This man bread recipe is so easy to make! Create an awesome, man-sized loaf, or a dozen rolls of homemade bread in just a quick 90 minutes. Easy and healthy recipes for novice or men cooks alike!
Written by Mr. Crumbs
Aight ya’ll. You asked for it. We shared with you a picture of a new bread recipe on Facebook and Instagram last week and you responded – no, wait – you demanded that we share the new recipe with you.
With some spur of the moment decision making (a.k.a. choosing between butter or peanut butter while taste testing), recipe refinement (a.k.a. eating more bread) and editorial calendar shuffling (we had to push back the rosemary sea salt flatbread), we proudly present:
Man Bread.
Man Bread?
This bread recipe is so easy, even a man can make it. It was, after all, developed by one!
It’s just as easy (if not easier?) than the No-knead Overnight Artisan Bread, which many say is the easiest bread in the world.
And if you doubt me and say “baking bread is too hard” or “I’m scared of yeast,” I’m here to tell you that this loaf is your new best friend (and here’s a beginner’s guide on using yeast).
Why is 90 Minute Man Bread so great?
For starters, there’s no refined sugar. It’s sweetened with honey and has a tasty hint of coconut oil.
A healthy bread recipe developed by a man who once survived on Doritos and soda? Proof that picky eaters really can switch to real food!!
Next up, you can treat yourself to this ginormous, football-sized loaf of delicious goodness in just 90 MINUTES. That’s a quick rise, little effort, and yum-o in your belly in no time.
Finally, this recipe was a complete accident. Which means it’s highly unlikely you can get it wrong. Perfect for the novice cook, or fellow husbands out there.
It’s crusty on the outside, soft on the inside. When we pulled the first loaf out of the oven, Mrs. Crumbs and I were like, “Holy moly! That is one huge loaf…. wonder if it’s any good?”
Well, I’m going going out on a limb by saying this may be the BEST and easiest sandwich bread we’ve ever made. At first bite, we rejoiced.
Despite its size, it holds up to the hacking of a knife and smearing of butter and peanut butter very well. Granted, we love our Potato Bread, Maple Oatmeal Bread, Rosemary Olive Oil Bread (and more) – but this is just SO much easier!
Even funnier: we’ve made 3 loaves of this stuff in 2 days.
The first was obliterated by the family with a couple sticks of butter. The second loaf was used for grilled sandwiches.
The third was a final test loaf to ensure we could replicate this recipe and that it wasn’t too good to be true. I’m eating that one as I type this.
Cutting the Man Bread
Making this recipe will likely yield a Joe Montana-sized football-loaf-of-bread. Which means cutting it can be awkward. Here’s how we do it:
- Cut in half.
- Take one of your halves, and cut into slices. Trust me, the slices are plenty big for your sandwich. These are man-sized slices.
- Smear with lots of butter.
Additional Tips for a Successful Loaf of Man Bread
Flour
If you don’t have bread flour, you can make your own. Add 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten to 1 cup of all-purpose flour. You can also use up to 50% whole grain flour in lieu of bread flour or all-purpose flour. I haven’t tested more than 50% whole grain flour personally but check the comments below to see if someone else has tried this successfully.
Coconut Oil
If you don’t have or want to use coconut oil, you can use melted butter or olive oil – although the flavor will be slightly different. If the flavor of coconut oil concerns you, rest assure this bread does NOT taste like coconut oil.
Believe it or not, coconut oil is mildly sweet and tricks the taste buds into thinking it’s eating something sweeter than it actually is (cinnamon also does the same thing). That’s one reason why this loaf is loved by so many people who only eat white bread. Store-bought white bread has added sugar, but this homemade loaf TASTES sweet – despite the fact it only has 1 tablespoon of honey.
By the way, this is the coconut oil I use and recommend. I stock up when it’s buy one get one free AND free shipping. If you need coconut oil ASAP and can’t wait for a sale, here’s my runner up choice.
Baking Supplies
Most breads call for loaf pans, but we used our pizza stone. This is the one we have. It’s over 5 years old, been through hundreds of pizza nights and is still going strong. No cracks, despite moving across the country!
Plus it makes your pizza and bread taste pro-artisan (a.k.a. makes you look like you know what you’re doing).
Update: A reader tried this in loaf pans and it works great! After the first rise, split the dough into two loaves and place into two greased loaf plans. Rise again and bake as directed. For more options on baking, read the comments below. There are lots of ideas to make this recipe work for you!
Watch How to Make Our Man Bread
90 Minute Man Bread
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins
- Category: Breads
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups of warm water (105–115 degrees)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 1/4 tsp active-dry yeast
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- If your kitchen is not warm, turn your oven to low. This is simply to warm your kitchen up a little bit (since it’s cool where we live).
- In your mixer bowl add warm water, honey and yeast. Stir a few times until honey dissolves. Once yeast starts foaming (5 minutes or so), add flour, melted coconut oil, and salt. Using dough hook, knead for 10 minutes on low/medium low. Leave your dough ball in the bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 30 minutes.
- After the first rise, lightly flour a surface and scoop your dough ball on it. Knead your lump of dough by hand a few times, until it forms a firm ball. Cover this ball of dough with a towel.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, make sure this is in the oven to warm up. Alternatively, you can use a cast iron skillet while the oven is preheating – as one reader had great luck with! (Note: We have only tested this recipe with a pizza stone.)
- Let rise for 30 minutes.
- After the second rise, place dough ball directly on pizza stone, cut two slits on the top of the dough ball and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. If you are using a loaf or cast iron skillet, the cook time may need to be increased an additional 10-15 minutes. (bread is done when the internal temp is 220 degrees).
- Let cool and enjoy.
Notes
*We move this dough from the counter to the pizza stone, but if you don’t feel confident in that transition, flour a piece of parchment paper and shape the dough on that for the second rise. Then move the entire paper with the dough to the oven for baking.
I have one cast iron bread pan and one that is regular metal. I bake them one at a time.
If I add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time, should I turn the oven temp down?
Thank you!
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Hi, I’m unsure what a cast iron bread pan is, but I always bake my man bread in a large greased cast iron skillet, and it does take an extra ten minutes, but it comes out delicious. I wouldn’t turn the over down at any point. I also rub a tasty oil such as avocado, walnut or extra virgin olive oil over the bread before I bake it to get more of a crust. Delish!!!
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can you use instant yeast and if so is it better to use regular yeast and how manyloafs does this make im asuming one
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Hi Judi! Yes you can substitute instant yeast, and this recipe makes one giant loaf.
This is the only bread we eat! No more store bought for us! I made a small change. After the first rise I place the dough on a floured board and cut it in half. I need each loaf just until smooth then I place them in 2 greased loaf pans and do the second 30 minute rise. We love having loaf bread for sandwiches!! Thanks for this great recipe!!
You’re so very welcome Bronni!
what size loaf pans? 8×4 or 5×9?
First of all, your blog has transformed our budget and our ability to feed our family of 5 a (delicious) variety of homemade and Whole Foods.
Second, this recipe is perfection. I would agree with other posters, the size of this loaf yields the perfect sandwich size as is. When halved it makes a nice loaf for bread and butter for dinner, but doesn’t have enough surface area for a “man sandwich”. I kept it as one loaf, decreased heat to 385 and 27 min was perfect.
Currently have a double batch of your “cheez-it’s” (the kids now call these “real-it’s” and the box in the store “fake-it’s”) chilling in the fridge! You truly are my spirit animal
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LOL – I love that your kids renamed the crackers!!! I can’t wait to share this with my own kids. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this with me Anne – you just made my day! ♥
Have you used this recipe to make rolls or buns?
No, but you certainly can!
I was able to make this with 3.5 cups whole wheat flour and 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten, and while it was a little denser, I was very pleased with the results!
Yay Andrea! So glad WW worked for you!
Made this yesterday. Eating speaks louder than words! I doubled the recipe and made 4 loaves in bread pans. 3 got eaten at supper and the last disappeared at breakfast. We are a large family 🙂 and it was so good. I didn’t have coconut oil, bread flour, or vital gluten. I made it with all purpose flour and canola oil. We enjoyed it and plan to make more today.
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Hi. So I tried this yesterday, and I’m hoping you can help me! I don’t have a stand mixer so I kneaded by hand for about 8 minutes. Used half wheat, half white bread flour. Baked on a cast iron skillet. Had to bake at 400 for almost an hour to get inner temp to 220. The taste was okay, but the bread itself was really dense, and the crust was really hard. Any help would be so greatly appreciated!
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This is a denser than usual bread, since the rise times are so short. Next time I would knead by hand for 10-15 minutes (since you need 10 with a mixer) and knead again 10 min before shaping. Shape into a log-ish shape, rather than a boule, and your cook time should shorten a bit. Also, the internal temp can be anywhere from 190-200 to be considered done. I hope that helps!
Thank you!
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I kneaded, as you suggested, for 15 minutes before the first rise; about 12 the 2nd and shaped into a roll. And when it was done and sliced, I had to hide what was left from the family! Oh, I went 3 cups white bread flour, 1 cup wheat. Absolutely delicious!
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So glad you enjoyed this recipe!!
Made this for the first time this morning! Used AP flour from Montana Wheat…added the gluten. Divided in two and baked in loaf pans. Cool day here, increased rise times a little. Bake time 27 min. Turned out spectacular. This is our new “go to” sandwich bread! Had to email Tiffany a pic.
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I saw them Hal – they’re BEAUTIFUL!
Hi Tiffany,
Which size jar of coconut oil do you purchase? How often do you find it 50% off? Also do you have a large container of yeast you recommend? How much flour do you typically buy in bulk? Has Costco been the cheapest? Thanks for any tips! The first attempt at man breast resulted in crispy on outside and undercooked on inside- not sure what I did I wonder if I should split the dough before baking?
Man bread….. 😊
Hey Stacey! I buy coconut oil in bulk from either Costco or Tropical Traditions (Costco, more recently). TT often has it 50% off, or BOGO, but shipping is still costly. I buy 2 lbs yeast from Amazon and store it in the fridge. Red Star is usually the most affordable. I buy either 25 lb or 50 lbs of flour from Costco, and yes, they’ve been the cheapest. I’ll look at bulk grains for milling at home later this year.
Do you have an oven thermometer? I wonder if your oven runs hot… You can also use a meat thermometer to test doneness of bread – it should read 190-200F 🙂
Can I cut this recipe in half? If so, any other changes to make? Can’t wait to make it!
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You can, no other changes to make. Worthy to note though, is that bread freezes REALLY well. If it’s just you or a small family, it’s worth to make the recipe as written, divide into two loaves and freeze one loaf for later (less work in the end!).
I have never frozen bread. When ready to use do uou just let it defrost on the counter? Does it get soggy?
Yep! The counter is perfect and no, it doesn’t get soggy!
I just discovered this recipe, and it sounds delicious. I’ve never made a loaf of bread before. Is this a good one to try first? Also, how do you store your bread to keep it fresh and how long will it stay fresh? Thanks in advance!
Oh yes Cindy, this is a great loaf to make as your first loaf of bread! We keep it in a plastic ziploc bag on the counter and it’s good for 3-5 days. You can store it in the fridge to extend it to about a week or so, or put it in the freezer for 6 months!
Tiffany and Cindy,
Mine doesn’t last 3 days. LOL
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Tiffany, has anyone tried to do this with sourdough starter? I have some/one that I have been feeding all week and would like to try to use it.
I have made it per your recipe and we loved it.
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I haven’t heard of anyone doing it yet, but if you do, please let me know how it goes!
Tiffany, I will let you know. 😉
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Any tips for freezing it? Should I freeze it after it’s been made and cooled? After it’s been mixed in the Kitchen Aid but before it rises? We’ve made it twice and it’s quite tasty. Thanks for the recipe!
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After it’s baked!
Could you please convert “cup” to “gram”? Because I don’t have a measuring cup
Can I use instant dry yeast instead?
Thank you!
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Hi Jan! There are several converters on the internet that can take care of that for you, and yes, you can use instant yeast.
So yummy! Good thing it’s easy to make because my family devoured the whole loaf at supper.
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Yay!! So glad y’all liked it!
ok…so…Holy Heck!! This bread will make you slap your Mama! So so delicious. And easy?? Heck yes! Thanks, Crumbs! You guys are killin’ it!
Hi there! I don’t have a pizza stone. Can this be made on a cookie sheet? If so, does the cookie sheet need to be preheated? Can it be made in or in a standard loaf pan or will the loaf be too big for the pan? Thank you!
Hi Jennifer! Yes, it can be made on a cookie sheet and yes, it would need to be preheated. You can also make this loaf in a pan, and it will likely be very big. If you divide into two pans, you’ll get slightly smaller than average-sized loaves.
Hello, I’m looking for the nutritional values for your bread recipes. Could you guide me where to find them? Thanks
Hi Linda, We don’t have any nutritional information listed on our recipes. However, you should be able to plug in the ingredients on a nutritional calculator to find out.
Wonderful! I made a test loaf last night and another for work early this a.m. It was a hit! Thanks so much for sharing!
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