How to Make Bread in your Breadmaker

Do you have a Breadmaker gathering dust on your counter? Never QUITE figured it out? I have the easiest recipe for perfect bread; once you do it a few times, you do it automaticaly without a thought. My friend who gave me my breadmaker as a gift gave me this recipe when I was having trouble making good bread with the conventional recipes. I have developed a system with it where I can mix a loaf almost in no time! People LOVE fresh, warm homemade bread, and it is good heated up with butter the next day, if it lasts that long! A loaf of bread is also a nice thing to fix for someone sick or when you bring food to the home of the bereaved.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Breadmaker
• Flour, Bread making flour is best, but I use plain self-rising sometimes....3 1/2 cups
• Yeast, be sure it is fresh..2 teaspoons.
• Milk, 2 %, One and 1/4 cup
• Margarine or butter, around 4 tablespoons..you can cut this to two if you must.
• salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
• sugar 1 1/2 tablespoons
• cooking spray or oil if desired

1. Spray Pan that came with the breadmaker with cooking spray, or if not available, wipe completely with oil.
2. Place Milk in a microwaveable coffee mug and microwave on high for one minute. I have a coffee mug that I know is the right amount of milk...I don't even have to measure. Pour in baking pan that came with your breadmaker.
3. Next, measure 3 1/2 cups of flour right ontop of liquid.
4. Add Salt and sugar.....I have a spoon that has a teaspoon measure on one end and a tablespoon on the other...I quickly use this to add 1 1/2 tablespoon of sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
5. Next, I take my fingers and pinch off around a tablespoon of margarine and place it in a corner of the pan, kind of away from the main pile of flour. Repeat this in all four corners....around a tablespoon in each...If you decide to reduce the margarine, place 1/2 tablespoon in each corner. This is what the original recipe called for.
6. Take your finger and make kind of a hole in the top of the mountain....it now looks like a volcano! Place two teaspoons of yeast in that hole.
7. Place Pan in breadmaker correctly. Use settings for the smaller loaf of bread...1.5 lbs. I always use medium color setting for a nice crusty bread, but not too dry. Use the basic bread setting, which is "1" on mine. It takes a tiny bit less than three hours for complete baking process.
8. After breadmaker signals completion, Carefully open and remove pan with a protected hand. VERY HOT!! Still being careful, place pan on a towel and use a plastic knife or spatula to loosen from sides, and then dump it upside down on a platter.
9. WAIT till cool to slice, or you will ruin it.

Tips & Warnings

• You can buy little plastic or metal slicing guides to help you maximize slices in the loaf.
• If you think you will not be right there to immediately remove bread from machine, set the crust color on light so that it will not be too done on the outside.
• This is so good warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds with butter on it.
• If you want brown bread...whole wheat...use half whole wheat four and half white. Otherwise it will be really thick and not as good. Also, be sure you use white bread flour when you mix.
• The first loaf or so that you make you will probably pick at it while it cools and there will be little left for anyone else. Just Bake another one and add the left-over slices from this one to it....no one will know. (I"ve done this more than once.)