English muffin

English muffin

A split English muffin
Alternative names	Breakfast muffin
Type	Bread
Course	Bread
Place of origin	United Kingdom / United States
Created by	Samuel Bath Thomas
Main ingredients	wheat flour, shortening, milk, sugar, yeast
Cookbook: English muffin  Media: English muffin

English muffins are a small, round, flat yeast-leavened bread which is commonly sliced horizontally, toasted, and buttered.^[1] Sources attribute the muffins to a version invented in the United States by an English immigrant, Samuel Bath Thomas, who based his muffins on a popular bread product that was sold door-to-door in Victorian era Britain. Toasted English muffins, which are often used as a breakfast food, may be served with sweet toppings – e.g., jam or honey – or savoury toppings – e.g., eggs, sausage rounds or bacon, and cheese. English muffins are also used as the bread in a variety of breakfast sandwiches, and are an essential ingredient in Eggs Benedict and most of its variations.

They are called "English muffins" to distinguish them from American muffins, which are larger and sweeter miniature baked cakes, called in Britain and Australia "fairy cakes". English muffins can be purchased in a wide range of varieties, including whole wheat, multigrain, cinnamon raisin, cranberry, and apple cinnamon.

Eggs Benedict with hash browns

Origin

The word "muffin" is thought to be Low German muffen meaning 'little cakes'.^[2] In the past, muffins were sold door to door by hawkers in England as a snack bread before most houses were provided with ovens in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, giving rise to the traditional song "Do you know the Muffin Man?"

Samuel Bath Thomas emigrated from Plymouth, England to New York City in 1874.^[3] By 1880 he had opened his own bakery at 163 Ninth Avenue. He invented what he called "toaster crumpets", selling them from the bakery to hotels and grocery stores. They were soft and spongy after baking like Victorian-era English crumpets, but thinner. They were also pre-cut, which was later called "fork-split", so as to be able to be pulled apart, without the texture being crushed as it would be by slicing. Later they were baked in ovens.^[4] They became popular as an alternative to toast; Thomas opened a second bakery around the corner from the first at 337 West 20th Street in a building that remains known as "The Muffin Building".^[3]

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the origin of the term "English Muffin" as 1902.^[3] In a trademark filing in 1926, it was stated that the Thomas' name of the product was first used in 1894.^[3]

The recipe and technique used by Thomas' brand that provides its unusual texture is kept secret,^[5] although competitors now have similar products.^[3]

By country

Wholemeal English muffins, bought in Abingdon, England.

United States

Thomas' is a brand of English muffins and bagels in North America, founded by Samuel Bath Thomas. Today the company is owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA, which also owns the Entenmann's, Boboli, Stroehmann, and Arnold bakeries.

Foster's sourdough English muffins were a popular brand English muffin originally from San Francisco. They were a signature menu item at Foster's restaurants from the 1940s to the 1970s, and continued to be produced as a packaged brand until 2008.

United Kingdom

English muffins are sold by the name "muffins" in all British supermarkets and many bakeries. As in the US they are the foundation for eggs Florentine and eggs Benedict, which commonly feature on UK brunch menus.

Germany

English muffins are also avalible in most major supermarkets across Germany under the name "Toastbrötchen" which translates as "toast bun".

See also

References