Next Wednesday, I’m planning to do a “How to knead” post, but for today, I have a recipe that requires no kneading. In addition, it only needs to rise one time, so it’s a good first yeast bread recipe to try. It may look familiar to those of you who frequented my now-defunct baking blog, so my apologies if I’m boring you here.
A more printable version of this recipe(without pictures) is here.
English Muffin Bread
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 packages(4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
cornmeal for dusting pans
Combine 3 cups of all-purpose flour with the yeast, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a mixer bowl.
Heat liquids to 120-125 degrees(I do this in the microwave). Add warm liquids to dry ingredients in mixer bowl, and mix for 2 minutes. It will be rather runny at this point.
Add remaining flour and beat for two minutes. The dough will be quite thick at this point.
Spray two 9×5 inch loaf pans with nonstick spray and then sprinkle with cornmeal. I do this the same way that I grease and flour a cake pan…I put the cornmeal in and tilt and shake the pan until it’s evenly covered.
My recipe says to pour the dough into the pans, but this dough is way too thick to pour. I usually try to roughly divide it in two using a metal spoon, but I normally get it wrong and have to take some dough from one pan and put it in the other. You don’t have to worry about it being pristinely neat…the lumps and bumps will straighten themselves out as the dough rises. You do want the pans to have relatively equal amounts of dough, though, or the loaves will need different baking times.
Cover with a wet tea towel(the type of towel that is not fluffy) and let it rise in a warm place for an hour.
After rising for an hour, it should look like this.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Turn the loaves out of the pans and cool on a wire rack. Here’s what the finished product should look like.
Like English Muffins, this bread is at its best when it’s toasted and buttered(jelly is a good addition too). Because this dough has very little fat and sugar(which are preserving agents), it will only stay fresh for a few days on the countertop. It freezes well, though, so if you aren’t going eat it all promptly, it’s a good idea to put it in the freezer. We usually eat one loaf for dinner and then I freeze the other one to use on a busy day.
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I am going to have to try this. I’ve never been brave enough to use yeast unless I am using my bread machine. I can’t wait to see your post on “How to Knead.”
I love this bread. I got this receipe from you when you posted it on your baking blog. I make it all the time and my kids just gobble it up!!!
THANK YOU!!!
I am going to give this a try this weekend!!!
Rachel, you could SO totally do this. No kneading, no adding flour “just til the dough is right”…it’s practically foolproof. I bet it will turn out great.
Whitney, I’m glad you’ve had success with this recipe! And FG, I’m anxious to hear how yours turns out.
What mixer do you have? Do you NEED a mixer to make bread?
Miriam, I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. A stand mixer is more necessary for no-knead bread doughs like this one than for doughs that require kneading. You could try this without the mixer, but you’d have to beat it pretty hard by hand. Maybe it would develop strong arm muscles? lol
This looks delicious! Will this recipe work for little round individual english muffins?
This was excellent! Made it for the first time over the weekend. The kids and hubby devoured it! Thanks for another great recipe!
Oh, I’m so glad Jennie! Yay!
Valerie, you employ a fairly different method to make real English Muffins. You make a kneaded dough, roll it out, cut it with biscuit cutters, and then you cook them in a skillet. I will eventually post that recipe here.
Kristen, I am currently making this bread. It has been rising for about 45 minutes and is already out of the loaf pans. I noticed when I put it in the pans it was already more voluminous than your pictures. Is this because I stirred it by hand? (I don’t have a stand mixer.)
I also noticed it’s not really “forming” like your loaves did. Although it is rising it is keeping all the roughness from when it was originally put in the pans.
I am going to try baking it anyway but don’t expect greatness. I guess I should have read the comments before making to know I needed a stand mixer!
Hmmmm, I don’t know why that would be! Is it really warm in your house? If it’s especially hot, the bread would rise faster than normal. Was your dough as thick as mine before you put it into the pans?
Kristen, it did seem like the doughs were about the same consistency. I don’t think my house is warm, the window was open and it was probably upper 60′s yesterday morning.
The good news is, either way the bread turned out great. It is definitely bigger than your loaves but the consistency seemed to be about right. And my husband (who eats an english muffin EVERY morning with his breakfast!) said he loved it, so a total winner!
Thanks so much! (and I don’t even feel like I strained myself at all by not using a stand mixer – just FYI for your other readers!)
Hmm…my only other idea is that maybe your bread pans were smaller than mine. Do you have 4×6 inch bread pans? I used 9×5 inch pans.
I’m so glad it was tasty, though. Yay!
Where do I find the baking blog? I am looking for some holiday sweet breads. Would like to make them for gifts this year. Thanks!
Kristen, I made this recipe yesterday and it is just delicious. Toasted with butter and jam made a great addition to breakfast and a yummy snack this morning
We’ve also been enjoying your whole wheat bread, the Asian glazed Tilapia and my daughters love your chocolate pudding. They are so pleased I finally found a recipe that tastes like store bought ones. I stopped buying those because of their ingredient list. Actually your recipe is nicer IMHO. Thanks for sharing your family recipes.
Kristen,
I just wanted to update and say that as we have eschewed all packaging this bread is really saving my marriage! I don’t think my husband would be very happy to give up his daily english muffin (even with all the packaging) unless I could give him a good alternative. [I saw that package of muffins in your shopping photo today!]