In the mid-19th century, hundreds of vendors known as “muffin men” plied the streets of London, ringing a bell announcing still-warm bread for sale. Londoners wanted English muffins delivered warm to their doorsteps — a bread so good that thousands of men over the course of nearly 150 years supported their families by selling warm muffins for toasting at home. You, too, can enjoy freshly made English muffins by following this simple, traditional recipe.
This bread is called “English” in the United States to distinguish it from our American-style cake muffins. In England, the bread known simply as a “muffin” hasn’t really changed since Hannah Glasse published what may be the first recorded muffin recipe in her hugely popular 1747 cookbook, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.
Like pancakes, English muffins are griddle-baked breads made with a standard soft bread dough — Hannah Glasse called it “light” — not enriched with milk or eggs. To make them at home, you can prepare dough using the ingredients in the following recipe from Glasse’s 1747 book,
