Cornmeal American Loaf Bread
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
1½ hours, plus 1 hour rising and 2 hours cooling
Yield
Makes one 9-inch loaf
Ingredients
½ cup water ¼ cup cornmeal 3 ¼ cups bread flour, plus extra for work surface2 teaspoons table salt ¾ cup milk, warm (110 degrees)⅓ cup water, warm (110 degrees)2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted3 tablespoons honey 1 package rapid-rise yeast (also called instant yeast)
Before You Begin
This recipe uses a standing electric mixer; see related recipes for a food processor variation. You can hand-knead the dough, but we found it’s easy to add too much flour during this stage, resulting in a somewhat tougher loaf. If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour.
Instructions
- Bring 1/2 cup water to boil in small saucepan, slowly whisk in cornmeal. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 1 minute.
- Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain heat 10 minutes, then turn off oven heat.
- Mix cornmeal mixture, flour, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Mix milk, butter, honey, and yeast in 1-quart Pyrex liquid measuring cup. Turn machine to low and slowly add liquid. When dough comes together, increase speed to medium (setting number 4 on a KitchenAid mixer) and mix until dough is smooth and satiny, stopping machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook if necessary, about 10 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead to form smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
- Place dough in very lightly oiled bowl, rubbing dough around bowl to lightly coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Form dough into loaf by gently pressing the dough into a rectangle, one inch thick and no wider than the length of the loaf pan. Next, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn dough seam side up and pinch it closed. Place dough in greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan and press gently so dough touches all four sides of pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap; set aside in warm spot until dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing empty loaf pan on bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil.
- Remove plastic wrap from loaf pan. Place pan in oven, immediately pouring heated water into empty loaf pan; close oven door. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted at angle from short end just above pan rim into center of loaf reads 195 degrees, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove bread from pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.
Time
1½ hours, plus 1 hour rising and 2 hours coolingYield
Makes one 9-inch loafIngredients
½ cup water
¼ cup cornmeal
3 ¼ cups bread flour, plus extra for work surface
2 teaspoons table salt
¾ cup milk, warm (110 degrees)
⅓ cup water, warm (110 degrees)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 package rapid-rise yeast (also called instant yeast)
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
½ cup water
¼ cup cornmeal
3 ¼ cups bread flour, plus extra for work surface
2 teaspoons table salt
¾ cup milk, warm (110 degrees)
⅓ cup water, warm (110 degrees)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 package rapid-rise yeast (also called instant yeast)
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
½ cup water
¼ cup cornmeal
3 ¼ cups bread flour, plus extra for work surface
2 teaspoons table salt
¾ cup milk, warm (110 degrees)
⅓ cup water, warm (110 degrees)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 package rapid-rise yeast (also called instant yeast)
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
We wanted a good, solid sandwich bread recipe that could be done in two hours, start to finish, including baking time. We found that sandwich bread improved markedly when kneaded with a standing mixer or food processor, which helped us resist the temptation to add extra flour. We also were surprised to find that we preferred rapid-rise yeast over active dry yeast for our sandwich bread recipe. Not only did it greatly reduce rising times, but it also made for better-tasting bread.
Before You Begin
This recipe uses a standing electric mixer; see related recipes for a food processor variation. You can hand-knead the dough, but we found it’s easy to add too much flour during this stage, resulting in a somewhat tougher loaf. If you don’t have bread flour, you can use all-purpose flour.
Instructions
- Bring 1/2 cup water to boil in small saucepan, slowly whisk in cornmeal. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 1 minute.
- Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain heat 10 minutes, then turn off oven heat.
- Mix cornmeal mixture, flour, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with dough hook. Mix milk, butter, honey, and yeast in 1-quart Pyrex liquid measuring cup. Turn machine to low and slowly add liquid. When dough comes together, increase speed to medium (setting number 4 on a KitchenAid mixer) and mix until dough is smooth and satiny, stopping machine two or three times to scrape dough from hook if necessary, about 10 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead to form smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
- Place dough in very lightly oiled bowl, rubbing dough around bowl to lightly coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
- Form dough into loaf by gently pressing the dough into a rectangle, one inch thick and no wider than the length of the loaf pan. Next, roll the dough firmly into a cylinder, pressing with your fingers to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn dough seam side up and pinch it closed. Place dough in greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan and press gently so dough touches all four sides of pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap; set aside in warm spot until dough almost doubles in size, 20 to 30 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees, placing empty loaf pan on bottom rack. Bring 2 cups water to boil.
- Remove plastic wrap from loaf pan. Place pan in oven, immediately pouring heated water into empty loaf pan; close oven door. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted at angle from short end just above pan rim into center of loaf reads 195 degrees, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove bread from pan, transfer to a wire rack, and cool to room temperature. Slice and serve.
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