English Muffin Bread Loaf > mini English Muffins?
What would you vote on? Is an English Muffin Bread Loaf better than a mini, classic one?
I’m going to go with yes.
Why, you ask?
For one, the loaf has extra nooks and crannies that get oh so crispy in the toaster!
Now imagine putting your fried egg in this… when the egg explodes, all that delicious yolk is going to settle in the little crispy holes and soak up there.
Or if you just spread butter, it’s going to go through those little crevices and also be amazing.
Really, I used to be a hardcore English Muffin fan (I have to share that original recipe soon), but lately I’m on the English Muffin Loaf kick.
How’d this loaf happen?
Wellllll, I ran out of store-bought English muffins. And I didn’t have a lot of time to make the dough, roll them into individual muffins and then cook.
I wanted something faster. So I combined the flavor and texture of an English Muffin with my favorite loaf of bread and this was born!
I eat this in SO many ways. Here are just a few:
- a classic sandwich. Any kind.
- Avocado toast and fried egg on top
- Grilled cheese (I know it’s a sandwich but worth mentioning on it’s own ;) )
- Dippers for soup
- Cut up in chunks, tossed in butter, baked on low until crispy as croutons!
- Lathered in peanut butter and jelly or peanut butter and banana for the kids (and me!)
- French Toast (it’s amazing! Recipe coming soon for that…)
- Straight out of the oven, lathered in butter!
Really, there’s no wrong way to eat this and a million right ways! You can’t go wrong.
What you’ll need for homemade EASY bread!
Equipment:
- Bread pans
- 2 Bowls
- Wooden Spoon
Grocery List:
- All purpose flour
- Instant Yeast
- Honey
- Kosher salt
- Baking soda
- Whole milk
- Butter
- Cornmeal
It’s really very simple and straight forward. You probably already have the majority (if not all!) of these ingredients already.
So let’s get baking!
How to make and English Muffin Bread Loaf step by step:
In a large bowl, combine the yeast, honey and water. If you don’t have honey or want to avoid it to feed to a baby under 1yr, you can use 1tbsp sugar instead.
Let that mixture bubble up, about 5 minutes or so. During that time, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt) until combined.
Now you’re going to add only one cup of the flour mixture and all of the milk to the yeast bowl. Mix well.
Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix very well. This mixture is going to be very loose, soft and wet. It’s okay!
Split the dough evenly between your two prepared baking pans. Now let them rise in a warm spot, covered with a cloth or greased plastic wrap.
I like to put my pans on a baking sheet to move them around easily. And I put mine to rise in the garage or laundry room.
I have a designated spot in each of these places for bread making. They’re the warmest spots in the house! It’ll take about 30-40 minutes for these to double and the dough to rise to the top of the pan.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring the dough back to the kitchen and dust the tops with cornmeal. This gives it that classic English Muffin finish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for a soft bread. you can do 20-25 for a crispier, golden crust. Either way, the bread will sound hollow when you tap on it.
Remove from oven, invert onto wire rack and allow it to cool fully (if you can resist!). Slice, toast and enjoy!
YOU CAN MAKE A KILLER ENGLISH MUFFIN BREAD LOAF!
Yes, I said that in all caps. I yelled it at you because I KNOW you can. This is one of the easiest (and most forgiving!) breads to make.
No bread machine, no stand mixer, no kneading. Just mix, pour, rise and bake.
And it’s not even a lengthy rise! I’m telling you, this is an amazing recipe!
This recipe is so simple, even the most “beginner” of bread bakers can make it! So if that’s you- get to baking!
If you need any help, or have any questions, reach out via comment or email. I’d be more than happy to help. :)
If you make this English Muffin Bread Loaf, be sure to send me an email with a snap of it! Or post on Instagram and tag me so I can see. I love to see what you guys are making!
English Muffin Bread Loaf
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast or two packets
- 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups warm milk
- 1 tbsp butter softened
- 2-3 tablespoons cornmeal
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425F. Grease two loaf pans with the softened butter and dust with some cornmeal, reserving some for the top.
- In a large bowl, mix the yeast, honey or sugar and set aside. Let it foam up for about 5-10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the yeast mixture, add the warm milk and 1 cup of the flour. Mix to combine, then add the remainder of the flour. If it is still entirely too runny, add a couple more tablespoons of flour. It needs to be a really loose dough but it WILL resemble dough, not batter.
- Scoop the dough and divide between both prepared pans. Dust the tops with more cornmeal. Cover and put in a warm spot to rise for at least 40 minutes. But if you can do 2 hours or so, even better!
- After it's risen, bake for 15 minutes or until tapped with a knife and it sounds hollow inside. Bake for 20-25 minutes for a more golden, crisp crust.
- Invert onto a wire rack and let it fully cool. Then slice, toast, butter and enjoy!
If you enjoyed this bread recipe, give these a try!
