English Muffin Bread

two loaves of english muffin bread cooling on a cooling rack

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Two loaves of English Muffin Bread that can be sliced and toasted!

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Rise Times:1 30

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: English muffin bread

Servings: servings (2 loaves)

Author: RecipeGirl.com (shared from the Ready, Set, Dough! cookbook)

Ingredients

5¾ cups all purpose or bread flour (see Recipe Notes below)
2¾ cups warm water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon + 1½ teaspoons granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon + 1¼ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
nonstick cooking spray
cornmeal
1/3 cup butter, melted (divided)

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, water, salt, sugar and yeast with a sturdy spoon or dough whisk until it is evenly moist with no dry pockets. The dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Spray a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray and lay it loosely over the mixing bowl. Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place until the dough looks puffy and bubbly, and has risen to about double its original size, about an hour.
While the dough rises, spray two loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle in a fistful of cornmeal. Tilt the pans, tapping gently, until the cornmeal coats the sides and bottoms of the pans, tapping out any excess cornmeal.
Use nonstick cooking spray to generously grease your hands, and divide the dough between the two prepared pans. The pans should be no more than halfway full. If needed, prepare one more loaf pan to hold any excess dough.
Cover the pans loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the dough is once again bubbly and puffy looking and just peeking above the edges of the pans, about 30 minutes. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the pans on the center rack in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, brush the surface of the bread generously with about half of the melted butter, then return the pans to the oven and bake 10 more minutes.
Immediately turn the loaves onto a cooling rack and brush all of the surfaces generously with the remaining melted butter. Cool completely before slicing or the texture will be compromised.

Notes

For a nice texture, you can make this bread with a mixture of half bread flour and half all-purpose flour.
You can also substitute 1 cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose or bread flour if you'd like a whole grain English muffin bread (this method may take slightly longer to rise).
FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS: Make sure bread is fully cooled to room temperature. You may either freeze it whole or slice it. Wrap the bread in a double layer of plastic wrap, and then in a single layer of aluminum foil. Then slip the wrapped loaves into a freezer zip bag. Let thaw at room temperature when ready to eat.

Nutrition