In December 1998, a large package arrived at my door. It was a new and innovative tool called a bread machine. Fast forward 12 yeas later. A walk through any local Salvation Army or thrift store today produces several donated bread machines. They have become passe. But today I want you to rethink your bread machine. In fact, think of it as more of a dough machine. I own two now. Every Sunday morning, I throw the ingredients for my favorite french rolls into each pan and set the timer. Hours later, I reshape the dough, bake the rolls, and people are happy. (Now, here is where I will let you in on a little secret. When I shape my rolls, I dip each one in melted butter, then sprinkle the lot with kosher salt. The salt on top adds a nice touch–it’s impressive and it tastes yummy.)

My very easiest loaf/baguette/roll recipe and how to do it in a bread machine:

Ingredients:

12 ounces (1 ½ cups) water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 heaping teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons yeast

Place all ingredients in your bread machine “can” in the order above (liquids always go first). Set the bread machine to it’s dough setting. Once complete, shape your dough to desired serving. I usually shape the dough into rolls or long baguettes. Once shaped, let dough rise an addition 30 minutes then bake according to its shape.

Rolls–375 for 12 minutes or until golden on top.

Baguettes (recipe above makes at least 2, possibly three)–375 for 2o minutes or until bottom sounds hollow when knocked.

Loafs–350 for 30 minutes or until golden on top.

All ingredients listed above put into the bread machine cans, ready to go to work.

The shaped rolls next to the underappreciated machine.

The crown jewel of our Sunday table. Don't forget the butter.

Post bread machine and pre oven, bread dough ready to go.

Ahhh, the finished product. Two days' worth sandwich bread for the kiddies.

Tagged with:
 

6 Responses to Bread: Consider the Bread Machine

  1. Julie Cannon says:

    Um…hi. How had I never seen your blog before? Awesome!

  2. Josie says:

    I made this for OUR sunday dinner 3 days ago (sans bread machine because I threw mine out 3 years ago, now kicking myself) and they were gone in an instant. Thanks for the recipe and the melted butter and kosher salt trick. Keep it coming.

  3. [...] this you will need: caramelized onions, 4 cups crumbled feta or goat cheese, and 1 recipe of my french bread dough. With your bread machine on dough setting or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon, make my french [...]

  4. [...] is done when it easily falls apart. Shred with fork. Reserve juice for dipping. Serve meat with crusty rolls. Best French Dip ever. (I’ll revisit this article in June, when the grill is up and going and tri [...]

  5. [...] Directions for making bread using bread machine (and you know how I feel about bread machines) [...]

  6. [...] I’m making various breads for tonight’s family Christmas party. I’m making both hearty rolls and lighter, eggy rolls. While they are rising, I’m going to do a bit of research on shaping [...]

Leave a Reply to Bread: Christmas Party Rolls Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:


Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...

Set your Twitter account name in your settings to use the TwitterBar Section.