This recipe for English Muffin Bread is perfect for bread-making novices or experts alike. A bread that’s perfect for snacking, toasting, or for making sandwiches and Eggs Benedict.
What is an English Muffin?
English muffins are small, flat disks, made with yeast, sliced horizontally for toasting and topping with jam or using in Eggs Benedict recipes. In England however, they’re simply called “muffins”, though made still a little different. It’s thought that long ago, here in the US, we labeled English Muffins as such to differentiate them from our standard, cake-like muffins.
How do you make English muffins?
The recipe I settled on and love most comes from King Arthur Flour’s site. The recipe was basically perfect but I did find a few important tricks along the way. I’ve expounded a bit in the directions of their recipe to help you get it perfect. With this recipe, your English Muffin Bread will come out with a golden crust and a layer of cornmeal around the outside, thanks to the dusting that you place in the loaf pan after greasing it. Rapid rise yeast (also called Instant Yeast) is the key to getting the bread finished in a short amount of time, requiring it to rise only once before baking.
Dry ingredients are whisked together, including the yeast. Then the wet ingredients get heated in the microwave to the perfect temperature to interact with the yeast (an instant-read thermometer is helpful here). The short list of ingredients are mixed together for a minute. Then once the dough is smooth but a little rubbery, spread it into the greased and cornmeal-lined loaf pan to rise. The bread will rise to the perfect level in less than an hour unless your kitchen is very cold.
Baking the bread takes less than 30 minutes, testing with the thermometer for an internal temp of 190F degrees before removing from the oven.
Once the bread is completely cooled, you can slice it and it slices beautifully. Best of all, the taste is moist, airy, with a perfect crust.
Besides serving bread toasted with jam, we can’t forget Eggs Benedict. English Muffin Bread is the perfect base for wild smoked salmon, or soft and thin lox, baby spinach, and a poached, or fried egg.
Don’t forget to save English Muffin Bread to your “Bread” or “Breakfast” boards and let’s be friends on Pinterest! I’d love to share tasty recipes with you.
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English Muffin Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp rapid rise dry yeast
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil
- cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan
Instructions
- Before scooping your flour, fluff it up with a whisk or large spoon. Use the scoop and level method for measuring.
- Measure 3 cups flour into a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, and 1 Tablespoon instant yeast. Whisk together briefly.
- Combine 1 cup milk, ¼ cup water, and 2 Tablespoon oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. Be sure to stir the liquid well before measuring its temperature; you want an accurate reading. If you don't have a thermometer, the liquid will feel quite hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would be uncomfortable as bath water.
- Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.
- Using an electric beater, or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat at low speed for 10 seconds, then beat at high speed for 1 minute; the dough will be smooth and very soft. If you don't have an electric mixer, beat by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and starting to become elastic.
- Lightly grease an 8 ½" x 4 ½" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.
- Scoop the dough into the pan, it's a little rubbery now, leveling it in the pan as much as possible. Using your fingers, coated with a tiny bit of oil, helps to achieve this.
- Spray plastic wrap with cooking spray or lightly coat with some oil (so the dough doesn't stick to it when it rises). Cover the pan with the plastic, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, ¼" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F. During the last 15 minutes or so of baking, feel free to lightly tent some aluminum foil over the bread if you think it's browning too quickly. I do this every time after 9 or 10 minutes of baking and after 22 minutes of baking are complete I check the internal temperature and if it needs additional baking time, I keep the foil on.
- Remove the bread from the oven and immediately melt about ½ Tablespoon of butter or oil over the top and then sprinkle top with a light dusting of corn meal (this step is optional but makes the top look nice). After 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Even though I give instructions for testing the bread without a thermometer, using one ensures perfection for incorporating the liquid with the yeast to get the perfect rise.
- The bread will keep at room temperature when wrapped, for 3 days, but will keep in the refrigerator for 7 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.
WOW! These are just like the OG English muffins! Wonderful recipe 🙂
Great recipe, easy to make, tasted just like an English muffin but do you think I could use whole wheat flour on the next batch and it still taste like the original EM?
Hi Shannon, Whole wheat flour can be used but they’ll have a bit denser taste and texture. They’ll still be delicious, but not like the original. 🙂
GREAT recipe! The taste was right on! Couldn’t be better. Was terrific right out of the oven, even better toasted as you would an English muffin. Had all the knooks and cranies you would expect from an English muffin. Thanks Sally!
Very good, very easy, very tasty! Have made this twice. Once in two mini loaf pans and another in one larger (9×5) pan. As always it was just great!
Wow! I adore english muffins and I really loved this bread. It was just like eating an english muffin without the crust underneath the muffin. Toasted and lightly buttered, this bread was awesome.
Cab this be made in a bread machine on the dough setting?
Hi Gail, I’ve never made bread of any kind in a bread machine so I’m not able to help with that question, I’m sorry.
This bread looks lovely and soft. I really need to try making bread more often.
The texture on that bread looks perfect! I bet it makes some amazing sandwiches. Can’t wait to try this!
I wish I had a slice of this for breakfast today!
I love English muffins so I can imagine how good this bread tastes! I love that this bread can be made so quickly too!
My boys would love this bread! Perfect to make up a batch and have on hand for toast or with eggs.
What a great idea! I totally agree that making the English muffin in bread for like this would lengthen its shelf life and prevent it from going stale. Perfect for reducing food waste.