Bread machine white bread — fully automated
4
Units:
Prep: 5 min Cook: 3 hr
Main
- 1 cup warm water, 110F
- 2 tbsp softened or melted butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1¼ tsp salt
- 3 cup bread flour
- 2 tbsp dry milk powder (optional, for softer texture)
- 1½ tsp instant yeast, added last in a well on flour
Set it and forget it. Load the ingredients, press start, and the bread machine handles mixing, kneading, rising, and baking automatically. The result is a soft sandwich-style loaf in about 3 hours with only 5 minutes of hands-on work.
Instructions
- Load ingredients: Add to the bread machine pan in this order: warm water, butter, sugar, salt, flour, milk powder, then yeast last in a small well on top of the flour.
- Select cycle: Choose Basic/White bread cycle, 1.5 lb size, medium crust.
- Check at 10 minutes: Open the lid and verify the dough forms a smooth, slightly tacky ball. Adjust with flour or water 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Remove promptly: Take the loaf out when the cycle finishes. Cool on a wire rack.
Tips
- Use bread flour (12-14% protein), not all-purpose — it produces better gluten structure and a taller loaf
- The ingredient order matters: liquids first prevents yeast from activating prematurely
- Measure flour by weight — too much flour is the number-one cause of dense bread machine loaves
- Remove the loaf immediately when done to avoid condensation sogging the crust
- Top machines: Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus ($350-400, best overall), Breville Custom Loaf ($300-350, collapsible paddle), Cuisinart CBK-200 ($100-130, best budget)
Created: 2/27/2026, 2:30:20 PM diycommercial
Bread machine, kitchen scale