English Muffins in a Loaf

Years ago Ken and I lived in a town where the local diner served English Muffin toast with their breakfasts. When we moved away, he asked me to please try to find a recipe. This is it, and it does taste like English Muffins, only better because it is homemade. I have never tried it in a bread machine, but I am about to do so. We'll be taking it with us on a camping trip. I'll come back and comment about how that turned out.

Ingredients:

6 cups unsifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 packages yeast
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup water
2 cups milk
cornmeal

What to Do:

Combine 3 cups of flour with the sugar, yeast, baking soda. Heat liquids together until quite warm. Add to dry mixture and beat well. Stir in remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Spoon batter into two greased and cornmeal sprinkled loaf pans. Sprinkle top of loaves with more cornmeal.

Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool.

Variations:

If you like you can add one of the following-

1. 2 tablespoons grated orange peel

2. 2 tablespoons parsley and 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

3. 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup raisins, 1 tablespoon cinnamon (add to dry mixture)

4. For whole wheat bread, use 4 cups white flour and 2 cups wheat flour.

5. For rye bread, use 4 cups white flour and 2 cups rye flour.