Happy Friday! Not to rub it in too much, but I got to sleep in a bit today. Oh yes, 7 am – gloooorious.
I have big plans today — punishment, really. I’m still beating myself up over not getting in my planned workout on Wednesday. I was in a rotten mood after dealing with rush hour traffic to take a stat lab to the hospital. A two-hour delay in my evening translated to a skipped workout and hanging out on the deck all night with Lily (yes, still loving this weather). The Lily girl is convinced bees and wasps are meant to be eaten. I’m not quite sure when she’ll learn. I like to think of her as smart, but at least I know she’s cute 😉
I digress. My punishment for punking out on my workout Wednesday is STAIRS. I have a route planned of 1/2 mile jaunts on either side of a 72-step staircase that I will run in sets of 3. I’m going to do that loop as many times as I can. Wish me luck.
But before I do that, I’m hoping this Whole Wheat English Muffin bread will bring me as much success as my Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Bread did on Saturday. Let’s hope.
Today’s recipe comes from Nicole’s blog (she has a great name, huh?), Cookies on Friday. I was assigned Nicole’s blog for a recipe swap and I’m so glad it worked out that I was introduced to a new blog! And a great recipe! Unlike me, Nicole is a baker, and a great baker at that. I want to sample everything she posts, but decided on this English Muffin Bread, which I turned into a whole wheat variety.
As a lover of English muffins, this bread immediately caught my eye. On one of his recent trips to Kroger, Mr. Prevention came back with whole wheat English muffins and they were gone in no time. I don’t usually buy bread and prefer to make my own, avoiding all of the preservatives, added salt, and eighteen syllable mystery ingredients.
This bread was simple to make and kept well for a week in an air-tight Ziplock. I most enjoyed this bread with a smear of reduced-sugar jam or even better…Biscoff Spread — the reason for my guilt over skipping that workout. A spoon has found its way into that jar (perhaps a finger if I’m desperate) far too many times this week…that stuff is sooo addicting, and even better over a slice of this bread.
Let’s call that breakfast before this killer workout, shall we?
Whole Wheat English Muffin Bread slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour via Cookies on Friday
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) yeast
1 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
cornmeal, for dusting
Directions:
In a large mixer bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and yeast; stir with the paddle attachment to combine.
In a small sauce pan, combine the milk, water, and oil and heat to between 120 and 130 degrees. Make sure to stir the liquid before measuring its temperature. Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients. Beat at high speed for 1 minute, the dough will be quite soft and sticky.
Lightly grease an 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal. Using a greased spatula, scoop the dough into the prepared pan. Level out the dough.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it’s just barely crowned over the rim of the pan (no more than 1/4 inch above the rim); about 45 minutes.
While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400 F.
Remove the plastic wrap, and bake for 22 to 27 minutes, until it is golden brown. Cool the bread for 5 minutes and then turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.
Yield: 12 slices.
Nutrition Information (per slice): 135 calories; 2.5 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 227 mg. sodium; 24 g. carbohydrate; 1.5 g. fiber; 2.2 g. protein
Result: English muffin…in bread form! Are you surprised? 😉 This was delicious and simple to make…and just as great made with half whole wheat flour. A slice of this bread for breakfast along with a pan-fried egg…or a smear of Biscoff. Mmm! Consider me a convert…no need for the processed stuff when bread-making is this simple. Enjoy!
[/print_this]Off for that workout! Have a wonderful weekend!
Be well,
This looks really good! I’ve seen this recipe around – I think I’ll have to try it soon.
This looks delicious! I love English muffins as well and even had one yesterday!
Soy nut butter and jelly are my favorite toppings – or – sometimes, just a little butter.
Have a great weekend!
Ok, Nick and I are looking at this “English Muffin bread” and looking for the typically nooks and cranies! Nick is obsessed with EMs, by the way, OBSESSED (He would choose it as one of his three foods to bring to a stranded island). So, Nick wants to know what makes this English Muffin bread. Is it the pastry flour you used?
Author
You guys crack me up! There are definitely nooks and cranies, and I think it’s because of the milk. Yeast breads, at least ones I’ve made, usually stick to water. It has this nice, soft, crumbly, and slightly dry texture that very closely mimics an EM! 🙂 Making it GF…I dunno, I am no GF expert! Have a great weekend, you two! Looking forward to our next get-together!
Ooohhh… goodluck with the stairs! That sounds like torture!
Have a great day off and enjoy your weekend, Miss Nicole!
I’ve made english muffins a number of times and they usually turn out a bit puffier than the store bought variety. No one complains though. But I guess no one ever complains about fresh homemade bread, do they?
I like the sounds of that stair workout. Are you doing it at a stadium? Where did you find so many stairs?
Author
On the beach in MI, actually…we took a little weekend trip. I love running there and I know the routes to kick my butt!
This sounds fantastic. I love english muffins so I know I’d love this.
I have never made bread from scratch.. isn’t that horrible. I really need to get on that.
Have a great weekend, Nicole!
I haven’t worked out at all this week! I need some punishment too.
I plan to walk/run at lunch, even if its raining – last chance workout baby!
Good job on the bread – while I don’t consider myself a baker either, I don’t count bread as baking for some reason!
Happy Friday!
Oooh, I love this whole wheat version! I’ve seen an all white flour version, but I’ve been afraid to try it since I thought it might not work with whole wheat. I’ll definitely be trying this!
And! Before I forget for the millionth time, I tried your bran muffins quite a while ago and loved them! That will be my go-to bran muffin recipe from now on 🙂 I made 12 big muffins and then mini’s with the extra and they were perfect little bites!
Author
Yay! I’m so glad! I would be skeptical to even try another bran muffins recipe…those impressed me so!
I’m unreasonably excited about this recipe. I LOVE english muffins. Love them. But I can’t for the life of me find any at my grocery store that aren’t loaded with crap. I tried making them once, but I just dont have the proper supplies at home. This is pure genius. I’m definitely trying this bread asap.
Author
Leah, that’s what I loved too…and I got really excited over this recipe, too….totally get it 🙂
Ahhh, love this! My dad is a fiend for English muffin bread — it’s the one thing he buys weekly from a local bakery! I’m excited, now I can surprise him with this. 🙂
I was catching up on some old posts and saw your macs — aahhhhmaaazing!!! Fantastic job, girl!
Author
Thank you!!! I was impressed with my macs, too….must be a great recipe! No credit to the baker….truly!;)
That looks so yummy, and I love the simple substitution of whole wheat flour. Great job!
The bread sounds great!
Hope you enjoyed your punishment! 🙂
Have a great weekend!
Wow, this bread looks SO SO delicious! I want a slice of it right now! 🙂
I saw your pup in a previous post and forgot to comment about her–she is adorable! I diiiie! I love dogs (have a fur baby of my own-a German Shepherd mix). I sure hope you feature Lilly on here often, as I’m as interested in her as your delicious eats…but then again I’m kind of a dog freak. lol.
As for the bread, this is something I’ve had on my to try list. I like the idea of an English muffin bread-seems way easier than making the individual rounds. It looks really good, too!
This bread looks so perfect! I’d say if you have to punish yourself with stairs, at least this can help to ease the pain a little bit.
That looks so good. I love English muffins but I haven’t had them in awhile.
Thanks for being part of the recipe swaps!
I have made this bread three times and my husband and son love it. One thing, I have to add 1 1/4 cups more warm water than specified in the recipe to get the soft sticky dough. I bake it until the loaf has an internal temp of 191 degrees, then it is done. I also omitted the sugar and it didn’t make any difference. Thank you for this recipe.
Author
Elizabeth, thank you for the feedback! I’m so glad you enjoyed this time and time again!