muffins in half, and you’ll have some pretty authentic nooks and crannies!
Bill likes these just with salted butter…
But I also enjoy them with blackberry jam!
Homemade Multigrain English Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup multigrain cereal mix (about 150g), you can include finely ground wheat, millet, barley, brown rice, oats, quinoa, flax, corn, buckwheat, etc.
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water (295ml)
- 1 envelope active dry yeast 8.75g
- 1 teaspoon salt (5g)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (5g)
- ½ cup plain yogurt (125g)
- 3 cups all purpose flour (about 420g), plus more for dusting
- ¼ cup semolina flour
- 2 teaspoons oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the multigrain flour and boiling water. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Stir in the yeast while the cereal mix is still warm. Cover and let stand for another 5 minutes.
- Add the salt, sugar, and yogurt, and mix everything together. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until you get a firm dough. Knead the dough for 10 -15 minutes (I usually mix the dough by hand…it’s good for the soul. But you could also do this entire process in a mixer with a dough hook attachment).
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. In the meantime, dust a small handful of semolina flour on a large baking sheet. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about a ½ inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter or a water glass to cut circles out of the dough. Gather up the loose pieces, and roll them out again. Cut more circles. Continue the process until all the dough is used up. You should get 12-14 muffins.
- Place the circles on the baking sheet with semolina flour. Shift them around to coat the bottoms of the muffins with the semolina. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let the muffins rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
- Place a skillet over medium low heat, and use a pastry brush to brush a very thin layer of oil on the bottom of the pan. Cook the muffins in batches, about 6-7 minutes per side (12-14 minutes total for each muffin).
These are delightful! I substituted plain soy milk for yogurt and they turned out great.
Good to know. Thank you for sharing the plant based option :-)
Thank you for that tip and review Chloe!
Great recipe. They are very flufy (tall) is that because of the multi-grain cereal mix? Also, if I use a bread machine to knead the dough should it be longer say 30 minutes?
Meant to write They’re not very fluffy.
Hi Lee, the multigrain flour definitely makes for a denser English muffin. You could try allowing them to proof a little bit longer, but don’t overdo it, or they may overproof and turn out even denser!