Today’s question is from Giovanna:
After reading your blog, I was recently inspired to start cooking bread using a bread machine. I have used many of the bread machine recipes you post, but I would also like to find bread machine cookbook. Does anyone have a “tried and true” bread machine cookbook you would recommend? -Giovanna
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Since this topic is about bread machines…I love mine and love especially making French Bread in it, from start to finish. However, it always turns out sunken in the middle and quite ugly looking. It tastes amazing, so I just make sure to slice & buttered the loaf before anyone can see it. 🙂 However, it really bothers me, and in spite of experimenting around, I’m not getting any good results. Any suggestions?
I only mention this book because it hasn’t been mentioned and it may help someone. I have Beth Hensperger’s The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook. This is not my favorite, (and I am still looking for one, so great question!) because in my opinion, the typical recipe has too many ingredients or ingredients that I don’t have on hand. However, it has any type of bread-white, wheat, holiday bread, sweet etc.,uses different types of flours, it explains the bread machine process in depth and most recipes have a story with it. It does have a small section for glutten free breads for those that require it. All recipes have instructions for a 1 1/2 pound loaf or a 2 pound loaf so it adapts to any bread machine.
I haven’t compared this cookbook to any others, but in our like we like Electric Bread… also has a sequel, More Electric Bread. It does not have a lot of 100% whole grain recipes, but it has some really great recipes… my husband likes to make fancy breads sometimes, and they always turn out. Favorites include their herb bread & an amazing oatmeal bread. I made an apple bread I was sure wouldn’t turn out, and, behold — it rose even though I thought the dough was waaaay too wet!
Taste of Home website has many bread machine recipes for free. Use the toolbar on the left of the computer to select bread machine as cooking style. Some recipes use the machine just to mix & rise your dough others allow you to mix, rise, and bake in the machine. I use my machine both ways. If I have to work & want fresh hot bread for dinner I use the timer function on my machine to give us a warm loaf of bread to accompany some soup cooked in the crockpot. Hot homemade soup & fresh baked bread all on a worknight…who knew?
After checking out several bread machine cookbooks from the library, I decided to purchase “The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Bread Machine Baking” by Jennie Shapter (I lucked out and found a copy at half price books!) The book is extremely informative and gives recipes including pictures for basic breads, specialty grains, flatbreads and pizzas, sourdough and starters, savory, vegetable, and sweet breads, rolls, buns, and pastries. Many of the recipes include quantities for small, medium, and large loaves of bread.
I love my West Bend machine! All of my favorite recipes are from http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com. The buttermilk bread with powdered buttermilk, and the yeast corn bread make great toast and sandwiches!
You can use nearly any bread recipe you like….if you know the correct order to load your machine.
I’ve used many, many different recipes in our machine….half which were written for hand-kneading.
But this doesn’t answer your question. 🙂
Isn’t homemade bread fantastic?! We don’t buy bread anymore. Our go-to cookbook is called “The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Bread Machine Baking” by Jennie Shapter. It’s a Barnes and Noble book, part of a series I believe, since we have their veggie book, as well.
I like that this is a small book with a variety of cultures, breads, bread-based products, and full meals represented. We don’t use our bread machine anymore, but we still use the recipes from this little book. Small in stature, but it packs a big punch!
Bread in Half the Time. It is out of print but still available on Amazon. It has 2 sections-one for bread machine, one for regular baking.
I really like Better Homes and Gardens: the Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking. It has a delightful assortment of recipes and the only one I’ve ever flopped is the bagels (no fault of the recipe. 🙂 It has recipes for 2 sizes and ranges from simple basic recipes to more interesting ones. i really love one called Burrito bread. The refried beans in it really give a protein punch and it tastes so good. The book has the following categories: basics, classic, savory, sourdough, holiday, sweet, and shaped. All instructions are clear and exact.
I prefer the convenience of searching for recipes online. Don’t get me wrong I have many cookbooks, but I really like reading user ratings and reviews on recipes. I like the King Arthor Flour website for their bread machine recipes. And there are some good ones on CK, tasty kitchen, and allrecipes. I also have a few basic & multigrain bread bread-machine recipes on my blog that I worked on a couple goes before I got them right.
http://stephaniesprojects.blogspot.com
Also if you find a recipe that you want to try that isn’t a “bread machine” recipe, you can still make it in the machine. Just add all the ingredients. Nice and easy. I LOVE my machine!
I love the bread machine recipes on AllRecipes.com – I just print out the ones I want to try and if I like them I add them to my recipe folder. If not, I just toss the recipe.
i had a cookbook and all the recipes were dry. i finally did a search of good bread recipes on all the mommy websites i like. then i had to try several before i found the ones that i liked. it does take trial and error to find one you like, but once you find it it’s great. i love to made pizza dough and make homemade pizzas.
I love my bread machine recipe book and have been using it for the last 17 years. I have 2 kids that recently had to go on a gluten-free diet and am learning to adapt my recipes for them. But I would highly recommend Betty Crocker’s Bread Machine Cookbook.
Highly recommend these breads. All natural, n preservatives. From Wisconsin. If your store doesn’t have it you can order on line.
http://www.naturalovens.com/Section/Products/Natural_Ovens_Products/Breads/index.html
Although I don’t really like the title, ‘The Breadmachine Bible: More Than 100 Recipes for Delicious Homebaking with your Breadmachine’, is the best one I have found. The recipes make much better bread than the ones in my breadmaker manual and there are lots of recipes for rolls, flatbreads etc. which are really tasty!
I used to read the blog grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com and I know she recommended a few bread books but the only one I could find today on her website was The Bread Machine Cookbook II (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks) by Donna Rathmell German
She also recommends going to recipezaar.com and do a search for bread machine recipes (now is food.com).
This recipe is really good https://moneysavingmom.com/2010/01/bread-machine-buttery-rolls.html
I use my bread machine every week to make bread for our family. With a husband allergic to High Fructose Corn Syrup, and a daughter allergic to soy, I pretty much have to make our bread (we live in a rural area, with the closest natural food store being over 45 minutes away.) I have the All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook by Tom Lacalamita, but I tend to use recipes with high ratings from Allrecipes.com instead, since they’re already “tried and true.” I usually read ratings and make adjustments accordingly. Anyway, here are some of my favorites (I’ve customized the last two):
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-dinner-rolls/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/italian-bread-using-a-bread-machine/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/french-baguettes/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/customrecipe/62343528/light-oat-bread/detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/customrecipe/62342249/jays-signature-pizza-crust/detail.aspx
I’ve posted one of my recent customizations on my new blog page here: http://everydaychina.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!
Natural Ovens makes really good bread.
While we are on the topic of bread, can anyone also recommend a good affordable brand of store bought bread that doesn’t have bleached flour, sugar and hydrogenated oils? Or help me uncode what to look for in healthy store bought bread (if there is such a thing)?. I’ve been reading labels as my family has tried to move away processed foods, sugar, and bad for you fats…thanks in advance for any help;-)
I would try a bread store outlet, we have Sara Lee in our town. You could check which different breads they have available. We have been buying Sara Lee Soft & Smooth 100% Whole Wheat No HIgh Fructose Corn Syrup bread for less than a $1. It does have sugar but I think it meets all of the other requirements you said. Hope that helps.
Look for the bakery (fresh) kind of bread with the smallest number of ingredients – try that first.
This is slightly different than what you’re asking for, but I found a recipe for making bread that is SO EASY- no mixer required. All you need is a dutch oven. Dump some ingredients together, let them sit 12-24 hours, dump in dutch oven in the oven & bake. Easiest baking I’ve ever done.
Here’s the link: http://www.nwedible.com/2011/06/just-what-internet-doesnt-knead.html
It’s probably quicker to make than going to the store!
No cookbook necessary – I have an amazing easy Bread recipe that I have used for years. I think you will love it too!
I got the Bread Machine Bible for Christmas, and have found a couple of really good recipes. My favorite recipe book is the one I got free with the machine, though!
Have you been on the King Arthur Flour website? Their bread machine recipes they have on their website are excellent! Not to mention FREE!
The breadmachine cookbook…….I bought it at an auction when I bought my first machine……it has proved invauble…….I did change some of the recipes to suite our family but other than that I love the different types of recipes in it……….
http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Machine-Cookbook-Rathmell-German/dp/1558672966/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1329943665&sr=8-3
this is it……
I love “Bread Machine Magic.” I haven’t found a recipe in it that I don’t like!
I too vote for Bread Machine Magic and the sequel . I have 3 bread machines. Wellbuilt still my fav. Nothing like waking up to warm bread, although, i have to admit, there have been flops, too.
Bread Machine Magic and More Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway. My mom cooked from these books when I was growing up. Most of my favorite bread recipes are from these books. So of course I use these books too!
Both books are broken up into chapters by type of bread… whole wheat, white, dinner rolls, specialty breads. These cookbooks have so many types of breads as well as other recipes you can make in your bread machine (cinnamon rolls, pizza crusts, king hawaiian knock-off rolls, etc).
These are the only two bread machine books I’ve ever used. All the recipes I’ve tried are totally foolproof! Plus, they are relatively inexpensive. You can get each new on Amazon for around $10 (although I’m sure you could find used copies for a bunch cheaper!).
This is BY FAR my favorite cookbook. It is simple, concise, and gives all the information for why each ingredient is important. The recipes are amazing – every single one. I wore my first copy out, gave it away, and bought a new copy!
I have really enjoyed using The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna German. It includes recipes for multiple size loaves and has some excellent trouble shooting tips.
I also love The Bread Machine Cookbook! I’ve owned mine for years and it has a lot of my favorite recipes.
I also have enjoyed The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna German as well as The Bread Machine Cookbook II & III by her. It’s amazing how many flavors can be baked into breads!
I have had this one for years and absolutely love it. I also have her cookbook “The Best Pizza is Homemade”. It has recipes for different crusts, sauces and toppings.
I like the Better Homes and Gardens “Bread machine Baking” cookbook.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Bread-Machine-Baking/dp/0696209675/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329942324&sr=1-4
I do mill my own flour from hard and soft white wheat, so I usually have to tweak the recipes a bit. But if you are just using store bought flour, you should be fine. I have made a lot of their recipes and find them very yummy!
Maybe I should ask you all this question: Are there any good websites or cookbooks out there for recipes using freshly milled flours?
Look at http://www.breadbeckers.com/ . We use some of their recipes and they are great. Everything is whole grain, amazing.
The All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook by Tom Lacalamita. It covers all types of breads. Some very unique like Tomato and Basil Bread, Black Olive and Rosemary Bread, Toasted Walnut and Pesto Bread. Bagels, pizza crust, kringle, stollen, etc. YUM!
This might be less-than-helpful, but I ONLY use my bread machine for kneading/rising dough and then shape it, put in pans or on baking sheets, and bake in the oven. It ALWAYS comes out better than when baked in the bread machine. Maybe I just have a lousy bread machine!?!
I do both, but I do love waking up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread, and it makes a great brown bag lunch for my husband, too.
I do this too–I hate that darn hole in the bottom in the machine and the loaves are a funky shape. And as an added plus if you’re only mixing/kneading in the machine a cheap one works just as well (my current one I found at Goodwill after the last one died).
This is how I usually use mine also. Great for pizza dough too.
I guess I must also have a lousy machine because I prefer to do the same! The only issue I have is how long to bake in the oven as the bread machine recipes don’t always tell you.
I have the The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook! I find it very helpful, and it’s inexpensive!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/155832156X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thesavstusho-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=155832156X
Yes, absolutely this one! My copy is falling apart.
I love my Bread Lover’s Bread Machine. Great book.
Yes, ! agree with this one! It has something for everyone and TONS of recipes.
I wholeheartedly concur! Every recipes I’ve tried from this book is great. Spend your money on this one…you won’t be disappointed.
The Complete Bread Machine Bakery Book, by Langer. This guy is serious about bread… he keeps several machines to experiment with and covers everything from whole grains to shaped breads to deserts. Most recipes have 2 sizes. I’ve owned at least 5 books, in addition to web recipes and library loans. This book is hands down my favorite. We use his stromboli dough for pizza, except we use 100% wheat. Nice spiral binding. Even though we outgrew our bread machine and now use a Bosch mixer to make 5 loaves at a time, I still refer to it. Great book! You can pick it up used for a few dollars.
I occasionally make bread by hand but prefer my bread machine for the convenience. I try to make almost all my bread recipes 100% whole grain and find that hard to do with a bread machine as they seem to turn out poorly. Is there a website or book you could recommend for whole grain baking with a bread machine?
Try king arthur flour’s site.
I would try adding vital wheat gluten to improve the rise if you are using all whole-grain flours.