Shortly after Jesse and I got married we were hired by Class Afloat, I knew there would be Atlantic crossings in my future so it was time to hunt down recipes and save them for ideas in the near future. At this point in my life I was really interested in bread and was looking to experiment with different styles of making it, that’s when I came across the idea of making an English muffin style bread in a loaf pan. You get the same great squidgy textured marked with air bubbles but I’m not having to individually shape a ton of them and individual is not the name of the game when you have to cook for 60 people for the first time.
One great thing about this bread that also makes it a bit odd is it’s a batter bread, meaning it’s a really wet dough, but because of that it comes together in a third of the time as regular bread. The bread is mixed in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, you beat it until long strands of gluten begin to from and the dough looks stretchy. Then you plop it into a greased loaf pan and let it rest for an hour before it gets baked for only 20 minutes! It’s so fast that it quickly became my go to breakfast bread when I couldn’t find any time throughout the day before to get the job done.
Use this bread like you would any ol’ English muffin, as part of a simple breakfast toasted and spread with butter, cut a hole in it for Cyclops toast or as the base for a small tower of eggs Benedict.
English Muffin Bread
Ingredients
- 5 ½ c flour
- 2 tbsp. yeast
- 2 tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 2 ½ c milk
- 1/2 -3/4 c water
Directions
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add the dry ingredients.
- Turn the machine on its lowest setting and pour in the liquids.
- Set a time for 6 minutes and add more water if needed, you are looking for a gloopy smooth dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl in thick strings.
- Grease two loaf pans and divide the dough between the two, I find it helps to use a spatula dipped in water to prevent things from sticking.
- Cover loosely with a tea towel and rest for 1 hour, check it after 45 minutes, if the bread is toughing the towel remove it, it becomes a sticky disaster if it touches the towel. The loaf is ready to bake when it doubles in size.
- Preheat the oven to 425F and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- For best results let it cool completely before slicing, toast and serve with butter.
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