Just like this easy-to-make baguette and bolillo recipes, but with a little more sweetness and buttery flavor—This cottage loaf has a crispy, crunchy crust and a very soft interior. Read on to learn how to make this old-fashioned British bread at home.
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Making your own cottage loaf bread doesn’t require as much pro technique as you might expect, or as much time as it used to. In fact, you can make this cottage bread recipe in less time than I made this recipe as I mentioned in the recipe notes below, but I don’t recommend it because you’ll lose a lot of the flavor.
If you enjoy Great British cuisine, you should try this Chelsea buns recipe

Cottage Loaf Recipe Snapshot
- Taste: A traditional cottage loaf with a slightly sweet, buttery flavor.
- Texture: One of the reasons why this bread is so beloved by people is its texture. Slightly crispy crust with a soft, tender interior.
- Ease: The hardest part is the kneading process which you can make easier if you have a stand mixer.
- Time: The dough comes together in 10-12 minutes, and is divided and shaped in less than 3 minutes. The longest rise time, which took 3 hours for me, and may be more or less for you depending on the temperature. The loaf needs just 20 minutes to bake.
What is a Cottage Loaf?
Cottage loaf is a traditional English bread made from a yeasted dough prepared with strong flour “bread flour” or a mix of bread and whole wheat flour, along with butter or lard, salt, and sugar. Although it is easily recognizable by its unique shape that resembles a cottage “traditional British house”, the exact origins of its name and shape are somewhat unknown. According to Elizabeth David book’s “English Bread and Yeast Cooking“, its shape was created to maximize the space of traditional ovens in order to bake more loaves at a time, while the term “cottage loaf” only became widely used in the mid-19th century.
Grab these Basic Ingredients

- Water: In this recipe, I used water at room temperature to slow down the rise time, which gives the dough enough time to develop its flavor, especially during the first rise.
- Flour: Unlike my first cottage loaf, where I used durum wheat flour, which makes the loaf slightly denser and gives it a yellowish color. In this recipe, I use bread flour, which makes the crust crispier and the inside softer. You can also use all-purpose flour without any change, but the crust will be less crunchy.
- Yeast: You can use any type of yeast in this recipe. Just Remember to activate the active dry yeast with water and sugar before 10 minutes of mixing the ingredients, and triple the amount of fresh yeast if you choose to use it. If you use instant yeast as I do, just follow the instructions as detailed.
- Salt: You can’t make good bread without it. I recommend using a coarse sea salt like all my yeast bread recipes.
- Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and adds some sweetness to the bread as well as gives it its golden color.
- Unsalted butter: Butter promises a flavorful and tender loaf. But you can still replace it with margarine, oil, or lard.
In photos: How to Make Cottage Loaf Dough
Start by adding water, flour, yeast, salt, sugar and the butter in a mixing bowl and combine the ingredients together for 2-3 minutes until a shaggy dough forms.

Now the hardest step of the recipe comes. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, let it knead the dough on medium speed, as I noted in the recipe card below. If not, pour the dough onto a floured work surface and knead your dough by hand for 10-12 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise for about 1-2 hours.
The dough after the kneading process and the first rise time:

Now it’s time to shape.

Divide the dough into two pieces. The first piece should be one-third of the total weight of the dough, and the second should be two-thirds. Shape each into a ball.

Take the small ball and place it on the larger ball.
Using your index and middle fingers, press the dough from their top centers until your fingers touch the baking sheet. Think of it as if you were going to form two bagels, one on top of the other. score and leave it to rise for another 1-2 hours.

score 8 slits on the surface of both balls and sprinkle a small amount of water on them.
Bake your cottage bread within a preheated steam oven at 460°F (230°C) for 10 minutes, then at 340°F (170°C) for 25-30 minutes.
Ingredients To Make Durum Wheat Cottage Bread

- 3 and 1/4 cups durum wheat flour
- 1 and 1/2 cup water, lukewarm
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons instant or active yeast
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Keep in mind that a durum wheat loaf takes longer to bake, about 30-35 minutes.
How to Store Cottage Bread
After the bread is completely cooled, Store it in an airtight bread container or wrap it in linen bread bag, towel or plastic bag for up to 4 days. For longer storage, wrap the sliced loaf in freeze bags. When needed, remove as you need of slices and thaw at room temperature before reheating in the oven at 340°F (170ºC) for 5-10 minutes.

British cottage loaf recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup and 2 tablespoons ( 240 grams) water, at room temperature. Plus 2 cups to create the steam.
- 3 cups (435 grams) bread or all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) sugar
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7 grams) instant or active yeast
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Instructions
- Make the dough: Add the room-temperature water, flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl. Combine with your hand, wooden spoon, or spatula for 2-3 minutes, until all the flour is incorporated and the dough becomes shaggy. You may notice that the butter doesn't mix well in this step, and that's okay. Refer to the photo above for the right consistency of the dough at this stage. *If using a stand mixer, fill the dough hook and beat the ingredients on low speed for 3 minutes.
- Knead the dough: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10-12 minutes until becomes smooth and elastic. The butter makes this dough a little sticky on the first time you work it, so you'll need to dust the dough and work surface with flour as needed. Or knead the dough at medium speed for 6-7 minutes if using a stand mixer. Shape the dough into a ball.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray and. Place the dough on the bowl and turn it over to coat all sides with oil. Cover and allow the dough to rise for 60-120 minutes until doubled in size.
- Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Shape: When the dough is ready, transfer it onto your work surface and fold it a few times to release the air. Cut the dough into two pieces, with one piece being one-third of the total and two-thirds of the other—They don't have to be perfect. Shape each into a smooth ball. Place the large ball of dough on the prepared tray, flatten it a bit, and then place the smaller ball over it. Using both your index and middle fingers, press down through the center of the top dough balls until your fingers touch the baking sheet.
- 2nd Rise: Cover the shaped loaf with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm environment for 60-90 minutes or until it's doubled in size.
- 15 minutes before the dough is ready to bake. Place a metal or cast iron bowl on one side of the bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 446 ºF (230 ºC).
- Boil 2 cups of water to create steam.
- Use a bread lame or a sharp knife and score 8 slits on the surface of both balls. Sprinkle a little water on the scored bread dough.
- Bake: Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven. Quickly, Pour the boiling water into the prepared bowl to create steam and bake the bread at 446°F (230 ºC) for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 355°F (180ºC) and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the top become golden brown. Gently tap the bottom of bread—If it sounds hollow, the bread is done. If not, let it bake for another 5 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving it.