Julie Clark
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English Toasting Bread
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If you’re craving english muffins but want something easier, try this English Toasting Bread, or muffin bread! It makes the best toast with butter and jam.
A few weeks ago we shared an English muffin recipe. Have you tried them yet? There’s nothing like homemade English muffins. Especially when served with a pad of honey butter. Delicious.
If you’re looking for something just a little faster, I think you’ll love this homemade English Toasting Bread. It’s the same great flavor and texture…just in a sliceable muffin loaf!
What is English Toasting Bread?
This recipe is also sometimes called English Toasting Bread. According to The Kitchen, the bread form of the famous English Muffins aren’t actually English at all. Supposedly English Muffins are actually marketed as American over in Europe.
A British ex-pat in New York City developed the English muffin recipe that became so widely famous. Whatever the backstory, I’m glad this homemade English muffin bread was invented.
How to Make English Toasting Bread
Follow these steps for easy homemade bread:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast.
- Heat the milk in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove until it reaches 120º F degrees (stir the milk well before testing the temperature to ensure an accurate read). Add the hot milk and the vegetable oil to the flour mixture.
- Use an electric stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to beat the mixture at medium speed for 1 minute, or kneading by hand for 3 minutes works too, until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be very soft and sticky. If you choose to knead by hand, make sure you don’t add too much flour or the bread will be dry.
- Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray, then dust the bottom and sides with cornmeal. This gives the bread that classic English muffin texture.
- Place the soft dough into the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dish towel and set in a warm place and let the dough rise just until the dough reaches the top of the pan. This will take approximately 1 hour.
- Bake the bread at 400ºF degrees for 25 minutes until it is golden brown on the top.
How do you know bread is cooked?
There are several different ways to do this.
- Tap the bottom of the loaf. It should sound hollow.
- The outside should be an even brown color, like the beautiful color of this bread below.
- But the most accurate way is to check the internal temperature. The yeast bread is done when the internal temp reaches 190º Fahrenheit.
How do you cut bread without squashing it?
Here are a few tricks for cutting English toasting bread.
- Make sure the bread is completely cooled (although I know it is tempting to eat it fresh from the oven!).
- Use a long serrated knife.
- Saw back and forth with the knife instead of pressing down really hard.
- Be gentle! Hold the bread loaf gently with your hands as you cut it.
- Turn the loaf upside down to cut it. This may seem like you’ll squish the bread and may not work with all types of bread, but if you have a firm bread, this might be a trick to try.
What goes good on toast?
Here are a few of our favorite toppings for English toasting bread:
- peanut butter
- butter, sugar and cinnamon
- blueberry lemon refrigerator jam
- nutella
- cinnamon butter
- butter and honey
This english muffin toasting bread also makes a great sandwich. Make breakfast sandwiches with egg and a slice of cheese.
Use leftovers of this english muffin bread recipe for French toast casserole, French toast muffins or baked French toast.
Other Homemade Bread Recipes
English Toasting Bread
If you're craving english muffins but want something easier, try this English Toasting Bread, or muffin bread! It makes the perfect breakfast toast.
Servings 8
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Rise Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour 390 grams
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 12 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt 5 grams
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 envelope instant yeast 7 grams
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk 10 ounces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 27 grams
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Cornmeal to sprinkle in pan
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast. 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 envelope instant yeast
- Heat the milk in the microwave or in a sauce pan on the stove until it reaches 120F degrees (stir the milk well before testing the temperature to ensure an accurate read). Add the hot milk and the vegetable oil to the flour mixture. 1 ¼ cups whole milk, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Use an electric mixer to beat the mixture at medium speed for 1 minute, or beat by hand for 3 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be very soft and sticky.
- Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray, then dust the bottom and sides with cornmeal. Non-stick cooking spray, Cornmeal to sprinkle in pan
- Scoop the dough into the pan. Cover the pan with a clean dish towel and place in a warm location to rise just until the dough reaches the top of the pan, approximately 1 hour.
- Bake the bread at 400ºF degrees for 25 minutes until it is golden brown on the top. The internal temperature of the bread should reach 190ºF.
- Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
- Slice the bread and serve it toasted with butter and jam. Store leftover bread in an airtight container.
Notes
The calories shown are based on the bread being cut into 8 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of bread. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information.**
Nutrition
Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 342mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2.2mg
Will this recipe work with glutin free flour?
Sounds delicious. Thank you for the recipe. I make a lot of bread and I always use an electric knife to cut it.
Any idea if this will work as well with whole wheat flour?
bin wanting to make English muffins for years .now Im gonna try this ,will a bread machine work ??