bake a loaf my way

read Machine Digest White Bread
1-1/2 Pound
1-1/8 cups water
1-1/2 tablespoons butter
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons dry milk
2-1/2 teaspoons yeast (1 of the packets I had you get at the store)
Place all of the ingredients in your machines fully assembled pan. Select the
Basic or White cycle and press start.

Checking the Dough Consistency

Now about 10 minutes after your machine has started kneading the dough you need to open the lid and check the consistency of the dough. The dough should be starting to form a smooth round ball. When you touch the dough with your finger, it should be slightly tacky to the touch however; no dough should remain on your finger when you pull it away. The dough consistency is very important and with few exceptions, all bread machine dough’s should look and feel this way.
If your dough it too dry add 1 tbsp. of water at a time (allowing the machine to knead for a minute or so between additions) until the dough is the proper consistency. If the dough is too wet add 1 tbsp. of flour at a time (allowing the machine to knead for a minute or so between additions) until the dough is the proper consistency. These types of adjustments aren’t unusual and don’t mean there is something wrong with the recipe. What is happening is that depending on the weather the flour has more or less moisture in it. Each time you make this and every other recipe you will need to check the dough consistency, that is unless you are using the timer at which point you need to use a recipe that you have tried before and have found to work well for you.
NOTE: If you have to add more than 3 tbsp. of water or flour to get the dough consistency right then the chances are the recipe is off. Make a note on the recipe of how much you had to add of extra water or flour and include that extra water or flour the next time you make the recipe. Don’t do this however for amounts smaller than 3 tbsp.

When the Loaf is Done

After the machine has beeped to indicate the bread’s done, open the machines lid leave the bread for 10 minutes. Then remove the pan with the bread from the machine and gently remove the bread from the pan (invert and shake until it slides out). Place the bread on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
To store the bread, store it unsliced in a heavy plastic bag. I highly recommend one of the clear hard plastic storage boxes for keeping your bread fresh. These run about $12 to $13 and really work well. Remember that you should use the bread with in a day or so as fresh homemade bread does not contain any chemical preservatives and will stale fast.

Final Comments

Congratulations, you have just baked your first loaf of bread. Now you know what the dough should look and feel like and you know how to work you machine. You ready to move on to other recipes. If your loaf did not turn out right Look at the troubleshooting chart and see if you can figure out what happened. If the chart does not help, please feel free to contact us or join our Bread Machine Club mailing list and ask for help there. Remember when asking for help to provide as much information as you can.

Mexican bread

Mexican Garlic Bread1 loaf french bread

butter or vegetable spread
garlic powder
onion powder
cumin

For garlic bread:

Using a large bread knife, slice 1 inch thick rounds of french bread. Coat with as much butter as you like and sprinkle generously with garlic powder, onion powder and lightly with cumin. Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 to 8 minutes. We light ours soft without much brown on the edges so you may want to bake for a little longer!

Shot of garlic bread before baking to gage seasoning.

ZUCCHINI IN BREAD

Lemon Rosemary Zucchini Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups (390 grams) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using salted butter)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 3 cups grated zucchini (from about 1 pound of zucchini)

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two 4x9-inch loaf pans, either coating with butter or spraying with baking spray.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and rosemary.

3 Beat the eggs in a mixer (or by hand) until frothy. Beat in the sugar. Beat in the melted butter 

and olive oil. Stir in the lemon zest and grated zucchini.

4 Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a third at a time, stirring after each incorporation.

5 Divide batter/dough into two loaf pans. Bake in a 350°F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Test after 40 minutes. If you gently press down on the surface of the loaf, it should bounce back, and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.

6 Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and then remove the loaves from their pans to cool on a rack.