Tired of bread machine bread recipes coming out dry and hard? This is a foolproof method for getting perfect bread every time! 
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 good. I had attempted bread machine bread at least a dozen times and I could never make it taste right. She proved me wrong. Now making bread/dough in the bread machine is my VERY favorite way to make homemade bread. A special thanks to her for sharing this recipe with us (and allowing me to share it now with you)!
Why Use a Bread Maker/Machine?
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.
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. Just make sure it has a “dough” option so it will stop once the dough is done.
Do I Need to use Bread Machine Flour/Yeast?
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.
How to Bake After Mixing
- When your dough is finished, pour it straight into a greased bread pan. If you are wanting 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.
Bread Machine Rolls
The bread machine method of making homemade rolls couldn’t be easier (or more delicious). It is even easier than using frozen rolls because you don’t have to wait for them to thaw! Here’s how you do it:
- Remove dough from bread machine and place on a floured surface (knead in a little extra flour if it is too sticky to handle)
- Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Fold and pinch into balls and place in a greased 9×13 glass baking dish.
- Place in COLD oven and set to 350-degrees. Set timer for 25 minutes.
- Remove rolls from oven and brush with butter.
Other Things You Can Use The Dough For:
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:
- Deep Dish Pizza
- The BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- BBQ Cilantro Pizza
- Quick and Easy Calzones
- Parmesan Pull Apart Bread
- Monkey Bread
- Pesto Rolls
- Samoan Coconut Rolls (Pani Popo)
- Fry Bread
- Breadsticks
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 9x13 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.
Equipment
- Bread Machine
Nutrition
Abby's mom 😉 says
Your friend Abby DOES make the best bread! 🌟
And here’s one more really cool thing about Abby and her bread. Even though she can only make one loaf at a time in her bread machine, once a week, Abby makes this bread and gives it away!
Great girl, that Abby. ❤️
Thanks for posting this, Erica! Abby is lucky to have such good friends.
And we are all lucky that y’all share so many awesome recipes!
Erica Walker says
Well Abby is the best! We have been the recipient of her gracious bread deliveries and it ALWAYS makes my day. I am definitely the lucky one 😉
Jen says
Do you start counting the baking time after the oven has reached temperature or as soon as you turn it on?
Linda says
Just turn it on and put in the cold oven came out so good
Louise Martin says
Since it is so hot where I live now, do you think I could use the BAKE function on my Ninja Foodie. I believe the standard is you take off 25° on the temp and reduce baking time by 10%. Has anyone done this and we’re successful?
Erica Walker says
You start counting the baking time as soon as you turn it on 🙂
Abby Camberlango says
I love it!!!!!
Marj says
This turned out perfectly! I wouldn’t change a thing!!!
Kathy says
The bread was delicious. I was doubtful about the cold oven start but it worked great. Going to make the roll today.
Deb Wilkinson says
Turned out awesome. What a cool recipe. Makes the best bread for sandwiches and dough for rolls or whatever you are in the mood for. Finally something my bread maker is good for and half the time from start to finish. Will share this one for sure. The One tablespoon of the yeast you call for in the recipe is 3 teaspoons and the quick rise packets are 2-1/4 teaspoons but since I live in a high altitude the packets work out great because high altitude baking needs less yeast. Tricky getting things to come out great every time in this elevation. Thanks again for such an awesome recipe.
Mel says
Is it ok to use active-dry yeast instead of quick-rise yeast?
Favorite Family Recipes says
You can, but you bread might have to rise a little longer than the recipe says!
Bonnie says
Can I leave the dough in the loaf pan until I’m ready to bake it? Should I cover it? Put it in the fridge?
Favorite Family Recipes says
Yes! Just cover it with some plastic wrap and refrigerate it.
Jenny says
Followed the recipe, but I only had bread flour (2 cups bob’s artisan bread flour and 1 cup King Arthur’s organic bread flour) and bob’s active dry yeast.
I wanted to try this recipe because I don’t really love bread machine bread (though it smells nice when done).
This bread was amazing. I did the dough option, put in loaf pan, put in cold oven and baked for 30 min. Then brushed with melted butter when done. It was extremely delicious, and the texture and taste was far superior to finished loaves from the bread machine. My new way of making bread! And since this recipe uses the oven, I have a loaf in 2 hours as opposed to 3-1/2 hours.
So delicious!
Oh, I’m not sure if this makes an impact, but because I had salted butter, I only used 1 tsp of salt. My bread was perfect so not sure if that 1/4 tsp missing would have done much.
jen says
This bread is delicious. The aroma, texture, and taste are far superior to bread baked in the bread machine. I had no issues with using bread flour and active yeast for bread machines. My loaf was perfect. It tastes like those sweet Hawaiian rolls.
Maurice Doiron says
I have been making bread in my bread maker for a long time but I can’t get bread machine yeast I using regular yeast but my bread is not rising as much so the bread is denser. My question is do I put the yeast in first or do L add more at the end
Favorite Family Recipes says
For this recipe I always add the yeast right after I add the flour. I hope this helps!