English Muffin Loaves

Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth. I won’t bore you with the details but will try to make up for the silence with plenty of blog and Facebook posts in the coming months.

After my colossal failure with creating a sour dough starter last month (don’t worry, I’m doing some research and trying again), I felt the need to soothe my bruised baking ego. Bread was on my mind and my mom’s English muffin loaf jumped to the foreground. I’ve watched and participated in the creation of many loaves over the years and decided to give it a try on my own.

I followed the recipe carefully and waited anxiously for the dough to rise.  Forty-five minutes later I checked on the progress and — success.
 
English Muffin Loaf

6 c flour
2 (1/4 oz.) packages active dry yeast
1 T sugar
2 t salt
¼ t t baking soda
2 c milk
½ c water
cornmeal
* if desired, dried cranberries & orange zest

Grease two (8-inch) bread pans and sprinkle with cornmeal.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 c flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Heat liquids to 130° F and add to dry ingredients. Beat at medium speed until combined. Stir in the remaining 3 c of flour.* Batter will be stiff.

Spoon the batter into the bread pans and sprinkle the tops with cornmeal. Cover and let rise 45 minutes.

 

Preheat oven to 400° F. Bake loaves 25 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Let cool in pan 10 minutes and then transfer the loaves to a cooling rack.  Slice, toast, and enjoy!

* For a twist, I folded in the zest of an orange and a heaping ½ c of dried cranberries to half of the batter.