Wolferman’s English muffins deserve to be dressed up in finery...but even plain they taste as if they were. Here, savory flavors like Cheddar, San Francisco Sourdough, and Smoked Onion & Garlic, are topped with savory spreads and vegetable and tart fruit garnishes

Yes, We Know the Muffin Man:
Wolferman’s English Muffins

CAPSULE REPORT: We first heard about Wolferman’s English Muffins about twenty years ago. We read the mail-order catalog from the company in Shawnee Mission, Kansas* that sold gourmet English muffins in regular, raisin, and perhaps blueberry varieties. But despite customer testimonies to their superiority, we could not be convinced that they would be so much more wonderful than the supermarket Thomas’s we enjoyed daily. We declined to dispatch UPS to bring us a box.

*Now located in Lenexa, Kansas.

We stand corrected. We have just finished consuming four dozen of Wolferman’s muffins: one package of each of the 12 current flavors (we did this over four weeks, we hasten to say). They are well worth going out of one’s way for: We will definitely have to dispatch UPS for a refill.

English Muffin Flavors

All the flavors are all superb (the complete list is at the bottom), and you would be remiss not to spend $32 and try all twelve flavors. But even among champions there are standouts, and they are:

• Raisin Cinnamon: Created by a chef who knew to add a touch of vanilla, these belong in the Raisin English Muffin Hall of Fame. Let the beautiful flavors of this muffin shine through: We found that heavy cream cheese suffocated the gourmet nuances, and preferred them with crème fraîche or au naturel.
• Mixed Berry: Of all the “fresh” fruit options, these have the most dimension, from the combination of fruits and the inspired hint of lemon.
• San Francisco Sourdough: First we tasted 1910 Original, the classic English muffin, which was excellent. Then we tasted San Francisco Sourdough. The added nuance of the sourdough is the cherry on top of the icing of excellent.
• Cheddar: A great recipe: just the right amount of cheddar to make these muffins distinctive, but not overwhelming. Great with eggs, grits, ham, chicken or by themselves.
• Smoked Onion & Garlic: If you like smoky, caramelized onions, this muffin is redolent of them. Great by themselves, we couldn’t wait to top some with a slab of ham and a poached egg; others with smoked salmon, crème fraîche and chives; others with poached salmon and dilled yogurt sauce; others with a chicken breast and chutney. A magic ingredient—but great plain or with a dab of butter.

All of the savory flavors are excellent bases for Eggs Benedict and other kitchen creations—Chicken à la King or Seafood Newburg, for example. Apple Orchard and Cranberry Citrus would also do well under a poached egg. All varieties are so flavorful that like any great piece of bread, you can eat them unadorned. Butter or jam is needed to punch up run-of-the-mill English muffins. Wolferman’s are not dry toast: They have as much flavor as shortbread or tea cake (but sure, slather on whatever you want—we’re just making a point). In fact, low-fat muffins in the fruit flavors are a more sane substitute for regular fat- and sugar-laden muffins, many of which are just cake with a different shape and name.

The Signature muffins are about 2" high; the Traditional muffins about half that (or, the height of a basic Thomas’s), and Mini Muffins, available in four flavors, are a good size for snacks and hors d’oeuvre. Traditional and Mini are available in four of the 13 flavors.

Here are two recipes from Wolferman’s that use the muffins to make Open-Faced Quiche and French Toast.

Before heading off to order, read about the history of the English muffin.

The History Of The English Muffin

The English muffin is not a muffin, but a variation of the crumpet, a raised muffin cooked on a griddle in a ring mold until is brown on the bottom and riddled with small holes on the top—not too dissimilar from a topside manifestation of “nooks and crannies.” You may see crumpets at specialty food stores or at fancy brunches and teas and think that they’re English muffins, but the giveaway is that they’re unsplit. Then, what’s the difference between an English muffin and a crumpet?

They are cousins, maybe even half brothers, depending on how you like your culinary analogies. Crumpet batter is moister to begin with and cooks up to more of a muffin-like moistness than the English muffin, which is similar in moisture to other toasted breads. Whereas English muffins are known for having small holes inside, crumpets develop them holes on their top side.

In fact, the English muffin started life as a split crumpet known as the “toaster crumpet.” Here’s the story.

The Brits did not invent the English muffin—in fact, they had never heard of it until the 1990s, when Best Foods, a unit of international conglomerate Unilever, bought the S.B. Thomas brand† and began exporting it to the U.K. No one denies that the English muffin was invented by Samuel Bath Thomas, a New York City resident who had immigrated from Plymouth, England in 1874, worked in a bread bakery, and opened his own in 1880 at 163 Ninth Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets, in the neighborhood known as Chelsea. †The brand is now owned by George Weston Bakeries, an operating unit of George Weston Ltd. Ultimately, Thomas created a “toaster crumpet,” a version of the English crumpet that was both flatter and what is now called fork-split (crumpets, like muffins, are served whole). This both preserved the nooks and crannies lost in knife-slicing and made it easier to toast. (Today in manufacturing, the muffins are run past wheels with Roman spear points that pierce the sides. “Nooks and crannies,” by the way, is a term popularized by a Thomas’s advertising campaign in the 1970s.)

The sweet flavors—Apple Orchard, Cherry Blossom, Cranberry Citrus, Mixed Berry, Raisin Cinnamon, and Wild Main Blueberry—can be decorated for brunches with fruit toppings. Shown here, Signature Assortment.

Toaster crumpets caught on with Manhattan hoteliers as a classy and easy-to-prepare alternative to toast. Their popularity grew quickly, expanding to the Bronx and Queens. Thomas expanded to a second bakery around the corner at 337 West 20th Street. That building, now a co-op apartment residence, is known as “The Muffin Building,” and a 2006 basement renovation uncovered the 15' x 20' oven used by the bakery.

Thomas sold his product to consumers as well, and had been retailing his toaster crumpet through grocery stores long before the term “English muffin” was established (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the origin of the term as 1902).

It’s hard to keep a harness on a good recipe—especially in such a well-trafficked town as New York City. The concept spread. In 1910 in Kansas City, Kansas, Louis Wolferman’s son, Fred, began to make his own English muffins, using tuna cans as molds to form and bake them (an accepted way to make crumpets if one does not have crumpet rings—just remove the top and bottom of the can and set them on the griddle or baking pan before pouring in the batter). Both Fred Wolferman and Sam Thomas baked their muffins on a fiery open griddle: Oven baking came later.

It’s not often that we know the historical origins of the foods we eat. Most, even those that evolved at the same time as the English muffin (like the brownie), are lost to history, legend and conjecture. As you enjoy your English muffins, raise your coffee cup or juice glass to toast Sam and Fred, and their successful ventures in muffindom.

— Karen Hochman
Updated May 2007

FORWARD THIS NIBBLE to your bread-loving and brunch-loving friends.

WOLFERMAN’S ENGLISH MUFFINS SIGNATURE MUFFIN FLAVORS: 1910 Original Recipe, Apple Orchard, Cherry Blossom, Cinnamon & Raisin, Cranberry Citrus, Honey & Oats, Mixed Berry, Multi-Grain & Honey, Pumpkin Spice, San Francisco Sourdough, Smoked Onion & Garlic, Sweet Harvest Wheat, Wild Maine Blueberry TRADITIONAL & MINI MUFFINS are available in 4 flavors—check website Certified Kosher (Dairy) by The Orthodox Union Each package contains 4 muffins; there are pre-set selections or you can customize your choice of flavors 4 Packages Signature Muffins, $18.95 Traditional & Mini Muffins, $17.95 6 Packages, $24.95 12-Pack (if you wish, you can order one of each flavor), $34.95

You can build your own assortment or choose from pre-selected top-sellers. Shown here: the Sweet Assortment.

There are gift packages on the website.

Shop online at Wolfermans.com or telephone 1.800.999.0169, 24 hours/7 days a week

Shipping is additional. Prices and flavor availability are verified at publication but are subject to change.

© Copyright 2004-2008 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. All information contained herein is subject to change at any time without notice. All details must be directly confirmed with manufacturers, service establishments and other third parties. The material in this newsletter may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Lifestyle Direct, Inc.