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).
Love these so much!! I use flax meal, ww artisan flour, finely ground red quinoa, and didn’t have any plain yogurt so substituted with a Tbsp. milk mixed into light sour cream. Still came out perfectly!
That’s awesome, Amy.
Thank you for sharing, Amy! I love these too.
I discovered your website and this recipe a little over a year ago. We enjoy the muffins which I make using Bob’s 10 Grain Hot Cereal and bread flour instead of all purpose. The only thing missing is the “nooks and crannies “ that we’re used to in commercially made English muffins. Mine always come out dense. Is there something you can suggest that would achieve this texture without losing the benefit of whole grain ? I use a 3” biscuit cutter and usually get 10-11 muffins. The recipe is supposed to yield 12-14. What size cutter do you use?
Hi Teri, you could try proofing them longer to allow them to rise more. Always split them with a fork also! A 3-inch cutter sounds right to me. It could be that the dough needs to proof longer to increase in volume.
I discovered you a few months ago and have been making your multigrain flour ever since. I have lots of fun doing it. Thank you for the recipes as well. I do have a few questions for you if it’s possible for you to answer them.
1- in the english muffin recipe can I use light sour cream instead of plain yogurt?
2- are almond, splelt or rye flour good add-ins to the flour recipe?
3- and finally, is there a way to make some type of bread out of mostly just the multigrain flour?. Would Vital Wheat Gluten be of any help in creating such a bread? I’m afraid to try. I don’t even know if this makes any sense… 😳.
Thank you for your wonderful recipes and insights. I hope you can help with my questions but if not, it’s ok, thanks for trying.
Hi, Sandy! Happy to answer any questions!
1. Yes!
2. Haven’t tried it, but you could start by trying 1/4 rye/spelt flour. I wouldn’t try the almond flour personally.
3. We have a multigrain bread recipe that uses 1 1/2 cups of the cereal mix, and it does have vital wheat gluten in it. However, in our experience you do need additional regular flour, or it’ll be too crumbly. Here’s the recipe: https://thewoksoflife.com/homemade-multigrain-bread/
Thank you Sarah. The link you sent was not the recipe but I found it anyway so thank you for your answers.
Have a great day,
Apologies, Sandy! I updated my comment with the correct link so anyone else who wants to take a look can click on it. :)
Can one substitute Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted crunchy cereal for the multi grain cereal in this recipe?
Hi Pam, I’ve never tried that, but the grains used here are supposed to be raw grains, so I’m not sure cereal would work.
they look great! don’t mean to sound stupid but what is multigrain cereal? never heard of it, I stopped eating cereal so long ago. bit confused
would like to try making them though
Hi Donna, it’s basically a mixture of ground grains, like brown rice, barley, wheat, etc. I noticed that the link in the post isn’t working so I’ll update it. Here’s one example: https://www.bobsredmill.com/10-grain-hot-cereal.html. You can also make our multigrain flour here: https://thewoksoflife.com/multigrain-flour/
I made these and they were absolutely amazing BUT I have one concern— I ended up with a stomachache later in the day after eating an English muffin and while I desperately hope it wasn’t caused by them, I’m wondering if the uncooked grain in these might be the culprit. Have you ever dealt with anything similar or heard any complaints? They were truly amazing and I want to eat them daily but now I’m a little worried.
Hi Danica, I have not heard this kind of compliant. Please make sure you use boiling water to cook the multigrain mix. It should cook within the first 15 minutes.
Hi, I have mine raising right now, can’t wait to get them into the cast iron pan.
Can’t wait to taste one. Thank you for the recipe, I had all the ingredients already, perfect!
Hope you like it, Katherine!
These look amazing! We make breakfast sandwiches almost every morning but have been looking for a way to skip the processed store bought muffins. How long can you store these for? I love this idea but would rather not make a new batch each week. Will they hold up okay in the freezer?
Hey Kate, yes, they should be ok in the freezer. I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. They last for about 4-6 days in the refrigerator as well.
We left half of our first batch in the freezer for about a week and they were just fine. Still so delicious!
Do I need to use an iron skillet?
Hi Abs, you can also use a flat bottom pan. Just remember to adjust the heat accordingly because flat bottom pan heats much faster than iron skillet.
Love your site!
If we do buy the multigrain mix from Bob’s Red Mill, how much should we need? Thanks!!
Thank you, Katie, use 1 cup. All should be the same whether you buy the multigrain mixture or make your own. You will love the fresh muffins!