English Muffin Bread for Breakfast {Powernap}
This is the latest installment of my Powernap column. The series where I share quick, easy food that can be made for all kinds of situations. Powernaps are short and sweet, and so are these recipes. These are the things I make in a jiffy when I need a quick snack, am in the mood for a recipe experiment, or simply need to clean out the pantry.
A few months ago a reader, Kelly M., sent me this recipe after she commented about it on my Facebook fanpage. We are HUGE English muffin eaters around here and the idea of actual English muffin bread intrigued me. Could I actually make a loaf of bread that was just as spongy and holey as my favorite English muffins? Could this be the answer to my breakfast prayers – homemade English muffins for a fraction of the cost?(!) The recipe Kelly sent looked unbelievably simple, perfect for throwing together in a jiffy while my daughter took a short snooze or was at school. I couldn’t wait to try it!
This a is a powernap recipe in the truest sense of the word. The first time I tried it I literally pulled it together in ten minutes while my daughter took a quick post-school snooze on the sofa. Then, I just let it rise and slipped it in the oven. The second time I did it over the weekend while we was running errands with her Dad. Both times I’ve made this it has come out perfectly. The bread is moist and spongy, just like the texture of a fresh English muffin, with just the right amount of nooks and crannies for cradling melting butter or jam. Slicing it is truly like cutting into an English muffin, there is a good amount of resistance and it is best done with a bread knife. Both loaves are generously sized and the first time I made this I gave one loaf to our neighbor. The second time I froze a loaf and can now attest that is freezes and thaws beautifully if you want to make it ahead for the holidays. Now that I’ve made it twice, next time I will make when my daughter is awake because it would be great to make with kids!
Recipe
English Muffin Bread
from a reader, Kelly
Ingredients
| 5 ½ – 6 | cups flour |
| 2 | packages dry yeast (¼ ounces per package) |
| 1 | tablespoon granulated sugar |
| 2 | teaspoons kosher salt |
| ¼ | teaspoon baking soda |
| 2 | cups whole milk |
| ½ | cup water |
| ½ | cup cornmeal |
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease the insides of two 8 x 5 loaf pans and sprinkle the bottom and sides with half of the cornmeal.
2. In a very large bowl combine 3 cups of the flour, the yeast, sugar, salt, baking baking soda. Add the warm water and milk to the dry mixture and mix well.
3. Once the liquids are combined add the remaining 2 ½ – 3 cups flour to the batter until it becomes quite stiff and firm. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and sprinkle the remaining cornmeal on top.
Naptime Notes
Naptime Recipe Serving ideas
This truly tastes just like an english muffin. Toast it in the morning to have with jam and butter, or serve a fried egg on top for an awesome egg sandwich.
Naptime Stopwatch
10 minutes prep time, 25 minutes bake time
Naptime Reviews
A HUGE hit, this is our newest favorite breakfast food!
We love English Muffins, so I will have to try this bread.
Wow, I’m intrigued now too! So you just use regular all purpose flour for these? I want to try them!
Yes, just regular A-P flour! I might try it with White Whole Wheat soon, too!
I can’t wait to try this. We love english muffins here, too.
I will be making this with whole wheat flour! This will be perfect for when my in-laws come to town.
Great Denise, just remember that whole wheat flour rises differently so you might want to start with 1/2 white- 1/2 whole wheat to see how it turns out first. I’ve never done this with whole wheat!
Sounds delicious! What temp should the milk be? Would being fridge cold cancel out the warm water?
Hi! The milk should be lukewarm, but not hot!
Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Hear the printer churning this out?
You will love this!
I wonder how I can convert this recipe for the bread machine. Just love english muffin bread. I will tinker and let you know. thanks for the inspiration as always.
Hi! I’ve never tried it in a bread machine, would think it would work, though no kneading is necessary….
I just made this and it was delicious. In fact I make practically every recipe of yours that comes in our weekly Mahopac newspaper. It’s the first thing I look for in the paper when it comes and you never disappoint. However, week before last, it did not say Naptime Chef, just a recipe so was happy to see that things are back to normal this week and it must have been a printing gaffe.