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English Muffin Toasting Bread


This yeasty, coarse-textured bread makes the best toast ever, a perfect partner to fresh summer jam or preserves. A purely mix-it-slap-in-the-pan-bake-and-eat-it loaf, it's earned a place of honor in our King Arthur test kitchen Hall of Fame. Read our blog about this bread, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.

Ingredients

Directions

1) Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.

2) Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. The liquid will feel very hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would scald you. As a reference point, the hottest water from your kitchen tap is probably around 120°F (unless your tap water is so hot that it burns you).

3) Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.

4) Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft.

5) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal.

6) Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.

7) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

8) Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 20 to 22 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F.

9) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Recipe summary

Hands-on time:
8 mins. to 12 mins.
Baking time:
20 mins. to 22 mins.
Total time:
1 hrs 28 mins. to 1 hrs 34 mins.
Yield:
1 loaf
Rate recipe
****+
Recipe comments (68) »

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Reviews

*****

01/30/2010

Donna from Tennessee

I had tried this recipe several times and was never totally satisfied till now. I don't have a dough hook so beating with a mixer didn't work it climbed up the beaters. Mixing by hand I could never get the gluten to work right. So I decided to mix in my Zo and bake in the oven. I was worried because this way was not reccommended. I put the ingredients in the bread machine and got it through the slow cycle before adding the milk so it would be at its fastest speed I then kept an eye on it so I could see when it just started coming together. I then removed it and put it in the pan and followed the remaining directions. It turned out wonderful. I believe this bread is failproof. Thanks Kaf for the great recipes.

*****

01/28/2010

Susan from New England

This is fantastic!! I've tried many English Muffin Bread recipes and this one is the BEST!!! Since my loaf pan is a bit smaller than mentioned, I let the dough rise to about 1/2" above the edge. Less is great too, just a denser bread. I've made it three times now and it has come out great each time. What I love is how easy this recipe is...first, it's mixed with a mixer, not by hand. Next, NO KNEADING by hand! Last, only ONE rise. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe!! Perfect for beginners. I also think it's best prepared with olive oil instead of vegetable oil and when I heat the milk and oil, I have found 120-125 F give the best result. OH - almost forgot - this bread makes AMAZING French Toast! Yep, I LOVE this recipe!

*****

01/21/2010

Adam from WI

I've tried lots of different English Muffin Bread recipe's. The texture of this one is just what I'm looking for! I don't think it has much flavor though. I think it's probably the 1tbsp of yeast. Most recipes with this much flour call for 1/2 to 1/3 that amount. I'm going to try a sourdough version and see how it goes.

*****

01/17/2010

deeter from NE PA

Made this as a "thank-you" gift for a friend. Turned out so well, that I am heading to the kitchen to make another for dinner tonight. Will probably make excellent French Toast with all of those holes in the crumb to hold the custard!

*****

01/07/2010

Dave from The South

My wife (and everyone I a loaf to) loves this bread, it immediately becomes their favorite. I'm not the best baker, still learning, and I've made this 6 times, and I usually make 3 to 4 loaves at a time, and they just come out wonderful. Just a great recipe perfect for everything. Thanks KAF!

*****

12/06/2009

Emily from Brooklyn

I genuinely don't understand this! I've made it five times, using a thermometer to check temperatures, etc., and it hasn't come out at ALL! It's a dense, dense hockey puck of a loaf. Is this how it's supposed to be? The only thing I can think of is that I'm using a slightly larger pan than is called for (9 1/2" x 4 1/2"), but that seems like it would just result in a shorter loaf.
Give us a call at the Baker's Hotline so we can help you trouble shoot this recipe. 800-827-6838 .

*****

09/20/2009

linda from atlanta

Absolutely delicious AND oh so easy. I would highly recommend this recipe.

*****

08/21/2009

Jay Kristensen from Columbia, Maryland

This recipe is fantastic - I've been looking around the site for awhile, trying out different recipes and this one sounded really good. Let me just tell you, I -love- this bread. My fiancee is Vegan, and I'm transitioning to Vegetarianism, so I swapped out the milk with rice milk, and it worked just fine. I've made this recipe three times now, (loaf number three is cooling as we speak) and the only time I've had problems with it is when I decided to add about 1/4 cup more flour than the recipe called for. The loaf still tasted fine, but it only rose to about 1/2 the height it should have, and the crumb was noticeably closer and more dense than the usual end result. In short, if you're looking for a hearty, delicious, and super-simple loaf of bread, give this one a try. Definitely a winner

*****

08/20/2009

Carmen from Michigan

My friend referred me to this recipe. I am a novice baker, so I'm not sure exactly how to know the temperature of the water that the yeast must be soaked in (I don't own a thermometer). Is there a way to test the water, perhaps by feeling with a finger?
Carmen, I do not recommend trusting your finger to judge water temperature, as you are a novice. In my opinion an instant read thermometer is a required kitchen tool. With it you will be able to double check your finger for accuracy and see if your judgement improves over time. Right now, our Digital Thermometer, item 8439, has free shipping. Frank @ KAF.

*****

08/14/2009

OVGuide from Ca

I made it yesterday. This morning, I sliced, toasted it and spread butter on it. Love it. Will make it again and again.