Scribbit's Awesome Bread Machine Bread

I love this bread. Love it. Super easy and wonderfully delicious. I'm sure I'll be making it again and again and experimenting with it lots.

I'm not a big fan of the loaves that come out of the bread machine, too dense. I'm thinking I'll be a lot happier with it if I use it as in this case--let the machine do the hard work of mixing and kneading, then I'll shape it and bake it. It worked beautifully in this case.

I found this recipe on Scribbit's blog about a week ago and I've made it twice already. It's that good. Just look how pretty it is too. I followed Michelle's variation that after it rises for 30 minutes, spray with olive oil cooking spray, sprinkle with salt (I used kosher) and rosemary, slash the bread, and bake. Very nice touch, I'll play around with other herbs and ideas in the future. Michelle says it makes good dinner rolls, I can definitely believe that. I'm also going to try splitting it in two and putting it in 2 loaf pans. It seems like it would be very versatile.


Bread Machine Bread
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 1/2 cups white all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons powdered milk
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon fast acting yeast (though this may need to be reduced if your machine has a very long rising time.) Next time I make this, I'm going to reduce the yeast slightly, I'll probably try 2 1/2 tsps.

Add all of the ingredients into the bucket of the bread machine and set on the dough cycle. When finished, shape as you wish on a greased cookie sheet and allow the bread to rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 28 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Michelle's notes: While I also adapt it for whole wheat, I never make 100% whole wheat because I dislike the heavy, dense texture. Instead of 4 1/2 cups of white flour you can use 2 cups of whole wheat and 2 of all-purpose with excellent results and better health. Either way is good for dinner rolls and loaves.