Staying Toasty

On any given morning when I ask Bert what he wants for breakfast, I get the enthusiastic answer, "Toast! Banas!" Maybe "bana" is what you call a banana when you only ever get half of one at a time? I probably don't need to spell out that the kid eats a lot of toast because, well, he likes it and it is easy to get ready for him and he generally can't make much of a mess with it. Since I usually have toast right along with him (and sometimes the other half of the banana, or should I say the "ana"?), we go through a fair amount of bread. One of my goals for the year was to make more homemade bread, and I've landed on an English muffin bread that is great for making toast. And it requires no kneading, so I really like that.

English Muffin Bread
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 2005

Cornmeal
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons active dry yeast (or 2 packages)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups milk (skim or low-fat works fine)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Grease two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans. Lightly sprinkle pans with enough cornmeal to coat bottom and sides.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 3 cups all-purpose flour, the yeast, and baking soda; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat and stir milk, water, sugar, and salt just until warm (120˚-130˚F). Stir milk mixture into flour mixture. Stir in whole wheat flour.

Divide dough in half. Place dough in prepared pans and sprinkle tops with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 45 minutes). Sometimes I put the pans in the oven with the light on to get them to rise if I don't have a sunny spot to set them.

Bake in a 400˚ oven about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove bread from pans immediately and let cool on wire racks.