Bread Machine Baking

Some people(not me) are bread purist. These people will tell you that making bread in a bread machine is cheating yourself of the experience. For these folks, in order to truly experience the peace and satisfaction which comes from baking your own bread at home, you must be hands on from start to finish and they describe kneading bread with adjectives such as, "soothing, therapeutic, cathartic, and zen". 

When I first started baking bread for my family, I wholeheartedly believed this myth. I wanted to do the the best I could and therefore ruled out the bread machine. Baking bread became such a chore that I eventually abandoned it altogether. Now days, while I do enjoy the experience of hand made and home baked bread, I've come to accept that using a bread machine is a compromise that I can live with! Because what I can buy in the store in no way beats what I can produce at home with the help of a bread machine? 

I wasted so much time trying to be perfect, I hope you don't do the same. My current requirements of a "good" bread: Healthy, wholesome and will my family eat it.  And talk about thrifty! Even buying the "primo" organic, whole wheat, non-bro mated flour, the cost is peanuts compared to what I would spend buying a loaf of organic wheat bread every week.Here's the recipe for our current favorite bread machine loaf. 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Warm Water (not to hot or it will kill the yeast)

1/3 Cup Warm Milk

3 Tablespoons Melted Butter

3 Tablespoons Sugar 

1 1/2 Teaspoons Yeast

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

2 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

Method:

Pour warm milk, water, melted butter and sugar into your bread machine bowl. Mix well. Add the yeast, mix and let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast. After 10 minutes add both flours plus the salt. Choose your favorite setting on your bread machine, close the lid and press start. That's it! You're free to do other things and you will have delicious home baked bread in a few hours, enjoy!