Week 18 – Engligh Muffin Toasting Bread
I love a good English muffin, truly I do. Add some butter, toast it, then drizzle with a bit of honey or some jam… That’s the good stuff.
So when I saw this recipe in loaf form, I knew I had to give it a try.
For some reason I thought this recipe was going to be way more involved. It ended up being so simple that the VIDEO is only like 15 minutes long. By far the shortest bake yet! The most time consuming part was the hour long rise.
Now, I did end up underbaking mine a bit, I think? It was either that or my impatience because I did NOT let it cool before slicing! (In my defense, I baked this the day before the video was released and I am not fast at editing video.)
It was a winner, underbaked or not. The flavor is great and the texture is pleasing. Now, I didn’t toast it, I just added some butter. I do plan on trying it as toast tomorrow morning! And maybe as sandwich bread tomorrow afternoon. I’ll have to report back.
Details
1 loaf
8 minutes
22-27 minutes
Print
Ingredients
3 cups (360g) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon (14g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 cup (227g) milk
1/4 cup (57g) water
2 tablespoons (25g) vegetable oil or olive oil
yellow cornmeal, to sprinkle in pan
Directions
- Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Combine the milk, water and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl (or in a saucepan on the stovetop), and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. Be sure to stir the liquid well before measuring its temperature; you want an accurate reading. If you don’t have a thermometer, the liquid will feel uncomfortably hot if you quickly dip your finger into it. Be sure it doesn’t reach 140°F, as temperatures in that range can harm the yeast.
- Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Using an electric beater, or stand mixer with the flat beater attachment, beat at high speed for 1 minute; the dough will be smooth and very soft. If you don’t have an electric mixer, beat by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and starting to become elastic.
- Lightly grease an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.
- Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.
- Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it’s just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn’t be more than, say, 1/4″ over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn’t very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it’s golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.
- Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.
See? That was so easy, anyone could do it! My bread was pretty dense, it didn’t rise all the way. I’m not surprised, my house it really cold right now.
I didn’t have cornmeal, so I ground up some cornflakes and that worked well. You could also grind up oats to use instead of cornmeal. If you use cornmeal, the bottom and sides of your loaf shouldn’t look pebbled like mine. I didn’t crush the cornflakes as well as I should have. I’ll add some cornmeal to the shopping list for next week.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Wait til you see what week 19 is going to be! I’m really excited!
