carolynjo

I would recommend that you buy King Arthur Flour and subscribe to their catalog. In every issue they highlight certain types of bread and any specialty products that make the loaves better. The KA all purpose flour is tremendous! I get a high rise loaf every time. I don't use any other flour. (Just made hot cross buns for Easter for my church book study group and they were a hit.) You should find KA flour at your local grocery, though 25 years ago I had to do mail order.

Mkotch

Oh, I buy only King Arthur Flour - I live in Vermont, as do they!

Thanks to all for their suggestions. I will keep experimenting!

lwbuchholz

A secret a friend told me was to put 1 tablespoon of vinegar for every 2 1/2 cups flour. The vinegar doesn't taste in the final product and it seems to allow the gluten strands to develop. Add it after the first cup of flour has been added. I have never used a bread machine but it sure helps when I make it from scratch and by hand. I have never waited to add the vinegar that I remember but maybe it works better that way.
Lynda

NanaCsews2

This is what I do also. My mother made the best bread and rolls that I can still smell and taste in my head. I have been making bread for years, but eventually got tired of some loaves turning out heavy, some so-so, and some not worth the money spent on the ingredients. After too many loaves like this, I now store my rapid rise yeast in the refrigerator, make sure I sift the bread flour, use only ice cold butter and room temp water or milk, and if the bread maker 'knocks' too much while mixing, I add a teaspoon of water to the dough. Our favorite is removing the dough from the bread maker (I also have a Cuisinart),forming the dough into an oblong shape, place on a greased cookie sheet, cover with flour sack towel, let rise and then sprinkle with rosemary and thyme, smidgeon of salt, and bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Break apart and serve with good olive oil. The aroma in the house is divine!

deeleigh

you are all making me hungry and it is only 9:00! When I was a child many years ago we could buy a loaf of dressing bread (not for stuffing) at the holiday season.It made the best toast ever. I have looked for a recipe but not had any luck.Could anyone help? I have tried adding the spices but still wasn't as good. Dee

meanmom

This is a very dark rye bread.
1 egg plus enough water to make 1 cup plus 2TBSP, 11/2 Tbsp oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 TBSP molasses, 2 TBSP dry milk, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups bread flour, 2 tsp yeast, 2 TBSP caraway seeds, 3 TBSP cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee, 2/3 cup rye flour.
I often skip the instant coffee as a rarely have it. If I don't have dry milk I just use milk for part of the water. I prefer the taste of this if I make it on the dough cycle and bake it in the oven, but that depends on my schedule.
Another tip for making your bread better is add about 1 TBSP vital wheat gluten to you dough mix. I get mine in the grocery store near the flour. Bob's Red Mill also has it. And as others have said King Arthur Flour website has lots of info.

time2quilt

10 oz. warm water, 2 cups white flour, 2 cups wheat flour, 3 T. dry powdered milk, 3 T. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. yeast, 1/2 stick butter. Put all ingredients into bread machine pan. Turn settings to bread and light. Makes 1 large loaf. For white bread, use all white flour. This is delicious bread and turns out every time.

sinceresissy

I use the recipes that came with the bread machine and they have all been good. I like my bread machine. I have used it to just mix the dough up and then I make cinnamon rolls with the dough. I have used my sour dough starter in the bread machine and it worked too. It has been good. I follow the recipes and put the ingredients in the way the recipe says. All good.

Sunny580

My favorite site for bread is: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/

SewExtremeSeams

For many years now I have used the Bread Machine recipe that came with the machine. Then, I started experimenting. First of all, I use Splenda, no special flour and vegie oil in my bread recipes. To the original basic recipe, I add an extra Tablespoon of Splenda, 1-3 T. cinnamon (I am heavy handed when it comes to cinnamon), a dash of nutmeg, 1/2 to 1 cup of raisins. This makes a wonderful raisin bread matched by none that are store bought.

Now I also make orange/cranberry bread. I add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 small bag of dried cranberries and use orange juice for the liquid called for in the original recipe. I also add orange zest of one large orange. It is heavenly when baking and we have to limit ourselves to 1 piece toasted daily. My husband requests it so often I have not had a chance to experiment.

In case you are interested, I put all of the ingredients in the bread machine, and pour the liquid around the edges, set the setting on dough setting and start the machine. In an hour and one half I heat my oven to its lowest setting, turn it off when it is up to temp. and open the door for a few minutes. While the oven is heating up, I press the dough into an oiled loaf pan. and set my loaf pan in the oven for 40 minutes for it to rise. At this time, I turn the oven to 375 (leaving the loaf pan in the oven) and set the timer for 35-40 minutes. Turns out perfect each time.