Great for toast or sandwiches, English Muffin Bread is Yum
Grocery store bakeries is where I first found English Muffin bread. It was good. Tasted a bit like English Muffins, which was good, but I really liked the corn meal on the outside. That sold it as English muffins.
Why buy when you can make?
As good as that store bread was, I knew I could at least make my own, and maybe make it better. I start with the attitude that home made is already at least equal, so it’s not a hard climb to better.
At first if you don’t succeed…
The first batch was a test batch. Testing for flavor, of course, but also finished volume. It didn’t measure up in size.
That’s okay. Simple adjustments to the weights-another reason to scale ingredients, quick conversions-and an increase of 30% yielded a tall loaf very suitable for sandwiches.
It was, in fact, higher than that store bread. The new loaf was also lighter, good crust and a flavorful crumb. Happy I am.
A change in procedure
Usually, bread is made with room temperature liquid, most often water. In this case, we’re switching two things, the temperature and the liquid.
English muffin bread uses warm milk, just like English muffins use warm milk. I use butter, but lard could be substituted. Avoid liquid at room temperature “vegetable” oils.
Not all bread pans are equal
I’ve commented previously that I don’t like baking in glass pans. My bread and pies do not come out and then all that food is ruined along with my mood and spirits and joy.
I want the joy and the bread or pie or quiche, so I use metal bread pans and pie tins,both from my affiliate Kerekes Kitchen Supply.
English Muffin bread
English muffin bread makes such great toast for Sunday brunch or just buttered with jam. It is also great for sandwiches. Similar in taste to English muffins, but a bit softer, this is a great bread to smell fresh out of the oven.
Ingredients
Bread ingredients
- weight unit Ingredient 30% increase
- 361 g Bread Flour 470 g
- 14 g Sugar 18 g
- 10 g Salt 13 g
- 10 g Instant yeast 13 g
- 100 g Starter 130 g
- 240 g Whole milk 360 g
- 28 g Whole butter 36 g
- q.b. Corn meal
Starter, Day 1
- 25 g Bread flour
- 25 g Water
Starter, Day 2
- 25 g Bread flour
- 25 g Water
Instructions
Make the starter
Day 1
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Mix 25 g of water and flour into a small metal or glass bowl. Mix well for 100 stirs. Scrape the edges to the center and let stand at room temperature, covered with plastic, for 24 hours.
Day 2
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Add 25 g flour and 25 g water to the previous day's starter and mix again for 100 stirs. Scrape the edges to the center and cover and let stand for 24 hours.
Mix the dough
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Heat the milk and butter on medium heat to 115° F.
Butter the inside of the bread pan and then coat with corn meal as you would coat a cake pan.
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While the milk is heat, scale the flour, yeast, salt and all the starter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl on the mixer with the dough hook attachment in place.
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When the milk has reached the proper temperature, remove it from the stove. Turn off the burner.
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Start the mixer on low speed and add the milk and butter to the flour mix. Take care not to dump it all at once in case it splashes out.
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Mix the dough on speed 1 for 4 minutes.
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After 4 minutes, if necessary, scrape the sides of the bowl to the center. Mix on medium speed/speed 4 for another 4 minutes.
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Remove the dough to a buttered bowl. Turn the dough to coat the entire outside then cover the bowl with plastic. Ferment for 30 minutes.
Turn the oven on, set to 375° F.
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After the first ferment, lift the dough out of the bowl. Hold the dough in mid-air and gently stretch the dough to twice its width and fold both ends back together by bringing the palms of your hands together. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat the stretching and folding process. Do this process 4 times and replace the dough to the bowl and ferment another 30 minutes.
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After the second ferment, place the dough on a clean work surface and shape the dough as for sandwich bread. Place the shaped dough, seam side down, into the prepared pan and sprinkle corn meal on top of the dough. Allow to proof until finger test shows the bread bounce back nearly all the way, leaving just barely a dent in the dough.
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Place the bread into the hot oven and reduce the temperature to 350° F. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tap test of bottom of the bread indicates it is done.
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To tap the bottom of the bread, remove the pan to the stove surface. Using two hot pads, invert the bread into your hand and with the other hand, thump the bottom of the bread. The sound should be resemble a hollow log. If it is not quite there, replace it to the pan and bake an additional 5 minutes. Check the bread again. Here's a short video showing this.
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When the bread sounds done, place it on a cooling rack, out of the pan, and on its side for 10 minutes. Stand the bread upright and let cool another 15 minutes before cutting. Yes, this you must do.
Recipe Notes
I've given two different quantities for two different sized loafs. The quantities on the left make, in my bread pan, a somewhat squat. Quite fine for toast but I like a bigger face of bread for a sandwich. That loaf is the quantities on the right. All else for mixing remains the same. Baking may take a few more minutes, but testing is also the same.
When the bread thumps right, I'll put the loaf back in the oven. Just the bread, no pan. I do that to add some additional bake to the crust so it holds up better and keeps its shape.
If you, somehow, end up with extra bread, it make excellent croutons for salads, bread pudding for desserts or French Toast for Sunday Brunch. I have even used the too old bits for bread crumbs.
Get the crab cake recipe here and use those English muffin bread bread crumbs instead of the commercial crumbs.
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