English Muffin Bread

English Muffin Bread? Oh, yes. Everything you love about English muffins is waiting for you in this loaf of perfectly toastable English muffin bread.

Those nooks and crannies? Those little crevices that hold melting pools of butter? It’s all here. Toasted and slathered with Honey Butter, Everything Butter, Whipped Strawberry Butter, or Homemade Peach Jam, this is the breakfast of my dreams.

English Muffin Bread

This bread is so easy to make, you’re not going to believe it. There’s no kneading, no lengthy steps, truly nothing complicated is required – you don’t even need a mixer.

You can stir the ingredients for this bread together with a wooden spoon, let the dough rise, scoop it into loaf pans, let it rise once more, and then bake it. That is IT. No joke, this is crazy easy to make.

This bread is so easy in fact, I have three variations of this bread already in the works. Happy bread baking, my friends!

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE – do not slice this bread while it’s warm. Some homemade breads are more forgiving than others when you just can’t resist a warm slice, but English Muffin Bread will not work if you slice it too soon.

The spectacular texture of classic English muffins will develop while it finishes baking on the counter during the cooling process.

Easy Homemade Bread

This recipe for English Muffin Bread is an absolute win from Rebecca Lindamood’s new cookbook – Ready, Set, Dough! Beginner Breads for All Occasions.

You already know Rebecca as the author of Not Your Mama’s Canning Book and the creator of Foodie with Family. What you might not know is that she’s one heck of a bread baker – and she makes all of that bread baking look easy with her newest cookbook.

Despite the fact that I’ve done my share of bread baking, it’s been a long time since I ripped open a packet of yeast. Who could resist a beautifully toastable loaf of English muffin bread? I bookmarked this recipe within minutes of receiving a copy of this cookbook.

Guess what? When Rebecca tells you that homemade bread can be easy, trust her. This is HANDS DOWN the easiest yeast bread I have ever made.

Want a few more homemade bread recipes? This Beautiful Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread is about as dreamy as a loaf of sandwich bread can be.

Classic Honey Whole Wheat Bread is my favorite homemade bread that tastes like what I remember from childhood. I can never resist slicing the end off a loaf of this bread when it’s still warm from the oven.

English Muffin Bread Recipe

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, water, salt, sugar, and yeast with a sturdy spoon or dough whisk until it is moist with no dry pockets. The dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place until the dough looks puffy and bubbly and has risen to about double its size, about 1 hour.
2. While the dough rises, spray two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle ¼ cup of cornmeal in each pan. Tilt the pans, tapping gently, until the cornmeal coats the sides and bottom of the pan, tapping out the excess cornmeal.
3. Use nonstick cooking spray to generously grease your hands, and divide the dough between the two prepared pans. The pans should be no more than halfway full. If needed, prepare one more loaf pan to hold any excess dough.
4. Cover the pans loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough is once again bubbly and puffy looking and just peeking above the edges of the pans, about 30 minutes. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
5. Place the pans on the center oven rack in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, brush the surface of the bread generously with about half the melted butter. Return the pans to the oven and bake 10 more minutes.
6. Immediately turn the loaves onto a cooling rack and brush all surfaces generously with the remaining melted butter. Cool COMPLETELY before slicing or that spectacular English muffin texture will be compromised.

What Is Shaggy Dough?

Shaggy dough is lumpy, yet mixed well-enough that there are no dry spots of flour. It should be a cohesive but loose ball, not smooth at all.

Unlike traditional homemade bread recipes, this is a very simple, stir it together and then ignore it, kind of recipe.

Need a great gluten-free bread recipe? Tender High Rising Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread and this Honey and Oat Gluten Free Bread have been hugely popular as well. Along with this Cool Rise Whole Wheat Bread.

I made each of those recipes on repeat every week for several years, while we were dealing with gluten sensitivities. For the whole index of terrific gluten-free baking, you can see them all HERE.

Every single gluten-free recipe on this website has been tested side by side with their traditional all-purpose flour counterparts. “Good enough for gluten-free” will never be part of my baking.

English Muffin Bread

4.95 from 70 votes

English Muffin Bread is sliceable, toastable, and completely irresistible!

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Servings: 20 slices

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 1/4 cups warm water
• ▢ 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon, plus 1 ½ teaspoons white sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon, plus 1 ¼ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
• ▢ nonstick spray, butter, or oil
• ▢ cornmeal, for flouring pans
• ▢ 1/3 cup melted butter, divided

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, water, salt, sugar, and yeast with a sturdy spoon or dough whisk until it is moist with no dry pockets. The dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place until the dough looks puffy and bubbly and has risen to about double its size, about 1 hour.
• While the dough rises, spray two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle ¼ cup of cornmeal in each pan. Tilt the pans, tapping gently, until the cornmeal coats the sides and bottom of the pan, tapping out the excess cornmeal.
• Use nonstick cooking spray to generously grease your hands, and divide the dough between the two prepared pans. The pans should be no more than halfway full. If needed, prepare one more loaf pan to hold any excess dough.
• Cover the pans loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough is once again bubbly and puffy looking and just peeking above the edges of the pans, about 30 minutes. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Place the pans on the center oven rack in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, brush the surface of the bread generously with about half the melted butter. Return the pans to the oven and bake 10 more minutes.
• Immediately turn the loaves onto a cooling rack and brush all surfaces generously with the remaining melted butter. Cool COMPLETELY before slicing or that spectacular English muffin texture will be compromised.

Notes

I’ve also made this bread with 3 cups of bread flour swapped in for 3 cups of the all-purpose flour listed in the recipe. The bread flour adds something special to the resulting texture of this bread.

Nutrition

Calories: 161kcal · Carbohydrates: 28g · Protein: 4g · Fat: 3g · Saturated Fat: 2g · Cholesterol: 8mg · Sodium: 377mg · Potassium: 38mg · Fiber: 1g · Sugar: 1g · Vitamin A: 95IU · Calcium: 6mg · Iron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @barefeetkitchen or tag #barefeetkitchen!

{originally published 12/31/19 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/11/22}