English muffin dough calculator
No-knead English muffins: a night in the fridge, then a griddle instead of an oven.
Total hydration counts the water inside the eggs, milk and butter.
English muffins with real nooks and crannies, on Stella Parks’ no-knead formula: a slack milk dough sweetened boldly with honey, cold-proofed overnight and cooked on a griddle, not in an oven.
How it works
A slack, honeyed dough
The base blends 67% bread flour with 33% whole wheat, hydrated with 80% milk and a striking 23% honey — her signature move, feeding both fermentation and the deep griddle browning. Salt runs 2.6%, instant yeast about 1%. No kneading; just mix until even, then let it rise 4–5 hours at about 21 °C until more than doubled.
The overnight cold proof
Portion the sticky dough onto a cornmeal-dusted tray (12 pieces of ~75 g), cover, and refrigerate at least 12 hours. The long cold ferment builds the flavor and the bubble structure that becomes the crannies when the heat hits.
Griddled, never baked
Cook straight from the fridge on a moderate griddle — around 160 °C — about 8 minutes per side, until both faces are deeply browned and the sides spring back. Cool, then split with a fork, never a knife: the fork tears the crumb into its craggy, butter-catching landscape.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- Stella Parks — Old-Fashioned, No-Knead English Muffins (Serious Eats) — The chosen formula, fully verified in grams: 80% milk, 23.5% honey, one egg white, no-knead, 12 h+ cold proof, griddled.
- King Arthur — English Muffins — The classic sponge-method version on all-purpose flour, lightly enriched (about 6% butter, 1% sugar) — recorded, not chosen.
FAQ
Is 23% honey really right?
It is Stella Parks’ published, verified figure, and an outlier among muffin recipes. King Arthur’s classic runs a restrained 1.3% sugar with 5.8% butter on all-purpose flour. Both are respected; this calculator follows the Parks formula, so dial the honey down if you want a plainer muffin.
Why a fork for splitting?
A knife polishes the cut face flat; a fork perforates and tears, preserving the open pockets.
My muffins are doughy inside — what happened?
Griddle too hot: the faces browned before the center cooked. Lower the heat and take the full 8 minutes per side; a finished muffin reads done in the center, not just golden outside.
More from Bread
Irish soda bread calculator
Ballymaloe soda bread: flour, buttermilk, salt and soda, mixed and straight into the oven.
Hydration 75% · 830 g
Grissini dough calculator
Hand-pulled Torinese breadsticks: 10% olive oil, one short rise, baked until dry.
Hydration 53% · 30 × 14 g
Sourdough bread calculator
A loaf on starter alone. How much starter follows from how long and how warm you let it rise.
Hydration 75% · 900 g
Yeast bread dough calculator
Everyday bread on commercial yeast: flour, water, salt. The dose follows the hours and the temperature you give it.
Hydration 68% · 800 g
Bread dough calculators15 calculators