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This bread machine bread recipe is the foolproof method for getting perfect white bread every time! Just dump in all the ingredients and let the bread maker do all the work! With about 5 minutes of minimal effort you can have soft, warm bread in just a couple of hours!
Included with this Recipe
The Best Bread Machine Bread Recipe
My good friend, Abby, has always made THE best bread. A few years ago, I asked her what her secret is and she told me she always does her bread in a bread machine. I honestly didn’t believe her at first because bread machine bread just isn’t usually good. I had attempted making bread in a bread machine at least a dozen times and I could never make it taste right. It always came out dry and hard. Well, she proved me wrong. Now making bread/dough in the bread machine is my VERY favorite way to make homemade bread. Trust me, you are going to love how easy and delicious this recipe is.
The Secret to Bread Maker Bread
Bread machines are SO convenient. You just put everything right in, push go, and it does all the work for you! The mixing, the kneading, the rising, the baking…everything! Where the bread machine falls short is in the “baking” part. When it comes to baking bread, the bread machine is not your friend. So what is to be done? Shhh.. it’s a secret. Here’s what you do: Dump the dough in a bread pan, put it in a COLD oven (no preheating, YAY!), turn the oven on and bake. It’s THAT easy. Just these few little steps make a world of difference!
How to Make Bread using a Bread Machine (Step by Step)
- First, place 1 cup VERY hot water, 1 egg, 4 tablespoons cold butter, ¼ cup sugar, and 1 ¼ teaspoons salt in the bread machine. No need to mix or anything, just put it all straight in.
- Next, Add 3 cups flour directly to the bread maker. Make a small well in the flour with your hand and add yeast to the well.
- Set bread machine to “dough” for 90 minutes (it should default to 1 hour 30 minutes) and press “start”.
- When your dough is finished, pour it straight into a greased bread pan. If you want to make it look pretty, you can turn it so a smooth side is facing up. Then just tuck down any unruly edges.
- Place the bread pan in the COLD oven. No preheating necessary!
- Set temperature to 350-degrees and set timer for 30 minutes. The bread will rise and bake in this time.
- Remove baked bread from the oven and remove quickly from pan. Place on a cooling rack and brush with butter. Cover with a towel or place in a plastic Ziplock bag to keep from drying out.
What Bread Maker is Best?
Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what kind of bread machine you have. We got the cheapest bread maker on Amazon that had decent reviews. I think it was under $100. Any basic bread maker will do the trick. Just make sure it has a “dough” option so it will stop once the dough is done.
Adapting to Make More Bread Machine Recipes:
We have used this exact dough recipe for all sorts of recipes. Sometimes you have to knead it with some flour to get the right consistency depending on what you are making, but it works like a charm in these recipes:
- BBQ Cilantro Pizza
- Quick and Easy Calzones
- Monkey Bread
- Pesto Rolls
- Samoan Coconut Rolls (Pani Popo)
- Fry Bread
- Breadsticks
Read more: 35+ Dinner Ideas
Frequently Asked Questions
Bread machines usually call for ‘bread flour’. The main difference between bread flour and all-purpose flour is the gluten content (bread flour has more gluten). All-purpose flour is absolutely fine to use! Your loaf of bread may not rise as spectacularly as it would with the bread flour, but there really isn’t much of a difference.
YES! And not only is it cheaper, but you know exactly what is going into it! No mystery ingredients in your sandwich bread.
Broken down, the savings look like this: The average cost of a loaf of basic white bread is around $4 (more or less), making it yourself costs about $1.
(It also tastes better!)
Nope! Just make sure you are using a quick-rise yeast for it to work best. In this recipe, we just use all-purpose flour, no need to spend extra getting special ingredients.
Bread Machine Bread
Video
Equipment
- Bread Machine
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place hot water, egg, butter, sugar, and salt in bread machine.
- Add 3 cups flour. Make a small well in the flour and add yeast.
- Set bread machine to "dough" for 90 minutes (1 hour 30 minutes) and start.
- When dough is finished. Pour directly into a greased bread pan. If needed, gently turn the bread or tuck in the edges so the top is smooth.
- Place bread in COLD oven and set oven to 350 degrees. Set timer for 30 minutes.
- When finished baking, remove from oven and carefully remove bread from the pan (it's ok if it is sticky).
- Place on a baking rack to cool and brush the top with butter. Place a towel over the bread or place in a plastic Ziplock bag to keep from drying out.
- Serve immediately or place in a plastic Ziplock bag to keep from drying out.
If Making Rolls:
- Remove dough from bread machine and place on a floured surface.
- Knead in a little flour if dough is too sticky to handle.
- Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Fold and pinch into dough balls and place in a greased 9×13 glass baking dish.
- Place in a COLD oven and set to 350 degrees. Set timer for 25 minutes.
- Remove rolls from oven and brush with butter.
Notes
- using as a crust to spread with jams, from raspberry to fig to cherry, and drizzled with honey
- toasting and slathering with garlic and cheese, and pairing with soups, salads, and vegetables
- your favorite new sandwich
- French toast, a morning staple
- and finally, the classic bread and butter, not to be overlooked.
It’s the best bread recipe, I’ve used so far, I first time making didn’t have bread flour, looked for substitute ingredient ( vital wheat gluten) to make bread flour, didn’t have that looked farther to find substitute for vital wheat gluten., I had several of those to choose from. Used it,
Still with using psyllium husk, and water. The first bread was heavier, tasting, still just looked like wheat bread, taste was good! .
Dinner rolls were amazing.
I took 1 bread dough, split into 2 bread pans. Didn’t have another bread pan. Still wonderful. And was able to share double !
Can this be frozen? To make ahead.?has anyone tried?
It was a little bit doughy when I took it out of the oven and cut a piece off. Putting it back in for a little longer.
We love this recipe. The first three times we made it, it worked perfectly. Since then, it seems to be rising too quickly and over proofing in the bread machine (and seems too sticky). We can’t figure out what’s going on, though we’ve tried taking it out before 90 minutes and adding extra flour so it’s less sticky. Any thoughts?
Oh, weird! Has the weather changed dramatically where you live recently? Or do you live at a high altitude?
It’s been an unusually wet winter, but I don’t think the weather’s really changed since I started baking the bread. Our bread machine dough cycle is about 2.5 hours, but I’ve been taking it out after 90 minutes (sometimes less to try to stop it from rising too much). I’ll try to reduce the water a bit and see what happens. It’s been delicious every time, even when it doesn’t seem quite right.
i found this recipe in January. I have made minimum 10 loaves. My husband and I LOVE this recipe! i have given loves to friends and family and they have enjoyed it as well. i have made the bread as directed and made a mixture of butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, pressed the bread out and spread the combination and rolled the bread and baked according to directions. YUMMY!!!
This is the best bread machine recipe I have tried so far. The bread turned out perfectly. I can’t wait to try the cinnamon rolls. This is my new go-to recipe.
Delicious, quick never fail bread. Easiest bread I have ever made and so delightful to eat!
Made this bread exactly as it instructs. I expected disaster because of how quick and easy it is but to my surprise it was perfect! It is the only bread I bake now. . . And sometimes at the last minute! Thank you for such a delicious and quick bread re ipe.
Just made this and cut off a piece. It needs to bake longer than the 30 minutes (from a cold oven). What did I do wrong?
Do you live at a particularly high elevation? You may need to make some baking adjustments if so.
Best bread machine bread ever!
I’ve been making this bread quite a while and I really love it! It’s so fast and easy
to make and turns out great. To make it even faster and easier I put together several packets of pre-measured dry ingredients (except the yeast), and place the salt and sugar in a separate little bag which I then place in a larger bag with the 3 cups of flour. I even
cut up the 4 tablespoons of butter and keep it in a baggy in the fridge. Talk about fast!
Hello, I made your delicious bread loaf. The texture is so perfect, but mine was a tad salty. I was wondering if I was supposed to use unsalted butter?
You certainly can use unsalted butter if you found your loaf too salty!
Best bread recipe I’ve tried in years! So delicious! And easy!