Easy Bread Machine Bread – Basic Loaf
Nothing beats a warm loaf of homemade bread topped with butter and drizzled with honey. Making a delicious loaf of homemade bread in the bread machine couldn’t be any easier. Simply set it and forget it. No need to worry about kneading it, or watching it. Once you add all the simple ingredients the bread machine will do the rest. In roughly 3 hours you’ll have a delicious loaf of homemade bread. It’s like your own little bread shop right in your own home. Once you start making bread in the bread machine you’ll want to do it everyday!
I have been making bread in my bread machine for years. The bread machine I use I’ve had since 2007. It has made many loaves of bread throughout the years. I also love to make pizza dough too. There are so many things you can do and make in a bread machine.
Honestly I wish I had two bread machines because my family devours these loaves. I barely have the bread out of the pan and they’re standing there watching me slice it waiting for a slice of warm bread.
This basic loaf it perfect for serving for dinner, or to even use as sandwich bread. Slice it up and make a turkey sandwich, it is so good!
One of my favorite ways to eat it is warm right out of the pan with butter and drizzled with honey. It’s a little slice of heaven.
What you need
Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this.
- Warm water about 110 degrees. If it’s too hot it will kill the yeast, too cold and it won’t activate. 110-115 degrees is the target temperature.
- Vegetable oil
- A little milk
- Brown sugar (you could use honey instead but I prefer it with the brown sugar)
- Salt
- Bread flour – I like to use King Arthur bread flour NOTE: I prefer using bread flour but you could totally use All-Purpose flour if you don’t have bread flour on hand.
- Yeast – My favorite yeast is SAF-Instant. I actually get mine at Gordon Food Service Store, I believe some Whole Foods carry it too. You can find it HERE on Amazon too.
And of course you need a bread machine. Like I’ve mentioned before I’ve had my bread machine since 2007. The model I own is the Breadman T875 2-pound bread maker. You can find used ones of this model on eBay and Mercari.
If you don’t have one you can find a ton of bread machines on Amazon. I haven’t test any other machines other than the one I have out.
Here are a few machines that I would try
Let’s get baking!
The key to making this loaf is adding the ingredients as I list below on the recipe card. I set it to BASIC loaf on my machine. Your machine may have a white bread setting.
This recipe is for a 2 pound loaf.
Once you add the ingredients, set the machine and let it do the rest.
I like to have my bread machine bake the loaf too. We call these colonial loaves. If you prefer, you can just make the dough in the machine setting it to the dough setting then removing the dough from the machine and baking it in a standard loaf pan.
Baking Loaf in the Oven Method
I recommend baking the loaf in the bread machine. That’s the beauty of using it. You set it and forget it. But like I mentioned before if you prefer you can make the dough in the machine using the DOUGH SETTING and then transfer the dough to a standard loaf pan.
Once you transfer the dough to a greased standard loaf pan let it rise for about 45 minutes or until the dough is doubled in size.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.
Easy Bread Machine Bread – Basic Loaf
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours and 15 minutes
- Total Time: 8 minute
- Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water, about 110–115 degrees
- 1 tablespoon whole milk or 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast (I recommend SAF-Instant yeast)
Instructions
- Place ingredients in the order listed above into bread machine. No need to mix. Just add it in. Once you hit the start button the mixing will begin.
- Cover and set to basic or white setting on your bread machine. It will do all the work for you including baking the loaf.
- Once it’s done and beeps let it cool slightly then carefully remove from loaf pan. Don’t forget to remove the paddle under the loaf.
Notes
- If you don’t have bread flour you can use all-purpose flour instead.
BAKING IN LOAF PAN INSTEAD OF BREAD MACHINE
I recommend baking the loaf in the bread machine. That’s the beauty of using it. You set it and forget it. If you prefer you can make the dough using the dough setting on the machine and then transfer the dough to a standard loaf pan.
Once you transfer the dough to a greased standard loaf pan let it rise for about 45 minutes or until the dough is doubled in size.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.
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