Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread... YUM!

Eating bread makes me happy. Making bread frightens me. My first attempt didn't turn out as great as I'd like, nor did it look anything like the original recipe's picture. That recipe was a yeast-less, no-knead bread. This time, I thought I'd take it one step further and make a yeast no-knead bread. This recipe is from Andrea's Recipes, and is for Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread. This time, I think I succeeded!

I started by combining the whole wheat flour, part of the all-purpose flour, yeast, baking soda, and salt.


In a small pot, I heated up the milk, water, and honey. I think I heated it a bit too much, and had to wait for it to cool down so I wouldn't kill the yeast!!


I added the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, and mixed (by hand! I don't have a hand or stand mixer. Sad, I know). I added the rest of the all-purpose flour, until the dough became stiff. It gets very sticky!!


I put the dough in a greased loaf pan, sprinkled with coarse cornmeal (or in my case, doused the pan with cornmeal.... I used way too much!). I sprinkled a bit more cornmeal on top.


I covered it with cooking-spray-coated plastic wrap, covered that with a towel, and set it aside in a warm area of the kitchen for 60 minutes. With 15 minutes left in this process, I pre-heated the oven to 375 degrees. Look how much the dough rose... doubled in size!


I baked for exactly 25 minutes, and immediately turned it out onto a cooling rack (or in my case, the thingy in the microwave. Sad, I know). It turned out lovely and crispy on the outside, and smelled just wonderful. I had to let it cool just a tiny bit before I cut into it, but it was really hard to wait!!!


I don't know exactly what makes it English muffin bread, but who cares what it's called, it's delicious!! I had to brush off most of the cornmeal, because as you can see, I overdid it.


I love love love love this bread! I love how easy it is to make, how it involves no kneading at all, how comforting it makes the kitchen smell, how it is sweetened with honey and contains part whole-wheat flour. It is soooo tasty with a bit of SmartBalance spread! It's perfectly crusty on the outside, and warm and chewy on the inside. I just hope it stays this way for the next few days... if it lasts that long! I hope you love this as much as I do.



Honey Wheat English Muffin Bread
from Andrea's Recipes
makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour, all the whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, and baking soda.
2. In a saucepan, combine milk, water, and honey. Heat to 105-115 degrees, or until warm. Make sure it isn't too hot, or it might kill the yeast.
3. Add to the dry ingredients, and stir well.
4. Add the rest of the all-purpose flour, and mix until the dough is stiff. You may not use all of the remaining flour (I did use all of it).
5. Grease a loaf pan, and sprinkle it with coarse cornmeal (emphasis on "sprinkle").
6. Spoon the dough into the loaf pan (it will be sticky!). Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that is sprayed with cooking spray.
7. Cover with a towel, and set aside for 60 minutes in a warm draft-free area.
8. During the last 15 minutes of rising, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.
9. Uncover the dough, bake for 25 minutes, or until golden and the crust sounds hollow.
10. Immediately turn out onto cooling racks. Slice, serve warm with some buttery spread, or toast it! Enjoy!