all things Bread Machine Recipes! What's your favourite? How about adapting recipes?

Let's talk about bread machine recipes!

I've ordered my first bread maker (so I don't have to have the oven on in the summer) and want to know what to cook.  There will be instructions - I'm not confident if they will be in English.  

What do I need to know about bread machine recipes?  

What's this needing different yeast?

Can I convert existing recipes to work?

Is there really a way to make cinnamon rolls but bake them in the maker?  

There's a cake setting?  How do I convert my grandmother's recipe to work in that?  

R said, Is there really a way to make cinnamon rolls but bake them in the maker?  

There's a cake setting?  How do I convert my grandmother's recipe to work in that?

For cinnamon rolls, the dough is mixed in the bread machine, which to some people is easier than mixing by hand.

I guess a person could bake the dough in a bread machine and have cinnamon bread.  I don't see how rolls could be baked in a bread machine though bread machines have progressed a lot since I bought mine a long time ago.

I use the "quick bread" setting on my machine to bake cakes.  I don't need to convert the recipes as my grandmother's recipes work just fine.  Temperature and/or time cooked might need to be adjusted as those are preset if I remember correctly.  My machine has a button to add more time or decrease time if I remember correctly.

What dear hubby doesn't like about cooking cakes in the bread machine is that the cake is shaped like a loaf of bread.  I cut the loaf in half.  I set the two half side by side then put the icing on the cake.

I have made my recipie for my bread mix by taking recipies that work and then changing ingredients so that it works for me.


You can search for recipes by starting  with ingredients and they type of recipe you want,  or even what you don't want in the recipe.


https://www.allrecipes.com/search/results/?search=bread%20machine

I've used my breadmaker a lot. Some of the issues I ran into with it:

1. The machine shook so much while working that it almost crawled off the table.
2. The amount of flour needed was different than what the recipe said.
3. The mixing/kneading parts of the cycle kicked up a lot of flour. Some of which settled on the heating elements. Later when it started the baking part of the cycle, that flour burned and set off the smoke alarms.
4. There's always a corner or two where the ingredients get packed in without mixing.
5. The texture was never quite right. It tasted good, no doubt about that! But it crumbled so easily there was no way to use it for sandwiches.


Problem #1 was solved by moving the machine to the floor. Just be sure that whatever surface it's on won't be effected by the heat. Same with anything above it, since it puts out a lot of steam while baking.

Problem #2 can be solved if you're able to sit and watch it during the mixing stage.  Assuming you know what "just right" looks like. Hold back one cup of the flour, and add it in a little at a time as needed, until the dough reaches the right consistency.

Problems 3-5 all turned out to have the same solution. Run the breadmaker twice! First on the "bread dough" setting, and then again on the regular setting. Between the two, take the bread bucket out and wipe down the heating elements and the outside of the bucket with a damp cloth. Poke at the corners where the un-mixed flour collected, and fold it in with the bulk of the dough. (You don't have to incorporate it fully, the machine will take care of that. But just push it far enough into the dough that it won't end up stuck in the corners again.) And the extra knead-and-rise cycles will change the texture of the finished bread, making it soft and spongy. It also gives the yeast a chance to eat more of the sugars, so if you like your breads sweet you might need to tweak the amount of sugar you use.

As for some of your other questions, yes you can use existing recipes, as long as you're sure the dough will still fit the bucket. I've never had a problem using regular yeast instead of bread-machine yeast. And you could probably make cinnamon rolls in the breadmaker if you remove the mixing paddle, although I have no idea how well that would work.

I have never used the cake setting, but I would guess it's the same as adapting a bread recipe, in that the main concern is making sure it fits the bucket.

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:I've used my breadmaker a lot. Some of the issues I ran into with it:

1. The machine shook so much while working that it almost crawled off the table.
2. The amount of flour needed was different than what the recipe said.
3. The mixing/kneading parts of the cycle kicked up a lot of flour. Some of which settled on the heating elements. Later when it started the baking part of the cycle, that flour burned and set off the smoke alarms.
4. There's always a corner or two where the ingredients get packed in without mixing.
5. The texture was never quite right. It tasted good, no doubt about that! But it crumbled so easily there was no way to use it for sandwiches.

1)     I found this problem with mine    I found I had to wedge under one corner to get it to be level.

5)     My solution to this was to stop slicing the bread thin and trying to make a sandwich.    I slice the bread thick,  then the fixings on top of that and eat with a fork.     this made slicing much easier and faster.

As a general observation I have learned to follow the recipes exactly as presented with everything in the same order as presented when using a machine.

Does anyone weigh the ingredients?   In North America,  most recipes are by volume, but I noticed most of these machines come from places where recipes are by weight.

r ranson wrote:Does anyone weigh the ingredients?   In North America,  most recipes are by volume, but I noticed most of these machines come from places where recipes are by weight.

I've been told that weight is the more accurate way to go and will give more consistent results, however, I was taught years ago to fill my measuring cups by holding one over the flour container and using a scoop to gently pour the flour in and then scrape the surface to get it level - never "pack" your flour like they say to "pack" brown sugar or even use your measuring cup to scoop with as that will pack it more than the pour method does - and I haven't had a problem. My kitchen isn't set up to do baking with a weighing system - it can be done, but you have to organize it so it's easy to do so. Then you have to get  recipes that calls for weighing ingredients, as most of my "North American-centered" recipe books don't have that option.

I suspect most popular brands of machine will have volume-based recipes available on the web if the instruction book uses weight only.

John F Dean wrote:As a general observation I have learned to follow the recipes exactly as presented with everything in the same order as presented when using a machine.

Really??? I learned from the lady who sold the machines that there are alternatives...

Using the Zojirushi: 1. put the yeast at the bottom so it warms up quickly.
2. put all the  stable dry ingredients in -  I use home-made mixes, so that means flours, salt, milk powder, a little gluten, a little sugar (to feed the yeast quicker) just dumped into the bread pan.
3. put non-stable ingredients in - wheat germ as I keep my wheat germ in my freezer to slow its tendency to go rancid and a bit of fat (often chicken).
4. mix an egg into about a cup of warm water, top up the water to 1 2/3 cups (I use a two cup glass measuring cup for this) and gently pour it on top. I found the exact best amount of water is partly based on the brand of wheat being used, and I use the "top it up" method because our egg size is rather inconsistent.

The issue of the flour making a mess inside the machine was greatly reduced by doing this order of things and since it was recommended by the seller who ran classes etc on using the machine, I figured she was worth listening to.

I don't know if it's the egg that makes it stable enough to slice easily, but with a regular chicken egg, it makes good enough sandwiches. Duck eggs tend to make it rise higher (by almost an inch!) so the bread is less dense and definitely floppier!

Anne Miller wrote:

R said, Is there really a way to make cinnamon rolls but bake them in the maker?  

There's a cake setting?  How do I convert my grandmother's recipe to work in that?

For cinnamon rolls, the dough is mixed in the bread machine, which to some people is easier than mixing by hand.

I guess a person could bake the dough in a bread machine and have cinnamon bread.  I don't see how rolls could be baked in a bread machine though bread machines have progressed a lot since I bought mine a long time ago.

I use the "quick bread" setting on my machine to bake cakes.  I don't need to convert the recipes as my grandmother's recipes work just fine.  Temperature and/or time cooked might need to be adjusted as those are preset if I remember correctly.  My machine has a button to add more time or decrease time if I remember correctly.

What dear hubby doesn't like about cooking cakes in the bread machine is that the cake is shaped like a loaf of bread.  I cut the loaf in half.  I set the two half side by side then put the icing on the cake.

I wish I could find the photo I saw yesterday.  It looks like they took the dough out, shaped it into rolls, then stuffed the rolls back into the bread machine pan to do the final rise and bake.  

found it.
Now, how to get a copy of the Zojirushi recipe book?

I found the recipe on page 33 of this (pdf link) https://www.zojirushi.com/bbssc/pdf/bb_ssc10_recipe_e.pdf

The problem is it is for a 1 pound bread and the machine I have only has the two-pound setting.  I guess I'll have to alter the recipe to match?

r ranson wrote:found it.
Now, how to get a copy of the Zojirushi recipe book?

It's not in my basic recipe book that came with the machine - I just looked. I wish manuals would come with dates - you may need a more recent copy, or simply the "Advanced Recipes" version.

However, I suggest you're correct - you'd use the "dough" cycle, remove the dough and  shape it, remove the paddles, put the buns in the pan and do a rise and bake or just bake if you let them rise naturally in the pan without heat and time it yourself.

I admit, I don't tend to get fancy - if I want fancy I use my oven. My Zoji isn't in a location where getting the plug out is easy, and when I bake, I tend to do it in bulk. If we start having more heat waves like that heat dome thing, my attitude may reverse suddenly! Mind you, I have Hubby who can do major wiring - I'll just get a second hand stove and park it on the deck if that weather becomes the new norm!  I didn't used to get the "outdoor kitchen" thing, but permies is teaching me a lot!

r ranson wrote:found it.
Now, how to get a copy of the Zojirushi recipe book?

Looks yummy!  I pull my "The Complete Bread Machine Bakery Book" by Richard W Langer to see what he had to say about Cinnamon Buns.

Slice the rolled log into 9 equal sections. He says to place these sections in the greased pan sliced side up, arrange them in rows of three.

Place the pan of rolls in a cold oven and set the thermostat to 375' F and bake the buns for 35 to 45 minutes.

When removed from the oven, the buns will be baked together into a single loaf.

I am glad someone figured out how to get the bread machine to do this.

I looked at the recipe in the PDF you posted and it is called Cinnamon Roll Bread. Very similar direction until the pan is put into the bread machine and bake with the "Cycle Button".  

Thanks for posting the recipe book.  I will now have to figure out which of my buttons would be the same as the "Cycle Button".

Ingredients - I'm worried about needing to get special ones.  I want to start baking the moment the machine arrives, so I'm trying to figure out if I need to go shopping.

Flours
It looks like Canadian flour has more protein than American "bread flour".  
Ours is a minimum of 13%,
According to this, American all-purpose flour has a protein content of 10 to 11% and their bread flour has a content of just under 13%.  

My conclusion is I should be able to use the flour I have just fine and use it where they say "bread flour" although it may create a heavier dough since it has more protein and gluten in it.

Yeast
I have active dry yeast in the house.  Can I use this?  The shops often sell bread machine yeast.  It looks like finer granules and is more expencive.  

Anything else I need to consider?  

r ranson wrote:Ingredients -
Flours
My conclusion is I should be able to use the flour I have just fine and use it where they say "bread flour" although it may create a heavier dough since it has more protein and gluten in it.

I just use Rogers. I generally use 1 cup of "unbleached" and 3 cups of "whole wheat". If you're worried about it being on the heavy side, use a duck egg! (if you add an egg to a recipe that doesn't call for it, it substitutes for part of the water, which is why I mix it with less than the required water quantity and then top up the water to the correct amount)

Yeast
I have active dry yeast in the house.  Can I use this?  The shops often sell bread machine yeast.  It looks like finer granules and is more expensive.

I would use what you've got.  How old is it? If it's really old, you may need to use more than it asks for.

Hubby buys the vacuum-packed bag of Red Star yeast and it works fine. It's a two pound bag so I double bag it and put the bulk of it in the back of the fridge, and leave a small container of it out with my bread mixes. Sometimes the "out" stuff gets a bit wimpy by the end, so instead of using a scant 1/2 Tbsp (1 1/2 tsp) I just be a little generous. It doesn't  suddenly stop working - it's just that fewer of the yeasties are still viable so you need more volume to get the same number of live yeast babies.

Anything else I need to consider?  

Personally, I'm adding a tablespoon or so of wheat germ to a lot of things. I like the Rogers product (my preferred earlier source got bought out... sigh...) and I store it in the freezer and add it just before baking. Our ancestors ate "whole" grains - they didn't just pick and choose, so I figure the vitamins and minerals are of benefit to me.  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal_germ ) That said, you don't *need* it to make your first few loaves, so I wouldn't make a special trip.

You also don't *need* gluten flour, but my old recipe book called for a commercial product that was mostly gluten and adding a couple of teaspoons when I make up my mixes seems to help get a consistent loaf.

I bought the yeast early last month with the idea that I would bake a bunch of bread in the oven... then summer hit.  

I really hope this bread machine doesn't heat up the house, otherwise, it's spending the night outside.  

The only issue I see with a two pound cinnamon roll is that I would be eating two pounds of cinnamon roll for breakfast!  Is "monkey bread" a thing in Canada? You might like it if that cinnamon roll recipe looks good to you. I would be hesitant to cook a recipe where sugar could be in direct contact with the pan and might want to burn and stick on a pan that cannot be scrubbed to harshly, though.

I wouldn't over-think things. I would just have fun and experiment. Use up some older ingredients if you have any back n the pantry. I would watch the machine like a hawk until you learn it's personality.  The typical cycles on the machine will likely do best with the faster bread machine yeast. Slower yeast, or older yeast may not rise fully before the baking commences. It helps me to run the dough cycle first, and then start the baking cycle manually when the dough has fully risen if it's a new recipe or if the yeast is suspect.

My MO starts with rinsing the pan out with hot water. (I don't usually wash it after baking. I just let the little bits of dough dry and they flake right off. This also warms the pan for the yeast.) I then add the warm/hot water. Then I sprinkle the yeast in. Then the sugar. Then the flour. Then the oil and salt last, because the salt can hinder the yeast. This gives the yeast a chance to get going before the salt gets to it. Then I look around the countertops to see if I forgot to put the stirring paddle back in the pan. Don't forget the stirring paddle. Seriously.

The bail handle on the pan makes it easy to keep the machine in a remote location  and carry just the pan and bread/ingredients back and forth. On a new machine, though, I would want it close by in case there were to be trouble. And if it's outside, you will miss the house full of the smell of freshly baking bread, which I can't help but imagine is almost as nourishing as eating it.

Most of my use for the bread machine lately is just kneading pizza dough, but this is the bread recipe I have used the most:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/6788/amish-white-bread/  
You'll notice it's heavy on the sugar. I assume that is why it is so good. I imagine it also helps make sure the yeast is successful. Of course, I make alterations to it almost every time.  I halve it and it fits in my machine, which I guess would be a two pound size. It's a pretty big loaf, which I don't really like. It's too big for the toaster and sandwiches, and cut in half it is too small. But it makes perfectly sized pizza dough! Now, I have a hankering for fresh bread for some reason...

Jordan said,  Is "monkey bread" a thing in Canada?

That Cinnamon Roll Bread made me think of "monkey bread" and also "pull-apart bread".

I have never had either though I hear so many people talking about them that I want to try them.

And thanks for recommending that recipe as that might be the next one I try when the weather gets cooler.

Anne, monkey bread is quite decadent! It's one of those dishes that's typically only pulled out around the holidays or large potlucks. Though, I suppose one could be slightly modified to make it somewhat healthier. I've never heard of anyone trying or trying to make one in a bread machine. Could be an interesting project. I imagine the dough could be much healthier with whole grains and such, and maybe the copious amounts of sugar and butter could hide it. Maybe some of the sugar could be at least diluted with xylitol or something.

Jordan Holland wrote:Anne, monkey bread is quite decadent! It's one of those dishes that's typically only pulled out around the holidays or large potlucks.

To me decadent is cool new flavors and awesome unique combinations of things - I just looked up Monkey Bread and it looks like "sugar held together with a little flour".  If I tried to eat it, you'd be scraping me off the ceiling!

A simple way I make my regular Machine loaf a little special is to add my home dried apples, along with commercial dried berries like cranberries, blueberries or raisins, and add a Tablespoon of cinnamon, and a *little* extra sugar - the fruit's already adding extra sugar, so an extra tablespoon or two of sugar is plenty for me.

I want to make cheese bread today,  but the machine doesn't have a recipe for it.

Can I take the French bread one and replace half the water with milk, reduce the oil, add a couple of cups of cheese, and some spices?

r ranson wrote:I want to make cheese bread today,  but the machine doesn't have a recipe for it.

Can I take the French bread one and replace half the water with milk, reduce the oil, add a couple of cups of cheese, and some spices?

Only one way to find out! I've found cheese to be a bit of a wild card in bread; it doesn't generally act like I expect it to.

Crazy Experiment One:
Bread Machine French Cheesy Loaf recipe

What I want is a cheesy loaf with holes and a massive cheesy flavour.

What I did.
(put ingredients in bread pan in this order)

330ml total liquid - half water, half milk
2 Tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cups of flour (Canadian - equivalent of USA bread flour)
1/2 tsp each mustard powder, hot paprika, garlic powder
1 teaspoon yeast
2 cups (or possibly 4, I didn't measure) of grated cheese that was going mouldy so I cut off the blue part and grated the rest.

Put on French Setting.

It says it will take 4 hours.

r ranson wrote:

1/2 tsp each mustard powder, hot paprika, garlic powder

Commercial garlic powder is likely fine, particularly if it's a little old, but this might be a good time to mention that garlic is known to kill, or at least discourage microbes, so many people put it on top of the loaf after the loaf has risen so you don't kill your baby yeasties - been there, done that trying to make garlic bread with fresh garlic when I knew less about microbes!

Jay Angler wrote:r ranson wrote:

1/2 tsp each mustard powder, hot paprika, garlic powder

Commercial garlic powder is likely fine, particularly if it's a little old, but this might be a good time to mention that garlic is known to kill, or at least discourage microbes, so many people put it on top of the loaf after the loaf has risen so you don't kill your baby yeasties - been there, done that trying to make garlic bread with fresh garlic when I knew less about microbes!

This can be true of many spices. I've found fresh bread yeast to be pretty resilient, especially if it's proofed before coming into contact with stuff that might deter it. Another reason to sprinkle stuff on the surface is that I've found it takes way more than I would expect added to the dough to actually be able to taste it. Same for cheese. Mozzarella seems to just add a little moisture, maybe a little cream taste. Cheddar really surprised me at how little taste it added. I even had a french recipe for some buscuits with Le Gruyere cheese, and it added little. I've always shredded it, but I've been meaning to chunk some and try that but haven't yet. I think the small slivers kind of dissipate into the bread and maybe the taste is driven off by the steam from cooking. I wonder if the kneading would break up the chunks? Maybe freeze them?

Idea for next time.  Add spices to drop basket thingy that is used for adding nuts and fruit to the last mixing.

2 hours left.  Looking good!

wonder what happens next time if I use regular "traditional" yeast instead of bread machine yeast.  Might be better on this setting as it has a much longer rise time.  

r ranson wrote:2 hours left.  Looking good!

Great! You mentioned a "drop basket thingy" which my machine does not have. I'm wondering if the cheese could go in there?

not enough room for cheese.  It fits maybe a quarter cup of ingredients at the most.  

Bread is ready.  It is good tasting.  Better than the store-bought stuff.

Not really my idea of cheese bread.  It's very well mixed so there aren't big pockets of cheese.  Maybe cubes next time?

r ranson wrote:Not really my idea of cheese bread.  It's very well mixed so there aren't big pockets of cheese.  Maybe cubes next time?

What I have found with the bread machine is any ingredients added will be very well blended.  

The trick is to add items you want chunky after the kneading is complete so they are only lightly mixed.

I couldn't think of the exact terminology so I hope this explains.

>What do I need to know about bread machine recipes?  

For one, they don't scale quite like you'd expect. For example, the ingredients for a 1-lb loaf are often not half those of a 2-lb loaf.  I'd probably find a different recipe book if your Zojirushi's is missing something you want. One of my bread machine cookbooks is not from the manufacturer; the authors just tested with multiple kinds of machines. From a cookbook like that (library?) you might be able to figure out the adaptations that are best for your type of machine.

>What's this needing different yeast?

I just use the regular grocery jar of yeast, stored in the fridge. Red Star is pretty well liked.

Recommend trying pizza dough.

Today I am making cake.

I'm working from this recipe for a one-pound lemon cake: https://breadmachinebaking.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/bread-machine-lemon-cake/

(I don't expect mine to look this good)

I cannot understand the instructions in my machine's book, but it looks like it only does two-pound cakes.  Their recipe also calls for yeast.  Oh well, I'll try the one-pound one and see what happens.

I don't know how I feel about the glaze thing, so I'm adjusting the recipe a bit.


It is important to try and add these ingredients to your bread machine in the order specified.

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup/60ml milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup/55g butter, melted

1 cup/110g all-purpose/plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/3 cups/300g sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon three dehydrated slices of lemon powdered in a spice grinder

For the glaze (do not add to bread machine):

1/3 cup/40g icing/confectioners sugar

1 to 1 and a half tablespoons lemon juice

METHOD

Add the ingredients, in order, to the bread machine.
Choose the “cake” option (or “loaf” option if no “cake” option) and select a “Medium” crust if applicable.

Lemons are fairly expensive here, but we got some on sale for a dollar each (awesome price!) so I sliced up and dried a bunch.  I use them for this sort of thing.

The pound cake is interesting.

The caking setting appears to do this on my machine: 20 min stirring, half an hour rising, then an hour baking.
This makes sense since the recipe for a cake that came with the machine has both yeast and self-rising flour.

I felt the cake itself turned out lower than expected and sweeter.  The batter was wet and runny.  The middle didn't cook all the way, but it was pleasantly moist like an undercooked brownie.  There needed to be more lemon flavour.  I am very glad I didn't add the icing.

Although delicious, it is not what I would imagine.  But apparently, it is a lot like pound cake.  

Troubleshooting lemon pound cake in a bread machine:
1. undercooked - leave it in the machine for the extra hour on keep warm setting to finish cooking.
2. sickly sweet - try 2/3rds cup sugar next time.
3. not enough lemon - apparently there is something called lemon extract I can get from the shop.  I may or may not bother.

...

There is a programme that lets me programme the machine.  I want to make my grandmothers workman cake in that, so I am thinking I could...

a) use the cake setting and add half a teaspoon of yeast - keep the recipe the same except that there are too many reasons to fit in the drop-down pan, so half will have to go in the batter at the start.
or
b) keep it the same, but programme the machine to do 20min stirring and 1-hour bake.  (adjust time depending on the results)

Grandmothers recipe makes a spoonbendingly stiff dough, but if it can mix bread, it should be able to handle this.  I'll have to keep an eye on it.  

How to convert a recipe to bread machine
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/04/30/how-to-convert-recipes-to-a-bread-machine

So far, we're finding the bread to be sweet and caky.  Not really sure how to describe it, but the holes are almost too even and the finished bread is a bit crumbly when toasted.

I switched from bread machine yeast to regular active dry yeast and the texture is better.  Still needs some adapting.  

I might try halving the oil and sugar for the next loaf.  

I am about to start making bread today (baking day, also heating up the house on what hopefully is the coldest day of the year... 48F in my house when I got up!) and I realized that this recipe which is my husband's favorite is originally a bread machine recipe! Figured I'd share, it is very nutritious-- when I don't make his bread and my husband has to eat "store bread" he complains he's starving by lunchtime. This one will tide you over pretty well.
Quinoa Oatmeal Bread
I don't have a bread machine, I make it in my Kitchenaid and bake it, usually I actually double the recipe since we go through a lot of bread - i also cut the butter down by about half, i find it's a bit more than needed. I also use quinoa flakes, which I can get easily, instead of cooking the quinoa, unless I have leftover quinoa laying around. Leftover brown rice also works well.

troubleshooting:  Why does my bread overflow the pan (and lift the lid)?

I'm still following the recipes that come with the machine.  Although I am doing volume not weight.  

r ranson wrote:troubleshooting:  Why does my bread overflow the pan (and lift the lid)?

I would guess too much yeast or possibly too much gluten if you're adding some based on the recipe, but using a flour with enough already in it.

I would try reducing the yeast by 10-20% first, and if that doesn't work, reduce the liquid by a bit. Not all liquid measuring cups are the same. If yours is based on Imperial  measures, and the books are based on US Standard measure, you're adding more liquid than intended.

Then again, was the book written in China? Hubby recently received a measuring tape in a package from China. The centimeters were normal, but the inches were off by about 3" in a foot!  

In most machines, recipes are by weight.