The best English muffins have something that other bun-like bread items don’t have: nooks and crannies. Ubiquitous muffin maker Thomas’ began pounding that into our skulls in the ‘70s and ‘80s, creating the expectation that anything calling itself an English muffin should look kind of like the surface of the moon inside, with divots to catch butter and peaks to get extra toasty. Plus, the phrase “nooks and crannies” just sounds so delightfully British—even though English muffins were invented in the U.S. and are apparently marketed as “American muffins” in the UK. Sorry to harsh your muffin mellow.
Over the course of two separate taste tests, we toasted up more than a dozen varieties of English muffins to find the absolute best, including the best gluten free English muffins and the best English muffins for English muffin pizza. Until this taste test, I had no idea sourdough English muffins were so good. Now I know! Pip, pip. Cheerio. But in American English, I guess.
- Glutino English Muffins
To be perfectly honest, these gluten free English muffins look terrible. During our second English muffin taste test, I asked my colleague Jordan Myrick to take a bite and I could tell they were so reluctant, but they agreed with me—these are actually pretty good! They are really airy and spongy and have lots of nooks and crannies. They’re made with corn flour, which Jordan pointed out makes them feel a little bit like polenta cakes (but lighter, obviously). These don’t have enough flavor to eat with butter alone, but stack one of these with some tomato jam, basil, and mozzarella cheese, and you’re gonna have a gluten free English muffin pizza for the ages.
Related: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Trader Joe’s Gluten Free English Muffins
Gluten-free baked goods can go so, so wrong so, so easily. It was a pleasant surprise that these gluten-free muffins from Trader Joe’s were among our favorites of the day. “These are gluten free?” one taste tester asked after taking a bite. “This is a big win for science.” Indeed. These muffins have nice chew, and are exactly as soft and as fluffy as you’d want them to be. You could make a really good breakfast sandwich with these, minus the belly bloat. They’re the best gluten free English muffins, but I think even gluten tolerant people will like them enough.
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- 365 Classic English Muffins
Okay, this might be off-putting, but one of our taste testers said like the way these muffins from Whole Foods house brand 365 “tore apart like meat.” If you can get past that vivid imagery, you’ll definitely like the texture of these. “This one is chewy in a good way,” another taste tester said. “It’s kind of squishy like bread.” These are the best English muffins if you’re similarly into “squish.”
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- Bays Original English Muffins
When I worked at a cool magazine in the very cool city of Chicago, a couple of my cool colleagues regularly ate Bays English muffins. Suffice it to say, I consider these cool guy English muffins—and they’re definitely nonconformist, which is cool. The nooks are less pronounced, but that makes these muffins great to slather with peanut butter or to use as a hamburger bun, maybe for a veggie burger. If you aren’t married to crannies, you’ll love their chewy texture and crumpet-like taste.
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- Thomas’ Original English Muffins
Thomas’ Original English Muffins are a classic for a reason. You can rest assured the nooks in these bad boys are going to sop up a lot of egg yolk if you make an eggs-over-easy breakfast sandwich or a Benedict topped with a poached egg. And since they have a very blank-slate sort of flavor, that smooth yolk is really going to shine. Original Thomas’ muffins aren’t the best Thomas’ English muffins (read on for those), but that just means they toast up even better. Ours might have cooked for a minute too long, but I like these well-done.
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- Trader Joe’s Classic English Muffins
The nooks in these Trader Joe’s English muffins are just begging to become little pools of butter. We liked how rustic they seemed, despite clearly being mass produced by a major grocery store chain (TJ’s is good like that sometimes). They have nice crispy edges and a nice chewy interior. These aren’t sourdough, but they do have a touch of tang, which we like in an English muffin. “These are tangier than your usual Thomas’,” Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling said, adding that they’re “super soft on the outside, and crunchy where they need to be.” Nice work, Joe.
Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s
- Kroger Sourdough English Muffins
Sometimes store brands just nail it—and they’re usually a few bucks cheaper than name brands to boot. If you shop at a Kroger-owned grocery store, these are among the best English muffins you can buy. Like other sourdough English muffins, they have just a touch more flavor than your standard English muffin and are pleasantly moist too, even without butter. I personally loved their almost spongy texture, and Jordan praised their “reasonable amount of nooks.”
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- Stone & Skillet New England Style English Muffins Wheat
According to the package, these English muffins are handmade in Boston, which makes it seem like they were made by a baker wearing a tricorn hat during the American Revolution. And that’s what they taste like, too. I was so dubious that these would be good because they’re really light on nooks and crannies. They don’t look impressive, but the taste and texture are a really pleasant surprise. They’re super soft and buttery in the center, almost doughy. It gives them chew and makes them taste super indulgent, which isn’t typical when it comes to English muffins. They’re the best whole wheat English muffins by a mile and some of the best English muffins, period.
Credit: Liv Averett / Stone & Skillet
- Thomas’ Sourdough English Muffins
Besides nooks and crannies, a yeasty bite really makes an English muffin just a little bit tastier and more representative of what an English muffin should be. These sourdough English muffins from Thomas’ won’t kick you in the teeth with yeast, but the sourness of the sourdough definitely gives these an edge over a lot of regular English muffins in the flavor department. Plus, these are nice and moist compared to some of the others we tried. “I think sometimes English muffins are a little dry for my taste,” Jordan said. “This isn’t dry at all. It doesn’t have a strong sourdough flavor, but I don’t care.” We ate all of these muffins sans butter to accurately assess their flavor, but you really can’t help but picture butter pooling in the impressive nooks in a Thomas’.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
Best GF (Runner-Up)
Best Gluten Free
Best Texture
Best as a Bun
Best Classic
Best for Buttering
Best Flavor
Best Whole Wheat
Best of the Best
The rest of what we tasted: L’Oven Fresh Original English Muffins, Oroweat Extra Crisp English Muffins, Great Value Original English Muffins, Bays Sourdough English Muffins, Dave’s Killer Bread Killer Classic English Muffins, Food for Life English Muffins, First Street English Muffins.
I like both Thomas & Kroger sourdough muffins, but my go to is still Oroweat whole wheat muffins. The bit of honey just hits the spot.
I buy Bay’s, but not because they taste better than any Thomas’ variety. They’re just easier to work with. They’re cut properly so you don’t have to go on a crumb-filled, fork-splitting adventure every time you want one. I usually have mine with butter and a 15-second melted American cheese for a ghetto grilled cheese sandwich, butter and cream cheese, or with crunchy peanut butter.
I like the corn muffin 🌽 flavor with Butter the most.
Bays English muffins are #1 in my book!