Bread Machine Bread

Tip (see making a loaf of bread using the dough cycle below): The dough cycle takes about 90 minutes, so with bake time and cool time, you can have fresh bread for a meal in about 2 1/2 hours.

This is the recipe that came with our bread machine. I'd like to document it here so it's always readily available.

Bread Machine Bread

Homestyle White Bread 1.5 Pound Loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 Tbl warm water
• 1 Tbl butter, softened
• 2 1/2 Tbl sugar
• 1 Tbl dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. bread machine yeast

Directions:

1. Put everything in the pan in this order and start the machine. 
2. With our current machine: I like to set mine on "light crust" and removed the loaf 20 minutes before the cycle is schedule to end because our machine makes a dark, thick crust that can get a touch over-baked.

Marsha's Notes:

In April 2024 I decided to let the bread machine do all the work of kneading the dough by using the dough setting. When the machine beeped to let me know it was done and the dough was ready to be shaped for the final rise, I took the dough out of the machine, shaped it (on a lightly floured surface) and put it in a greased loaf pan to rise while the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Then I baked it off like normal and brushed it with some butter when it came out of the oven. It looked amazing, but I was nervous about seeing how it looked on the inside... but it looked GREAT! It took about 20-25 minutes to bake. The dough cycle takes about 90 minutes, so with bake time and cool time, you can have fresh bread for a meal in about 2 1/2 hours.

Isn't that so much prettier than the funky square loaf that comes out of the bread machine with the hole in the bottom from the paddle? And the crust was so much more tender! I think this is my new favorite way.