English muffins make the best toast: much crispier than standard pullman loaves, but not overly-crunchy like rustic artisan loaves.  I think there are at least four reasons for their toasting superiority:

1. The dough is enriched with a small amount of sugar and fat.
2. The way they are shaped, as individual pucks instead of slices from a loaf.  A typical slice of bread is cut from the interior of a larger loaf, so the two sides are from the soft, interior “crumb” of the bread.  When you cut and toast an English muffin, one of the surfaces of each half used to be the exterior crust of the bread, making a crispier piece of toast.
3. The way they are cooked.  Unlike most bread, which is baked by convective heat, the two flat sides of an English muffin are baked with conductive heat.  Small-scale operations might fry them on a griddle.  Larger operations might put a sheet pan on top of the muffins before throwing them into the oven.  This is what gives English muffins their distinctive, flat shape, and their golden brown, crispy crusts.
4. The open, irregular, slightly crumbly interior.  When you cut open an English muffin and toast it, the irregular surface makes for lots of crispy nooks and crannies.

English Muffins at Home

English muffins are a very simple, straightforward bread to make at home.  Bakers typically use the direct mixing method (ie. no starter or over-night fermenting).  They’re fun to fry up on a griddle.  They freeze extremely well, especially because they are always toasted before consuming, which freshens them up.

 

English Muffins

Ingredients

• 300 g bread flour
• 12 g granulated sugar
• 6 g kosher salt
• 4 g instant yeast
• 15 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 195 g whole milk, at room temperature

Baker’s Formula

• 100% bread flour
• 3.75% granulated sugar
• 1.9% kosher salt
• 1.4% instant yeast
• 5% unsalted butter
• 65% whole milk

Procedure

1. Scale flour, sugar, salt, instant yeast, and butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Stir ingredients together with the paddle attachment until the butter is incorporated.
2. Slowly add the milk while the paddle attachment mixes on slow speed.  Once the dough comes together, switch to the dough hook and knead for about 8 minutes.  (Or knead by hand for about 10 minutes.)
3. Lightly oil a large bowl.  Lay the dough in the bowl, then turn the dough over so that all surfaces are lightly oiled.  Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 90 minutes.
4. Line a sheet pan with parchment and dust lightly with cornmeal or semolina flour.  Cut the dough into 6 or 7 equal pieces, shape into boules, and line up on sheet pan.  Proof until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
5. Preheat an oven to 350°F.  Fry each boule on a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium heat, roughly 350°F.  Fry until each side is well browned, about five minutes per side.  Bake the fried English muffins in the oven for a few more minutes to cook through.
6. Cool on a wire rack.  Let cool very thoroughly before cutting open.