Using a breadmaker is like coming home to warm slippers. Yes, really. It’s so handy to have if we run out of shop bread and means I don’t have to run out for extra supplies late at night for the next days packed lunches.
I have a Panasonic which is fairly aged now but it still churns out the bread beautifully. It also means I can put some in the freezer too.
Breadmaker Bread: Basic Large Size White Loaf
Prep time
Total time
Recipe type: Bread
Serves: 11
Ingredients
- 320ml Water
- 25g Olive Oil
- 1.5 teaspoons Sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons Salt
- 1.5 teaspoons Breadmaker Yeast (I use Allinsons or Dove's Farm)
- 500g Strong White Bread Flour
Instructions
- Breadmaker recipes tend to differ on how they explain using ingredients for bread. I tend to add in the water first as I really have not got the hang of putting in the dry ingredients first.
- Add the water and olive oil.
- Put the flour on top of the water until it completely coats the surface. If you're not confident, make a little well in the middle of the flour for the yeast.
- I put the salt and sugar on top of the flour into one side and then add the yeast in last, making sure that it is not in contact with the water or sugar at all.
- Select a four hour or basic bread setting. You can also use this recipe for a thicker French crust effect by using a longer setting to get a thicker crust. I find this is the best recipe for making sandwich bread for school packed lunches.
- Leaving your bread to cool fully means it will cut more easily, but if you're like my boys and like some warm bread to use immediately it comes out of the breadmaker, then it tends to be more of a tear and share effort here. I can get up to 11 slices from this, but when I first started to cut a loaf, I was lucky if I got five or six. It does take practice.
This recipe made me cry. Happy tears! I am an ancient Scottish ex-pat now living (happily!) in Utah. When we bought our house my dear husband made sure I had all the kitchen gadgets my little wannabe Chef’s heart could desire – one being a Cuisinart bread machine. I trawled through the internet and all my British cookbooks, but never found the perfect bread (US bread is too sweet for me). I finally landed on this site, and rushed to get all the ingredients – not too many – together. The bread was done about 8.30 last night, and it was SO hard to wait till it was cold to taste it. It came out as a HUGE loaf, so I was delighted. Then I ate a slice with kerrygold butter – oh my goodness, I was transported back to Banffshire when the “Van” – a travelling grocery store – came on Wednesdays, and we all tore into a fresh pan loaf. THANK you so much, I will be using this recipe a whole lot, I promise you!
Enjoy. Nothing beats a fresh loaf.
How odd that someone felt the need to write a comment stating how you could make the bread better. Clearly you are already very happy with your recipe otherwise you wouldn’t have published it online. I tried it a few days ago and it came out absolutely perfectly, best loaf that we’ve had from our panasonic and i’ve owned it for about 12 years! Thanks so much. We also tried exactly the same recipe with 300g white and 200g wholemeal on a 5 hour wholemeal setting and it was also perfect. I am wondering if it is because it uses less sugar and has oil instead of butter. Love it, thanks
Thanks Bryony. I too think the oil has something to do with it, as it’s liquid and easier to mix. Glad you enjoy it, it’s one of our favourites.
You’re bread will turn out better if you put the dry ingredients in first- the yeast the very first, then flour. It stops the yeast from activating too soon and getting exhausted before the party is really ready to begin, i.e. the initial rest period of most breadmaker programs.
The best way to get the water quantity right is to weigh the water into the mixing pan. Use a set of good electric scales for this.