Are English Muffins Vegan?
English muffins are non-vegan breakfast food products made from wheat flour, eggs, baking powder, and salt. Some store-bought English muffin brands are accidentally vegan-friendly, using vegetable shortening instead of milk. These types of English muffins are great for vegans and vegetarians.
However, if you’re looking for a traditional English muffin recipe, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Traditional recipes usually call for milk and butter. You may find that some store-bought versions are accidentally vegan-friendly.
Which Brands Of English Muffins Are Vegan?
There are plenty of vegan English muffin brands available today. They’re found at various grocery stores across the nation. Some of the most well-known include Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Trader Joes British Muffins (Original and Multigrain), and Weightwatchers English Muffins.
New Zealand English muffin brands include Quality Bakers’ Muffin Splits and Tip Top’s Original English Muffins. Australia has its own brand of English muffins called Tip Top’s Original English muffins.
These muffins are made without any animal ingredients, including eggs, milk, butter, cheese, meat, fish, honey, or sugar. Instead, they are made with whole grain flour, oats, flaxseed meal, and soy lecithin.
You can enjoy these delicious muffins any time of day, whether you’re eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert.
Homemade Vegan English Muffins
Making homemade vegan English muffins is super simple. You’ll only need five basic ingredients: white flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and milk. These key ingredients are combined to form a batter that is placed between two pieces of bread dough. Once baked, the result is a delicious, fluffy, eggless treat that tastes great hot off the oven.
All you need is a bit of patience because these require two risings. The first rising is done overnight, and the second rise takes place during the day. Both risings should be kept warm until needed.
Ingredients
This vegan diet English muffin recipe uses only seven essential ingredients, making it super simple to prepare. All you need is bread flour, water, vegan butter, sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt, and active dried yeast.
There aren’t any eggs in this recipe. Eggs are not necessary for the baking, but if you’d like to add them, feel free to substitute 1 egg white for every 2 tablespoons of liquid.
To make the muffins, simply mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix well. Finally, pour the mixture into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
Once baked, let the muffins cool completely before serving. These muffins are delicious and served warm or cold.
Vegan Buttermilk
You’ll find that making strict vegan buttermilk is easier than you think. You will just need almond milk and vinegar, and you’ll be well on your way to delicious vegan English-style muffins.
To make the buttermilk, simply whisk together almond milk and vinegar in a small mixing bowl. Add the vegan butter and stir well. Let it rest for 10 minuets to cool down.
You can also freeze the buttermilk for future use. Simply transfer the buttermilk to a freezer-safe container and place it in the freezer. Freeze overnight and thaw the next day. Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Activate The Yeast
You’ll notice that the recipe calls for active dry yeast. You may not realize that there are two types of yeast available: fast-acting and slow-acting. Fast-acting yeast is used for bread and quick bread, whereas slow-acting yeast is used in cakes and cookies.
Fast-acting yeast is activated at room temperature, meaning that you simply add it directly to warm liquid. Slow-acting yeast needs to be mixed with cold liquid and left overnight to activate.
Once the yeast has been added to the mixture, you should let it sit for 10 minutes before adding any additional common ingredients to the favorite breakfast food.
Prepare The Dough
To make English breakfast muffins, you’ll need to prepare the dough first. Start by adding the dense bread flour and salt to a large mixing bowl or the mixing bowl of your stand mixer.
Then, using the dough hook attachment, mix the list of ingredients together until combined. Next, add the yeast mixture along with lukewarm water, followed by kneading the dough on medium speed for about 3 minutes.
Dough Should Be Doubled In Size
English muffin varieties are delicious baked food made from delicious yeast bread dough. Transfer the dough to an oil-coated glass bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place it in a dark, warm room. Let the dough rise for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Roll And Shape Your Dough
You’ll want to roll the dough out to form a circle that is roughly 10 inches across. Once you’ve rolled the dough out, cut it into 12 equal pieces.
Now, fold each piece of dough in half, creating two triangles. Place the folded triangle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough.
Once you’ve finished shaping the dough, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the English muffins for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely before eating.
Second Rise
You’ll notice that there is a second rise involved in making English Muffins. You may not realize that there is a second rising process involved in making English Muffs. After covering each pan with a clean dishcloth, let the dough rise for another 30 minutes before baking.
Cooking English Muffins
English muffins are great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They’re super quick and easy to cook, and they taste delicious. Plus, they’re gluten-free products, making them a healthy option for anyone who needs to avoid gluten.
To make English muffins, warm a pancake griddle over medium heat. Then, place a piece of dough onto the hot surface and press down gently. After pressing down, flip the muffin over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Repeat this process until you’ve made 12 muffins.
You can store the finished muffins on a baking sheet in a lukewarm room at 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius).
Toasting
You’ll find that most recipes call for adding some crunch to baked goods. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to toast the muffin halves before baking. Before serving, slice the muffin halves halfway and place them in a toaster oven to add some crispness to the center.
This recipe calls for using a bread toaster, but any toaster should work fine. You may want to experiment with different types of toasters until you find one that works well for you.
Some models come with settings that let you control the temperature and duration of the toasting process. Others simply pop open the door and wait for the bread to finish cooking.
Make sure that you slice the muffins halfway before placing them in the toaster. Otherwise, you risk burning the outside of the muffin half. Also, if you cut the muffins too close to the edge, you run the risk of cutting off the crusty edges.
Toasting In The Oven
You’ll want to toast your English muffin in the oven if you want to give them a nice golden brown color. Set your oven on broil mode and place the muffins on a baking tray. Then watch them closely as they can burn quickly on broil mode.
After two to three minutes on one side, flip them over and broil for another minute. You should end up with a nicely toasted English muffin.
Watch them carefully as they can quickly burn if placed directly under the broiler. Instead, place them on a baking sheet with the cut side facing down. This allows air circulation and prevents burning.
Serving
You can serve English muffins with any number of delicious toppings. Some of my favorites include:
- A dollop of whipped margarita
- Jam
- Nut butter
- Peanut butter
- Avocado
- Spinach
- Hummus
- Sundried tomato
- Vegan cream cheese
- Toast
- Nuts or seeds
- Banana slices
- Chocolate chips
However, if you want to give them a little extra flavor, try serving them with a dollop of whipped butter or jam. Or, spread mashed avocado and spinach on them instead of using jam.
They taste great served with nut butter or hummus. And, if you’d prefer a savory option, try serving them with vegan cream cheese and toasted almonds or sunflower seeds.
Storage
You can store your vegan English muffins for two weeks at room temperature in health food stores. After that, wrap them in a clean towel and place them in the refrigerator. Store them in a sealed container to keep them fresh.
Freeze them in a sealed container for up to four months. Defrost them overnight in the fridge the next morning. Your vegan English muffins will taste great after being frozen for up to four months!
Hey'all I'm Amy, a born foodie and diagnosed with celiac disease 7 years ago. I refused to cave into tasteless, boring gulten free food and create my own!
On my blog you'll find info & cool facts along with recipes, all on gluten free foods!