I love Egg McMuffins from McDonald's. Actually, I CRAVE them. However, the amount of fat in them coupled with the fact we don't have one nearby prompted me to start making homemade ones in the mornings. However, the cost of English muffins is also a little bit higher than what I like, so I went looking for alternatives. EASY alternatives....I found an actual recipe for English muffins, but who has time to stand over the hot skillet and toast the individual rounds for 15 minutes each? Then I found this recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens Pink Cookbook. I adore that cookbook!!! It is such an easy recipe and the bread turns out flawless! Tomorrow I will just slice and toast the bread and then make homemade Egg McMuffins. I am also happy since it saves me money. That will be a big theme over the next couple weeks since a friend and I are taking a girlfriend's getaway to Port Huron, MI this summer...More on that later....
Aren't they gorgeous! Here is the recipe, although I highly recommend buying the cookbook. They have a pizza dough recipe and a cinnamon roll recipe that will knock your socks off and that is just the start!
English Muffin Bread(Some of the comments are mine)
Cornmeal for dusting pans
6 cups all purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 cups milk (I use whole milk --the flavor is richer)
1/2 cup water
1 TBLSP. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Grease 2 8"x4" loaf pans. Lightly sprinkle with cornmeal (coat sides and bottom). Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of the flour, both packets of yeast, and the baking soda. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, water, sugar and salt just until warm (120*F to 130*F).
Using a wooden spoon, stir milk mixture into flour mixture. Stir in remaining flour.
Divide dough in half and place each portion in a prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubles in size (approx 45 minutes)....I put mine on top of the preheating stove...
Bake in a 400*F oven for 25 minutes (approx.) or until golden brown. Immediately remove bread from pans and let cool...or you can be a heathen like me and rip into it as soon as you can cut it without having to go to the emergency room for burns.....
I love the detailing on some of the buildings downtown. These are some picture from a scavenger hunt one of the kids had as a class assignment over Spring Break. It turned out to be a lot of fun and really enlightening, although we didn't find the building downtown that had the medallion of the Greek Parthenon on it...and NOBODY knew what we were talking about when we called several city offices...ARGGGGG.
