# Why English "Muffins"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216 "2014-07-28T06:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/61 "2014-07-28T21:06:17Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > - An English biscuit is a flat, crunchy, tasteless cookie, occasionally saved by the addition of jam or icing. It is generally palatable oly after dunking in a hot beverage. This isn’t really correct. Some biscuits are pretty plain, but our category of ‘biscuit’ includes anything that would be called a sweet cracker in the USA, plus many of the things that would be called a cookie - Oreo, for example, or chocolate coated stuff. In fact, chewy cookies are probably regarded as a subcategory of biscuits to most people in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/62 "2014-07-29T00:04:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > . . . > > In fact, chewy cookies are probably regarded as a subcategory of biscuits to most people in the UK. Interesting. I thought all “biscuits” were crunchy. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/63 "2014-07-29T01:48:27Z")
> [@Miss\_Gnomer](#): > > As pointed out before … biscuits are “cookies” and scones are “biscuits” in the UK; these, and American muffins (cake), are reliant on chemical raising agents - only available from 1860 onwards. That is a load of carp …Friedrich Accum in his _1820_ book A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons [[found here free](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19031)] mentions ‘hartshorn’ or bakers ammonia as a leavening agent. It was found referenced in cookery books of the 17th and 18th century. I don’t think that Accum was prescient and writing about the use of something not yet invented. Small cakes can rise from other than chemical means. The sponge cake, which first popped into my ken in Markham’s The English Huswife from 1615 is fluffy through a beaten egg foam. [Who knew having historical cooking as a hobby could be useful. I have some 30 or so seriously out of print books of more or less recipes ranging from Roman, German, Persian, English and Just post Mongolian invasian Chinese.] Though I do admit that yeast risen cakes [and pancakes especially] are really quite tasty. [URL=“[http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/64 "2014-07-29T03:39:57Z")
Crumpets are rare here in Texas. I only know of two places to get them, one being a grocery store (one of the fancier, Whole Foods-esque variety) that only sells a single brand of (frozen) crumpets. The other is the Market Street store. They sell packaged fresh ones in their bakery, or at least they used to. Very expensive. Average Texan grocery stores do not stock them at all, as far as I’ve seen. English muffins are pretty universal, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/65 "2014-07-29T12:07:50Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Interesting. I thought all “biscuits” were crunchy. As a term of definition, that may well be. As a category of shopping, it applies to anything in the biscuit aisle - so pretty much any shelf-stable baked product that is flatter than it is tall, sweet, and not obviously a cake. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/66 "2014-07-30T06:38:22Z")
I think of muffins being closer to a bread than a cake, as in banana bread, pumpkin bread, etc. Heck, there are even corn bread muffins. Though I’ve also never seen a purely savory muffin. Even the plain ones are sweetened. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/67 "2014-07-30T09:11:21Z")
Banana bread is cake. But, yeah, English muffins are fairly bready. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/68 "2014-07-30T11:09:17Z")
In hono **u** r of this thread I had crumpets for breakfast. With butter and marmite. Which makes me more British than the Queen. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/69 "2014-07-30T11:20:44Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > In hono **u** r of this thread I had crumpets for breakfast. With butter and marmite. Which makes me more British than the Queen. > [@](#): > > Thy choicest gifts in store > On her be pleased to pour > Long may she reign > May she defend our laws > And ever give us cause > To sing with heart and voice > God save the Queen 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/70 "2014-07-30T15:01:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I browse the bakery items regularly, but haven’t seen them anywhere. As for Marmite, Branston Pickle, and the like, Meijer (a Midwestern grocery store chain) has it in the English food section. > > I’ll have a look more closely next time. Try Trader Joe’s - they have their own brand of crumpets. Not the best example of a crumpet but they’re not bad. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/71 "2014-07-30T15:29:23Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Try Trader Joe’s - they have their own brand of crumpets. Not the best example of a crumpet but they’re not bad. Ah, well we definitely have those around here. Next time I’m by one, I’ll pop in and pick some up. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/72 "2014-07-30T19:35:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oddly, I’ve never seen a crumpet in an American supermarket, but I can find Marmite, Branstion Pickle, even Jaffa cakes. Now, not in most supermarkets, but there’s a few chains that stock them. Never seen the crumpets, though, The supermarkets in SoCal where I have seen crumpets they have been stocked in the refrigerator section near the eggs, there are also English muffins there. In the bread section there will be bread, bagels and English muffins usually a different brand than the ones found in the refrigerated section. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/73 "2014-07-30T21:16:00Z")
I picked up some crumpets at the local HyVee once and, I can say, I much prefer English muffins. ---
**Author:** ![Gilbert1984](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Gilbert1984](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilbert1984)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/74 "2014-07-31T17:52:05Z")
I would like to throw pikelet into the mix, and the importance of being able to distinguish them from a crumpet. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/75 "2014-07-31T19:00:01Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Albert Steptoe, born on 26 September 1899, was an illegitimate offspring of a **[muffin man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muffin_Man)** who delivered muffins on a flat tray balanced on the head who died in 1910. When did the rest of him die? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/76 "2014-07-31T22:46:42Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > The supermarkets in SoCal where I have seen crumpets they have been stocked in the refrigerator section near the eggs, there are also English muffins there. In the bread section there will be bread, bagels and English muffins usually a different brand than the ones found in the refrigerated section. Yeah, I checked a bit ago at my local supermarket, and no dice. I googled crumpets and Chicago, and the only two stores that come up are Trader Joe’s (as has been mentioned) and Treasure Island (which I mentioned before for the Marmite and the Branston Pickle, but there’s only a small handful of locations in the city.) So it doesn’t seem to be a common thing around here. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/77 "2014-08-02T08:31:03Z")
I’m from Yorkshire and always understood that Pikelet was just an alternative name for Crumpet. Wikipedia informs me that this is not so. I’ve always been aware of Muffins but never partaken of them. Have some in the breadbin now as it happens. Bought for my grandson a while back (not the same ones ☹ ) I had never handled them previously and toasted them without splitting them. He wasn’t impressed. First heard the term ‘English Muffin’ in a Simon & Garfunkel song and wondered what the hell that was all about. I like the cake things sold as Muffins (have a stock of them too) but have always been rather confused about the name. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/78 "2014-08-02T12:40:13Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Albert Steptoe, born on 26 September 1899, was an illegitimate offspring of a **[muffin man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muffin_Man)** who delivered muffins on a flat tray balanced on the head who died in 1910. [This Albert Steptoe](http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/blobs/steptoe_promo.jpg)? ([American counterpart.](http://i880.photobucket.com/albums/ac5/pisceseye12/funny%20stuff/FredSanford.jpg)) ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/79 "2014-08-02T14:16:02Z")
**[Indeed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steptoe_and_Son)**. Barely watchable now, whatever their skill, like most '60s & '70s stuff. ( Still, if he was born on that date, why was he christened Ladysmith, when that **[siege](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Ladysmith)** only started in November that year ? ) Pikelets are like mini-pancakes, heated on a griddle. The ones sold in shops don’t look appetising. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216/80 "2014-08-04T19:16:04Z")
Well my wife is a lovely bit of crumpet 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-english-muffins/694216.md?page=5)