Saturday, January 23, 2010

Homemade Bread in the Bread Machine

If you have ever lived with boys you will understand when I say we go through a lot of bread in this house!  We easily go through one to one and a half loaves a week.  This adds up!  Unless I buy bread right from the bakery, I am so tired of all the preservatives that go into the shelf bread that you buy in the grocery store.  It is a weird consistancey and texture.  It doesn't even hold up to buttering with soft butter.  Yuck.  So in my attempt to feed my family better and save some money I wanted to start baking my own bread.  Being honest with myself I know that at this point right now I can't commit the time to baking bread completely from scratch.  I would love to, but with taking care of Little Man, I am not always open to lots of free time. So I got the bright idea that purchasing a Bread Machine might be the right way to go.  But before I know exactly what brand or size I want to invest in, my sister is lending me hers for a trial spin.  This way I will know if it is worth it.  And if I will indeed get some good use out of it.  She also lent me her Bread Machine Cookbook, Bread Machine Baking: Perfect Every Time by Lora Brody and Millie Apter.

After getting it last week I was so excited to give it a whirl!  The thought of my house being wrapped in the delicious smell of home-baked bread was getting me giddy.  I thought I would start simple and try out the most basic White Bread recipe.  Oh man, I couldn't believe how easy this was!  You literally dump all the ingredients in the bucket, close the lid and leave it alone for 3 hours.  A voila! you have home-baked bread!  We cut into it this morning and gave it a taste slathered with some butter.  Wow.  It was so yummy!  It was very soft and light, yet held up great to cutting and didn't crumble everywhere.  This would make a great sandwich bread- not too dense.  We both gave this recipe a 5 stars.

Maple Buttermilk Bread
1 Tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pure Maple Syrup*
1 Cup water
3 Cups unbleached white flour
4 tablespoons powdered buttermilk
1 teasoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Place all Ingredients in the machine, program for Bread, Basic Bread, Basic White, Basic Wheat or White/Whole Grain, and press Start or On.

Please note: these directions are for the Regal, Large Oster, West Bend, Large Pillsbury, and Large Zojirush machines.  If you happen to have a different machine and you want to try this recipe, contact me and I can let you know if there are any differences in measurements.


*I was running out of Maple Syrup so I used 2 tablespoons of Maple Syrup and then I substituted the rest with pure Honey.   It came out beautifully!

8 comments:

  1. mmmmm. I have always wanted a bread baking machine, but like you am weary about the size, cost and the time it actually takes to make/bake the bread. Now don't get me wrong, home made baked bread is probably one of the best smelling foods and one of my indulgences...Amie, let me know what you think? I have a wholE pantry full of gadgets and not sure yet, if I would invest in one of these machines just yet...But BREAD BREAD BREAD especially home made = HEAVEN!
    Tera Pepper

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  2. P.S. I love the new look of the blog page, Amie!
    Tera Pepper

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  3. I am so proud of you Amie! I've never really been involved in "Blog Land" before so this is really new. I do enjoy reading yours. Mom xxoo

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  4. Amie, you have inspired me to bring my bread machine up from the basement, blow off the dust and start using it again. This recipe sounds great and I am going to give it a try. I used to make a really good herb bread in my machine. I'll search for the recipe and give it to you.

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  5. Kathleen, I would love that recipe! Sounds yummy! I will be baking another loaf on Thursday and I want to try out a new recipe from my book- maybe a cheese bread or something.... I will let you know how it goes!

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  6. Thanks Mom. I am glad you like it here :) xoxo

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  7. I'll have to give you the bread machine recipes for sundried tomato/basil bread and Irish soda bread... so yummy!

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  8. Jessica, i would loooove those recipes!!! Please send them my way!

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