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In a Nutshell
We taste-tested 13 brands of English muffins you're likely to find at your local supermarket or online. To find the very best ones, we tasted each, toasted, without knowing which was which. We found one winner, Bays Original English Muffins, and two runners-up.
Few breakfast breads are as satisfying as a really good English muffin. Toasted until lightly crisp outside while staying soft and chewy in the center, creating all those famous nooks and crannies that trap melted butter, jam, or the runny yolk from a breakfast sandwich. At their best, English muffins bring texture in every direction: crunch, chew, softness, and that open bubble structure cradling the melted, gooey toppings.
I was reminded just how good they can be after trying the English muffins from Model Bakery in St. Helena, California, a local favorite that Oprah named one of her Favorite Things twice. Split and toasted, they were craggy, crisp around the edges, fluffy inside, and perfect for soaking up butter.
But most of us aren't ordering bakery English muffins for busy weekday breakfasts; we're relying on grocery-store English muffins instead. So which store-bought brands deliver the best English-muffin breakfast moment?
To find out, we taste-tested 13 brands you're likely to find at your local supermarket or online. We toasted each one and sampled them without knowing which was which, judging them on flavor, texture, crunch, and cragginess.
The Criteria
A great English muffin should be all about contrast: crisp edges, a chewy interior, and plenty of airy pockets for catching melted butter and runny egg yolk. The best ones have a craggy, hole-filled interior with plenty of nooks and crannies that turn crisp and golden in the toaster while staying soft and chewy inside. When you tear one open after toasting, it should release a cloud of steam, evidence of sufficient moisture in the crumb for a properly tender and elastic bite. We looked for muffins with an airy, open structure, a lightly griddled crust, and enough cornmeal sticking to the surface to add a subtle crunch.
Texture may be the main event, but flavor still matters. The best muffins should taste lightly tangy and wheaty, with a gentle sourdough-like tang and enough salt to keep them from tasting flat. We preferred muffins that tasted fresh and toasty, without the overly sweet, bitter, or preservative-like flavors that weighed down some of the weaker samples.
The best English muffins deliver crunch, chew, softness, and flavor all at once—especially after toasting. The worst were dense, dry, mushy, or too uniform inside, lacking the airy texture and crisp edges that make English muffins so satisfying in the first place.
Overall Winner
Bays Original English Muffins
Bays was the clear winner of our taste test, standing out for both flavor and texture. In fact, immediately after tasting them, multiple editors asked which brand these muffins were so they could buy them themselves.
These muffins came closest to the bakery-style ideal we were looking for, with a crisp exterior and an airy, open crumb that toasted beautifully. Associate culinary editor Laila praised their "slightly spongy, airy interior," while associate editorial director Megan called out their "ample crannies." Tasters also appreciated their subtle tanginess, which gave them a slightly sourdough-like flavor and helped them taste fresher and more complex than many other samples. As Laila put it, they tasted "almost homemade."
Runners-Up
Trader Joe's Classic English Muffins
Trader Joe's English muffins earned runner-up status thanks largely to their texture. They had a crunchy exterior I loved, with plenty of cornmeal, and a chewy interior that held up well after toasting. Megan also noted their "decent crannies," which helped them capture butter and toppings nicely.
Flavor-wise, these muffins were milder than our winner, tasting more like a baguette than a tangy sourdough-style English muffin. Several tasters wished for a bit more tang and depth, but overall, these still delivered the crisp-chewy contrast we were looking for. While they may not have been the most memorable muffins of the bunch, they were a solid, dependable option for breakfast sandwiches and toast alike.
Amazon Grocery Original English Muffins
Amazon Grocery's English muffins prove to be a solid option, with a pleasantly yeasty flavor and a bouncy, airy texture that several tasters enjoyed. They toasted well, developing a nice crunch around the edges while still staying fluffy inside. Megan also noted their "nice tanginess and crannies," and that they were closer to a classic English muffin than some of the blander samples we tried.
The Contenders
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Classic English Muffins
- Amazon Grocery Original English Muffins
- Bays Original English Muffins
- Bowl & Basket Original English Muffins
- Dam Good English Muffins Original
- Dave's Killer Bread Killer Classic English Muffins
- Nature's Promise Sourdough English Muffins
- Panera Bread Classic English Muffins
- Rudi's Rocky Mountain Sourdough English Muffins
- Schmidt Old Tyme Plain English Muffins
- Stop & Shop Original English Muffins
- Thomas' Original English Muffins
- Trader Joe's Classic English Muffins
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
English muffins may not actually be English—they were invented in New York City in the late 1800s by Samuel Bath Thomas—but the qualities that define them today are unmistakable: a craggy interior, crisp edges, chewy texture, and plenty of airy pockets for catching melted butter and runny egg yolk. In our taste test, the best muffins were the ones that delivered that balance of crunch, chew, and softness all at once.
Texture was the biggest differentiator between brands. Our favorite muffins had open, airy interiors that crisped nicely after toasting while still staying tender inside. Several of our top performers—including Bays, Trader Joe's, and Amazon Grocery—also contained added gluten, either as wheat gluten or vital wheat gluten. That extra gluten likely helped strengthen the dough, allowing it to trap more gas as it cooked and creating the chewy texture and irregular interior pockets we were looking for.
Bays, our overall winner, stood apart thanks to both its texture and flavor. Along with added wheat gluten for structure, it also contained ingredients like potato flour, butter, and dry milk, all of which likely contributed to its especially soft, airy crumb and richer, more rounded flavor. Tasters consistently described it as fluffy, fresh-tasting, and almost homemade. Trader Joe's, by comparison, had a leaner ingredient list—mostly flour, water, yeast, and corn oil—which may explain its breadier texture and milder flavor.
Tanginess also played an important role. The best English muffins had a lightly wheaty, subtly sourdough-like flavor that kept them from tasting flat. Brands that incorporated acids such as fumaric acid and citric acid, as well as cultured wheat flour or fermented wheat ingredients, generally tasted brighter and more complex, while those without were more bland or overly sweet.
One pleasant surprise from the tasting was just how many solid grocery-store English muffins are out there. While our top picks stood out, most of the brands in the tasting made perfectly respectable breakfast sandwiches and buttered toast. Still, if you're looking for the closest thing to a bakery-style English muffin from the supermarket shelf, Bays is the clear standout.
Our Testing Methodology
All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.
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Read the original article on Serious Eats
