Dave and I love a good, hot, crispy English Muffin for breakfast; however, I refuse to buy them from the store because they rarely go on sale, and the regular price can be over $3.50 for 6 lousy {preservative filled} English Muffins.
Thankfully, my mother-in-law shared her recipe for English Muffin Bread with me and for the last few years, it has been our much tastier, much healthier, and much cheaper alternative to store bought English Muffins.
There are so many uses for English Muffin Bread, but our favorite are tasty Egg Sandwhiches, which I’ll show you how to make if you keep reading…
… but first you have to make the bread!
English Muffin Bread is quite easy to make, it only has a few very basic ingredients, and it makes 2 large loaves which can easily be stored in the freezer for long periods of time!
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 c. flour
- 2 packets active dry yeast {or 4 1/2 t. if you buy it in jars like I do}
- 2 t. salt
- 1 T. granulated sugar
- 1/4 t. baking soda
- 2 c. milk
- 1/2 c. water
- 2 1/2 c. additional flour
So besides the yeast, I’m guessing you should have almost all these ingredients in the house all the time! And if you don’t do a lot of bread baking, you can keep yeast in the freezer and it will stay fresh for a really long time {just so you know!)
DIRECTIONS:
- In a large bowl, mix the first 5 dry ingredients together
- In a small bowl, combine milk and water. Heat in the microwave until hot {usually a minute or two}
- Pour milk mixture into flour mixture and beat well {I like stirring it with a wooden spoon}
- Stir in the remaining 2 1/2 c. flour until you have a very stiff batter
- Spoon batter into two WELL GREASED bread loaf pans
- Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes
- Preheat oven to 400*F
- After bread rises, bake {uncovered} for 25 minutes or until done
- Remove from pans immediately and let cool completely
- Cut both loaves into thin slices and freeze in air-tight containers or freezer bags {see picture above}
UPDATE: a reader emailed me this cute, printable recipe card — you can click on it to print it off!
Once the bread is frozen, it will stay fresh for months, and whenever you want a slice, just pull one out of the freezer and pop it in your toaster — just like an English Muffin!
The bread is so soft and delicious, yet still so crunchy — WAY better than any store bought English Muffin… I promise!!
English Muffin Bread and Egg Sandwiches:
Obviously, you may eat this bread however you would normally eat an English Muffin. We often eat ours like toast — with a little butter, jam, or peanut butter on it.
However, we also love making Egg, Ham, and Cheese Sandwiches with our English Muffin Bread — either for a hearty breakfast or a really quick dinner {we actually had them this week and both our international students loved them!}
I’ve listed several of my favorite quick and “make-ahead” breakfast recipes below; but first, I want to share one of our all-time favorite breakfast “recipes”…
The Egg, Ham, and Cheese Sandwich
And just so you know, I can whip up FOUR of these sandwiches in about 7 minutes, and only get one pan dirty!
STEP 1 = crack four eggs directly into a large heated frying pan and scramble a bit {no need to get a bowl dirty!}
You should also put four slices of frozen English Muffin Bread into your toaster at this time {and start toasting them}
STEP 2 = once the eggs have cooked for a minute or two, divide them into four equal parts and flip to continue cooking
STEP 3 = Top each egg with a little of your favorite cheese and a slice of your favorite meat. Flip one more time so the meat side gets toasty and the cheese fully melts.
STEP 4 = Your English Muffin Bread should pop up any second now and when it does, put the slices on plates and then top with the egg, cheese, and ham
DONE!
Such a hearty breakfast in under 10 minutes… yum!
Here are a few more of my favorite breakfast recipes:
What are your favorite breakfasts foods?
Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly, recipes!
Ladyjorns says
The ultimate homemade egg sandwich, also known as the breakfast, lunch, and dinner (why not?) of champions.
Meme Ray says
Love this bread. Made it twice then decided to treat myself to non stick loaf pans problem solved. Giving some to a friend with the re ipe and website. Thanks again for a quick delicious recipe.
Breakfast sandwiches made with the bread are great !!!
Melanie says
Thank you for the recipe! One question…you say raise for 45 min…how much do u actually want the bread to rise? Mine didn’t at all in that 45 min.
CG says
Great bread recipe! Super easy, quick, and it smells absolutely delicious!
Just curious, though- what kind of ham did you use for this post?
Looks yummy!
kristen says
I have made this recipe several times now, it beats a store bought product any day! I was just wondering…have you ever made this in a stand mixer? I just find it really frustrating trying to get that last addition of the flour incorporated! I have a Kitchen Aid, so I have the dough hook attachment. I know it doesn’t really need “kneaded”but I thought I’d see what you thought about using it. Thanks!
Andrea says
Good — so glad you like it!
I’m sure it would be fine to use your kitchen aid mixer — I guess I just like mixing with a spoon!
Taylor says
I am curious as to why you add the baking soda, you already have a leavening agent in the yeast and you didn’t add an acid to release the Carbon Dioxide gas to act as a leavening agent. So, why the baking soda? Just really curious, I’m gonna make this tonight.
Lisa says
I’ve already made the egg sandwiches (had them for supper and they were a hit with the whole family!) and I made the bread this week. Super easy, super yummy, and WAY WAY cheaper than buying it! I posted a link to this recipe on my blog. Thanks Andrea!
http://www.cookingupasale.blogspot.com/2012/02/make-it-or-buy-it-english-muffin-bread.html
Mandi says
I found you on Pinterest and I have my bread in the oven right now! I am not much into baking but this looked too simple to pass up AND I actually had all of the ingredients sitting around my house! Thanks!
Roxanne says
Just made this bread for the first time yesterday, and I’m never going back to store-bought English muffins! It was a huge hit with my fiance- maybe once we’re married, I can actually get him to eat breakfast BEFORE he goes to work!
Andrea says
yay — so glad you guys liked it! And yes, he should definitely be eating breakfast before work!
Jennifer says
We used to have english muffin breadn from a Country Store when I was younger. The store is still in business but they have changed bakers and it isn’t the same. Your recipe and pictures bring back great memories. I plan on baking and freezing this weekend.
Valerie C. says
Looks so good, I just pinned it on pinterest! Also love all the freezer ideas, I’m always looking for new freezer ideas! Thanks
Deborah says
This bread is to die for! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I just posted about it on my blog in a 31 Days to Slash Your Budget Painlessly series I’m doing this month. I’ve linked backed to you for people to get the recipe. You can see it at http://greenwillowpond.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-days-day-6-do-you-know-muffin-man.html
Have a lovely day!
Deborah
Jessie says
Made this over the weekend and YUM! So quick and easy. It is sure to become a family favorite.
Andrea says
Yes, this recipe is definitely a family favorite over here too! Thanks for sharing your success Jessie 🙂
Robin says
I made THREE of your recipes this morning: Apple Butter, English Muffin Bread, and Egg Sandwiches (using the English Muffin Bread). All 3 are huge hits, especially with my 3-, 4-, and 5-year old boys! Thanks for the great recipes and ideas – love your site!
Sarah says
Could you use bread flour?
Andrea says
Not sure, I’ve never tried bread flour b/c all purpose flour is cheaper.
My advice is always just to “give it a shot” if it doesn’t work, you’re only out some time and a few really inexpensive ingredients!!
Jenny C. says
Andrea, did you use white flour? The pics almost have a “wheat” look to them. Thanks for your awesome blog!!! Jenny C.
Andrea says
Jenny, I actually used white unbleached flour so it is a little darker in color than traditional white flour. You could definitely try 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white if you wanted.
Shelly says
Thank you for the recipe, I couldn’t believe how high the english muffins are and I love english muffin bread but its so expensive to buy already made.
Robin says
Yum! I’ll be making this bread for sure – thanks!
Julie says
You might want to consider looking into buying yeast in bulk. I would buy the red star yeast in the jars it was costing me a fortune!! I bake all of my families bread due to wheat/gluten sensitivities. I would cost an arm and a leg to buy the bread for my family and it doesn’t taste that great. So…I make it all. I buy two 1pound bags of Red Star yeast from amazon and it was only $10.00. I put it in the freezer and transfer enough to fit in the jar and then keep the jar in my freezer. I will keep in the freezer for up to a year according to the packaging. I could never find a good enough deal on yeast. The coupons that I found were all low value and it rarely went on sale when I needed it. So this works great for us!!
Great recipe!! I will have to try this one for my husband, he is the only wheat eater in the house and he would love this.
Julie says
I meant to say that I keep the jar in the fridge! The yeast was $10.00 including the shipping!