This high fiber English Muffin recipe has a mild, slightly sweet flavor, a soft, moist, chewy interior, and a crispy crust. Dairy-free and free of added sugar, each muffin delivers more fiber than ½ cup of cooked oats and more protein than an egg. The dough also makes a great every day bread when baked as loaf.
One evening, I was looking for a high fiber bread recipe to incorporate more fiber into my diet. My daughter was visiting the next day. She prefers soft, white bread with a mild flavor, so I decided to create a high-fiber bread that she might enjoy.
While I’ve baked my fair share of bread—mostly simple recipes from Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish—I had never attempted anything like this before. One of my favorite bread resources, The Perfect Loaf, featured a High-Fiber Seeded Sourdough Bread Recipe that caught my eye. It looked promising, but I felt the percentage of whole wheat flour was too high for my daughter’s taste, and I knew the nuts wouldn’t be a hit. However, I was intrigued by the recipe’s use of soaked oats, seeds, and the Tangzhong technique.
To lighten the bread’s flavor and texture, I needed a whole grain that was mild and relatively light. I love quinoa, and it seemed like the perfect choice. While searching for a bread recipe that included quinoa, I stumbled upon a Whole Wheat Quinoa Bread recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. I decided to adapt it, using enough quinoa to reduce the whole wheat percentage to about 50% and incorporating the technique for mixing quinoa into the dough from that recipe.
In hindsight, it was an ambitious experiment, but it turned out surprisingly well. The bread had the mild flavor and soft crust and crumb I was aiming for. It was slightly denser than I’d like, but both my daughter and son enjoyed it.
I’ve made a couple of iterations on this recipe, and along the way I decided to make a batch of English muffins using the dough. I think it’s a very good English muffin recipe, with a mild, slightly sweet flavor, crisp crust, and a soft and moist interior.
Nutritional Information
Despite their mild flavor, these muffins pack quite a nutritional punch. The combination of whole wheat, oats, quinoa, and seeds delivers 4 grams of fiber per muffin—more than Dave’s Killer Bread English Muffins. They also provide about 6 grams of protein, making these muffins both wholesome and satisfying.
Instructions
This recipe sounds complex, and it does take quite a bit of time, but most of the steps are quick and easy. If you’re interested in bread making, this is an opportunity to use poolish, tangzhong and autolyse techniques.
If you want to make a batch of muffins in one day, you can skip to the simplified instructions.
The night before you want to make the muffins.
Soak the oats and seeds. It doesn’t take long for them to absorb all the water, so you can soak them in the morning if you forget.
Make the poolish. This is a long, slow fermentation that enhances flavors and help make the muffins soft and chewy. Combine equal parts whole wheat and water with a tiny amount of yeast. Cover and let it mature for 12-14 hours.
When it’s mature, it will be bubbly as shown below.
When the poolish is bubbly, cook the quinoa, and make the tangzhong.
The tangzhong technique (also known as a water roux) makes the muffins softer, and more moist. It is accomplished by cooking flour and milk into a thick paste over low heat for about five minutes. This pre-gelatinizes the starches allowing the dough to retain more moisture.
While the tangzhong is cooling, autolyse the remaining flour.
The autolyse technique helps the muffins to rise better. This is done by mixing the remaining flour and water and letting the mixture to rest for 15-30 minutes. During this time, enzymes in the flour begins to breakdown the gluten proteins and starches in the flour.
Mix in the tangzhong when it has cooled.
When the quinoa cooked. Mix in the poolish, yeast, and salt. Fluff the quinoa, and gradually add it to the dough with the mixer running.
Knead the bread for seven minutes. Then form it into a ball, and place it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let it bulk ferment until it has doubled in size.
When the dough has doubled in size, divide it into 12 balls, and form them into muffins. Then sprinkle with cornmeal, semolina flour, or wheat germ. See recipe for bread making instructions.
Cook the muffins over medium low heat. They take about six minutes to cook on each side. Rotate them occasionally so they brown evenly.
Cool them on a rack, and enjoy!
Simplified Instructions
I’ve made these muffins without making poolish the night before. I think the poolish helps make the muffins a little more airy, but it’s good without using the technique. If you decide to do this, increase the yeast to ¾ teaspoon.
I haven’t tried the shortcuts below, but I think you could make good English muffins in a fairly short time by using them.
- Start by mixing the oats and seeds with water.
- Cook the quinoa.
- Mix 240 gram whole wheat flour, 75 gram bread flour, 75 gram all purpose flour, 160 gram water, 160 gram milk, yeast (¾ teaspoon) and salt.
- When oats have absorbed the water, add them to the dough.
- When the quinoa when it is done cooking, fluff it, and mix it into the dough by spoonful.
- Follow the steps starting with the kneading in the main recipe.
High Fiber English Muffins
Equipment
- 1 Mixer
- 1 Pressure Cooker optional
- 1 5×9" loaf pan if making bread
- 1 heavy pan or griddle if making English muffins
Ingredients
- 75 gram white flour
- 75 gram bread flour
- 240 gram wheat flour
- 100 gram quinoa
- 50 gram oats
- 8 gram flax seed meal
- 8 gram chia
- ½ teaspoon active yeast
- 8 gram salt
- 160 gram almond milk substitute dairy or oat milk
- water
Instructions
Make Poolish
- The night before, mix 130 gram whole wheat flour, 130 gram water at 80℉ and about ⅐ of ⅛ teaspoon active yeast.
- After 12 to 14 hours it should be bubbly.
Soak Oats and Seeds
- Mix 50 gram oats, 8 gram chia, 8 gram flax seed meal with 100 gram water. Cover and soak for at least 15 minutes up to overnight
Cook Qunioa
- Rinse 100 gram quinoa, then add 100 gram water. Pressure cook on high for 1 minute. Then allow pressure to release naturally. Fluff. If cooking on the stove top, increase water to 220 grams, bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let it rest for 10 minutes then fluff.
Make Tangzhong
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the 40 grams whole wheat flour and 160 gram almond milk. Cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture thickens and becomes a paste (like mashed potatoes), 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and spread it out to cool.
Autolyse Grains
- In a stand mixer, mix 70 gram whole wheat flour, 75 gram white flour, 75 gram bread flour.
- Add tangzong, soaked oats mixture, and 30 gram water at 100℉.
- Mix and allow to rest for 15 – 30 minutes.
Final Mix
- Mix in the poolish, ⅜ teaspoon yeast, and 8 gram salt (about 1½ teaspoon).
- Gradually add cooked quinoa with the mixer running.
- Continue mixing. The dough should form a ball and pull away from the sides of the mixer. If it's too sticky, add a couple of tablespoons of flour. If it's too dry add a little water.
- Knead for 7 minutes.
Bulk Ferment
- Place the dough in a greased bowl or container, cover, and let it rise until double.
- Lightly punch down the dough.
Form English Muffins
- Divide the dough into 12 equal sized balls. Form them into rounds with your hands. Dust them with cornmeal, semolina flour, or wheat germ.
- Lightly oil griddle, cast iron or other frying pan.
- Place muffins on pan, leaving room for them to expand. Turn heat to medium low.
- After a few minutes, check them, and rotate them so they brown evenly. Adjust the heat so that they cook for about 6 minutes on each side. If they start browning too fast, flip them frequently.
- When they are done, move the muffins to a cooling rack, wipe any dusting out of the pan.
- Repeat for the rest of the muffins.
Make Loaf
- Form the dough into a loaf into a thick rectangle. Place in lightly oiled 5×9 baking pan.
- Let rise about 1½"
- Preheat oven to 420℉. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350℉ and bake for 25 more minutes. Remove from oven, then gently roll the loaf out on to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
I’ve made these muffins without using poolish. I think the poolish helps make the muffins a little more airy, but it’s good without using the technique. If you decide to do this, increase the yeast to ¾ teaspoon. I haven’t tried the shortcuts below, but I think you could make good English muffins in a fairly short time by using them. Start by mixing the oats and seeds with water.
Cook the quinoa.
Mix 240 gram whole wheat flour, 75 gram bread flour, 75 gram all purpose flour, 160 gram water, 160 gram milk, yeast (¾ teaspoon) and salt.
When oats have absorbed the water, add them to the dough.
When the quinoa when it is done cooking, fluff it, and mix it into the dough by spoonful.
Follow the steps starting with the kneading in the main recipe.