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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
- 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 1/4 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.
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
Ingredients
- 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon, plus 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 tablespoon, plus 1 1/4 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 1/4 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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 12/31/19 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/11/22}
Can you use half flour and half wheat flour or all wheat flour?
All of the above combinations will work, Dale.
What size breadpan does this take? 8×4, 9×5 ??
My pans are on the smaller side, approximately 8×4, Donna.
I really love there’s no milk in this delicious recipe. I didn’t butter the top during baking to keep it dairy free. I’m scarfing down as I type lol
I’m thrilled that you love the bread, D’Shondra!
Should I let the yeast rise before adding flour, water, salt and sugar?
There’s no need to do that for this recipe, Candace. It’s beautifully simple!
Hi….I just made the bread….but wondering why my dough was so dry? I used the exact measurements…..I did add a little more warm water but I don’t think it helped. The dough wasn’t sticky like the directions said it would be …..it’s ok but I think it should be better…thanks!
It sounds like your weather might be a bit dried. If it’s that dry next time, I’d probably go with your instinct and add another splash of water, Diana. So much of bread making is instinct, isn’t it?
Can I use whole wheat flour and does it have to be cornmeal?
Yes, you can make this with whole wheat flour, Gloria. You can also skip the cornmeal, but it won’t have the same flavor as English muffins without the cornbread dusting on the outside.
Hi
Do you mix the yeast, water and sugar together first and add to the rest?
You’ll mix all the ingredients together at once for this recipe, Tiffany. It’s wonderfully simple!
Can you substitute yeast? Everyone must be making bread I can’t find any yeast.
Unfortunately, this bread does require yeast, Cathy. However, there are several quick breads and muffin recipes on the site that do not call for yeast.
Do you know if this freezes well?
I was thinking I could make some and freeze for later.
This bread freezes beautifully, Julie.
I have never made a yeast bread but guess it’s time to try! Question about the recipe, though: In step 1, does the plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray go over the bowl as the dough is rising the first time, or should I put it aside to use over the dough as it rises in the loaf pans?
Yes, it goes over the dough, Cora. Happy baking!
Love this recipe! Have you tried adding cinnamon and raisins?
I have! It’s delicious that way. I need to reshoot it and share it soon, Carrie.
How do you store the bread once its cooled?
When the bread has cooled completely, I store it in an airtight ziploc bag.
Can this recipe be cut in half?
Yes, that should work fine, Morgan.
I cut it in half – a bit of a math challenge, but it came out perfectly!!
That’s awesome, Linda.
What if you don’t have corn meal for the pans.. can you use something else?
Hi Robin, this bread will work fine without corn meal. The corn meal simply adds that English Muffin flavor to the crust.
3 cups flour??? 5/34 C flour. What a joke of a recipe!!! obviously someone does not pay attention. How could you possibly trust this site.
Shirley, if you read through the whole recipe and the notes carefully, you’ll see that the suggested variation is for a portion (not the entire amount) of the 5 3/4 cups of flour. You should not substitute the full amount of flour if you want to use bread flour. You’ll simply need to swap 3 cups of bread flour for 3 cups of the listed 5 3/4 cups of flour.
That is ABUNDANTLY clear. And this bread is amazing. Thanks!
I’m so glad that you like the bread, Linda!
LOVE IT!! Made it again yesterday This time I halved the recipe just to see if it would work out. Came out perfectly!! Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
I’m so glad that you love the bread, Linda.
If you prefer to use a kitchenaid stand mixer to stir the flour etc together which type of attachment do you reccomend? The wisk or the C dough hook or flat paddle?
I use the paddle and then switch to the dough hook, Christine.
I love this recipe, I do not have a stand mixer and mix the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. Any suggestions on how to combine the dough more throughly? My bread does not rise as much as I think it should. But the flavor is amazing!
Hi Janice, you don’t need a mixer to make this bread. I’m glad that you like the flavor! I’d suggest trying to let it rise just a little longer and see if that helps.
Definitely do not need a mixer. I’ve made this bread three times in the last month. Mix all dry ingredients together in bowl then add water. I’ve used wooden spoon, spatula, plastic spoon, it all works fine. Cover with oiled wrap then put somewhere humid. I like putting it in the laundry room with the door shut while I’m drying laundry. Just seems to be a little warmer and humid in there. And make sure the temp of your water is 110 and the yeast isn’t expired. Beautiful rise every time. I’m enjoying a loaf right now I made last night.
I’m glad that you love the bread so much, Quinn!
Made half recipe yesterday. LOVED it but mine was a little more dense than I prefer. Didn’t really have the characteristic air pockets like your photo. Any suggestions? Wondering if I had the water too hot or mixed it too long. I used a dough hook. Thank you!!
I’m guessing that either of those things might have affected the results, Loretta. I’m glad you loved the bread though!
This looks great! Does this recipe freeze well? Have you tried making it with whole wheat flour?
Yes, to both questions, Judy. Happy baking!
Is it ok to proof the yeast in the water with the sugar and then add and mix with dry ingredients.? I don’t seem to have much luck with my doughs rising if added dry to dry ingredients.
That should work fine, Cheryl.
Any advice on high altitude adjustments?
I don’t think you will need to tweak this particular recipe for high altitude, Cindy.