Level Up Your English Muffin

English muffin or crumpet? Regardless of the name you know these round, yeast leavened breads by, you are sure to associate them with the first meal of the day - breakfast. The crooks and crannies created by fermentation perfectly cradle your favorite toppings whether that be butter, jam or hollandaise sauce. The English Muffin is a versatile breakfast item that continues to grow in popularity nationwide.

In 2020 alone, 171 million Americans consumed English muffins and that number is expected to grow to 176 million by 2024 (2). Sales dollars changed 2% last year and companies like Flowers Foods saw over 110% sales change with the launch of the Dave’s Killer Bread English muffin SKUs. Despite exponential sales growth from other companies, Grupo Bimbo still leads the way in dollar sales with their Thomas brand English Muffins, raking in $717 million (3). The brand has even gone as far as designating March 29th as National English Muffin Day to celebrate the beloved breakfast favorite, challenging customers to showcase their best English muffin creations (4).

Consumers love the tanginess and porosity of the English muffin; however, top brands in the industry continue to innovate by offering sweeter versions of these chewy treats. Flavors like cinnamon raisin, blueberry, and seasonal pumpkin spice continue to pique the interest of breakfast eaters across the country. But with the growing popularity of better-for-you food, consumers are starting to seek healthful options like whole grains, reduced sugar, high protein and low-carb (3).

With the help of Manildra GemPro proteins, your English muffin can go from good to great in more ways than one.

Wheat Proteins to Benefit English Muffins

Low Carb – GemPro HPG and GemPro Prime-E

Added Protein – GemPro DVG

Whole Grain – GemPro Plus

Clean Label – GemPro HPG

 If you are looking to boost protein content without impacting rheology, GemPro DVG allows for easier dough handling and processing. At 75 % protein, you can quickly boost protein content without making major formulation changes.

If you are looking to create a low-carb option for consumers, using a combination of FiberGem, GemPro HPG and GemPro Prime-E in place of flour results in a shorter mix time and a more fluid dough that will easily fill a griddle cup and create an open cell structure.  

Thought about going whole grain? If you are replacing your refined flour with whole wheat, then the dough may need some additional functional support. By using GemPro Plus, you can add both elasticity and extensibility back to your dough system to achieve ideal rheological properties.

Even if you are not looking to make any nutritional claims, but you need a solution to create more volume and oven spring with your muffin, try out GemPro HPG or Gem of the West Vital Wheat gluten to help add elasticity to your dough and optimize finished product volume.

Using GemPro wheat proteins and FiberGem resistant wheat starch in your product can help you appeal to the nutritional needs of the consumer without compromising on taste, texture or flavor. Why not appeal to consumers demands and create a better-for-you English muffin for your portfolio today?

Sources:

1. https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/mcdonalds-most-popular-items#:~:text=Egg%20McMuffin&text=This%20classic%20menu%20item%20aids,15%20percent%20of%20McDonalds%20sales.

2.  https://www.statista.com/statistics/282906/us-households-usage-of-english-muffins-trend/#:~:text=The%20data%20has%20been%20calculated,to%20176.17%20million%20in%202024.

3. https://www.snackandbakery.com/articles/94836-state-of-the-industry-2020-bread-bagels-and-english-muffins-gain-ground

4. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thomas-celebrates-national-english-muffin-day-with-split-decisions-contest-and-launch-of-limited-edition-cinnamon-bun-english-muffins-301256936.html