Wallet-Saving English Muffin Bread for the Bread Machine Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/8 teaspoons of active dry yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 2/3 cup warm non-fat milk
- 1/3 cup warm cream
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in bread maker pan. Select the bake cycle (or dough cycle if dough will be removed to make individual muffins). Pull bread out of machine when done.
- Alternatively, if using the machine's dough cycle...
- 1. Pull dough out of machine pan. Separate dough into parts and place each in (preferrably non-stick) baking pans - greased and flowered if normal pans are used. Cover and let dough rise to twice in size.
- 2. Bake at 400F for 15-17 minutes.
Notes
Serve with your favorite condiment. This bread is great for breakfast sandwiches!
I love English muffins. I often eat them in the morning with a spread of peanut butter and honey, accompanied by a cup of Peet’s Major Dickason’s coffee – my favorite 400 calorie breakfast. With Thomas’ English muffin eight-pack breaking through the $5 threshold here in Silicon Valley, I was motivated to do something different to save cash. I knew that baking, and bread making more specifically, is time-consuming. I figured that if I could use a bread machine, I could cut my “active time” to a fraction of what it otherwise be and the machine would allow me to take advantage of economies of scale when purchasing the ingredients. I went for it. After 3 weeks of searching, I procured a used Oster bread machine on Craig’s List for a mere $18.
What I didn’t know, until after the fact, is that baking English muffins happens to be one of the more time-consuming types of bread to make. English muffins require a ‘cook-on-the-skillet’ step for each round. Uhg! This turned out to be a big time-suck.
English Muffin Bread: the middle-ground
What I really needed was the perfect balance of laziness and good eats. The following English muffin bread recipe is where I found my equilibrium. With this recipe, I get my morning ‘nooks-and-cranny’ goodness in the form of bread with the time-efficiency of a crock-pot! Total active time is no more than 15 minutes.
The Traditional English Muffin
If you’re still interested in making English muffins instead of the bread version (many times I am), you can continue to use this recipe; however, different steps will be needed. Instead of the single dough kneading-baking step with the bread machine, there are three distinct steps for individual English muffins.
- One – only use the dough-making mode on the bread machine;
- Two – after the machine is finished with the dough, remove the dough, separate the dough into 1/4″ to 1/2″ size patties and let them rise to double their size;
- Three – Dust the sides of the rounds with cornmeal. Cook each side of the risen round for 10 minutes in a greased skillet.
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