Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
3 hours for a light crust or 3 hours and 15 mins for a darker crust (we go with the light crust)
I've tried many bread machine recipes, and this one works perfectly for me to make simple white bread. The bread is tall, not dense, of perfect composition. A basic recipe for a bread maker machine.
Ingredients
1 cup and 3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
390 grams (about 3 1/4 cups) white bread flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
Important note about properly measuring flour using measuring cups
The proper way to measure flour using measuring cups is to aerate it first. This is done either by sifting flour or aerating it by fluffing it up and whisking it well, then spooning it into the measuring cup, then carefully removing any excess flour with a knife. If you just stick that measuring cup in the bag of flour and scoop some out, you will get a lot more flour than what the recipe calls for. Do aerate the flour, or you will end up with dry dough! This is the main reason I measure flour by weight - it avoids this issue.
How to make bread in a bread machine
Add water and oil into the bread pan. Add salt, sugar. Add flour.
Make a small indentation on top of the flour and make sure it does not reach wet ingredients. Add the yeast to the indentation.
Keep yeast away from the salt.
Insert the bread pan into the bread machine, press it down to snap. Close the lid.
Use Basic bread, 1.5 lb loaf, light (default) crust cycle (3 hours) for a light crust or the medium crust cycle (3 hours 15 minutes) for a darker crust.
When the bread is done, remove the bread pan using oven mitts. Turn over the bread pan and shake it to release the loaf. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.