Best Bread Machine Recipe

This white bread machine recipe is made with unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour! You’ll love this easy bread recipe cause it’s perfect for sandwiches and toast and in our humble opinion, it’s one of the best bread machine recipes ever.

There’s no arguing it, my Mom is 100% the best at baking homemade bread.

Me, on the other hand? It’s not one of my skills. She’s handed down her recipe to me, tried to teach me, gave up teaching me, then taught my husband instead.

We’ve all decided that mom’s bread recipe will live on with Kevy. I am just not good! Haha 

But my mom created this recipe for me so that I could bake my own bread!

This easy bread machine recipe is dedicated to homemade bread.

Cross section of bread machine bread.

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Tips + Tricks

No. 1 –> This bread maker recipe gives a 2 lb loaf. Please double check that your machine has 2lb capacity – or you’ll likely have a heck of a mess!

No. 2 –> Check out the information below on the protein content of your flour! It can greatly affect your end result.

No. 3 –> Start with 1 3/4 cups of water. It really depends on your flour and some flours don’t like 2 cups of water. The first time you make this, I recommend adding 1 3/4 cup of water and then checking the dough during the first mixing cycle. Check the troubleshooting guide below.

No. 4 –> This recipe makes a delicious sandwich bread, and can be adapted to make cinnamon raisin bread, or my cardamom cranberry bread, or even everything bagel bread, if you like! If you’re interested in a whole wheat bread recipe for the bread maker, I’ve got one of those too.

Key Ingredients

  • warm water
  • sweetener (sugar, honey, maple syrup etc)
  • oil
  • salt
  • flour (all-purpose, or bread flour, see notes below)
  • bread machine yeast – avoid active dry yeast if possible, to use it you must proof it before baking this bread.

How To Make

  1. Add the wet ingredients to the bread pan.
  2. Add the salt and sweetener to the wet ingredients.
  3. Add the flour to the pan, sprinkling it overtop all of the water.
  4. Either sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour, where it’s not touching the water or create a well in the flour, then add the yeast there.
  5. Place baking pan in the bread maker and select cycle.
  6. Wait for bread to finish baking, then remove to cool before slicing.
A close up on a loaf of bread machine bread recipe results.

Bread machine recipe troubleshooting:

Bread too dense:

  1. Type of flour: As mentioned above, if you’re using a flour that doesn’t have a high enough protein content, you can expect a dense loaf of bread. Protein is necessary for the bread to produce gluten, and as we know, gluten is the amazing thing that gives bread it’s stretch and elasticity, and the ability to trap air and create bubbles in bread.
  2. Quantity of flour: I never weigh my ingredients for this recipe, nor do I sift my flour. Here’s how I scoop my flour for this recipe – stir the flour in the bag or container well, then use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to scoop the stirred flour into my 1 cup measuring cup. Give it a quick shake, then level with a knife. It’s quick and easy, keep it simple!
  3. Yeast – Add this at the very end of the ingredient layering. I toss all the flour into the baking pan, then sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour away from the water and liquid ingredients.

Bread collapsed during baking:

  1. Too much liquid: There is a range of water quantities in the recipe card, start with the least amount of water, and work your way up. It’s easier to add a bit of water to the pan while mixing than to start fresh!
  2. Not enough salt: If you’re using coarse ground salt in this recipe, you may not be using enough salt! Try adding a bit more next time.
  3. Yeast: Too much or too old yeast can cause your bread to collapse. To avoid this in the future, proof a small amount of your yeast to confirm it’s still active, and if so, decrease the quantity in your next loaf by 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoons.

Other problems:

If this is your first time using this recipe, I highly recommend checking in on the recipe while it’s 10 or so minutes into the first kneading cycle. At this point, you’ll be able to tell if your dough is forming a nice ball and pulling away from the edges.

If the dough is too wet at this time, and not holding a ball, add a couple tablespoons of flour. If the dough is too dry and looking shaggy, add a tablespoon of water.

Check out my guide more information on troubleshooting your bread machine.

The butt end of the loaf of white bread machine bread with peach jam spread on it.
Here’s my amazing homemade vanilla bean jam on a fresh crust slice of best homemade bread machine bread!

How to store:

Homemade bread doesn’t keep long. It doesn’t keep any better in the fridge either. We often cut our loaves in half and freeze half and keep the remainder out on the counter. Freezing as soon as the bread has been cut and cooled usually gives me better results.

Try a bread box!

Other bread machine recipes you’ll love!

Ya’ll we can’t have a bread machine recipe without a bread machine!

Here’s the one that I have and I have NO problems recommending it to anyone else. I love all the different features and settings on my Breville Custom Loaf. But most of all, I love love love that it makes a perfect loaf of bread!

 If you love this recipe, please leave a comment or rating below! This helps me to create more content for you to love!

📖 Printable Recipe

Cross section of bread machine bread.

The Best Bread Machine Bread Recipe

Allyson Letal
This white bread machine recipe is so easy and tasty! You'll love it cause it's healthy and perfect for sandwiches and toast alike!
4.45 from 613 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 10 slices
Calories 359 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 3/4-2 cups warm water
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sweetener ex. honey, organic cane sugar, agave, maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoon liquid oil ex. coconut, olive, canola
  • 4 cups all-purpose or bread flour
  • 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients into bread maker pan, in that order, being sure to sprinkle the yeast on top.
  • Set to basic or basic quick – whatever you like.
  • Walk away. Drink a coffee, read a book, watch Netflix.
  • When bread machine beeps done, remove loaf pan and turn out onto a tea towel. Stand your loaf upright and allow to cool at least for a bit before you dive in!

Notes

* This bread recipe makes a 2 LB loaf. Please double check that your bread machine has a 2 LB capacity before making this recipe!
*When measuring flour, I use the scoop and level method – Using a flour scoop to fill a measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife. Don't sift the flour first! Consistent measuring is definitely important in consistency between loaf to loaf!
*I've edited the amount of water in this recipe from 2 cups to 1 3/4 to 2 cups. I've gotten some feedback that this results in a pretty wet dough, I've not had that problem in either of my bread machines, which likely due to the protein level of everyone's flour. Please check the notes above in the "A Word On Flour" section OR start with the lesser amount of water and keep an eye on the bread as it mixes and you'll know if you need more.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 359kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 7gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gSodium: 265mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

A word on flour:

As a Canadian, I use purpose flour for literally all purposes. Here’s why it matters to you and the results for your recipe:

  • CANADIAN flour is different than American flour!
  • The protein content in Canadian flour is required by law to have at least 13% protein by weight.
  • The protein content of the flour greatly affects the bread’s ability to absorb water, produce gluten, and, therefore, your final results.
  • IF you are using American flour, please use Bread flour specifically – OR ensure that your flour passes the protein content test 12-13%

How to determine protein content in flour:

Simply do a little math – make your teachers proud!

Grams Of Protein /
Grams Per Serving = _______

________ X 100 = _________ %

4/30=.1333
.1333 x 100= 13.3%

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223 Comments

  1. I’m currently making my second batch of this bread. I made it two weeks ago but added garlic and herbs and it was -incredible-!!

    I love this recipe and plan to use it as a base. This time I’ve added garlic, herbs and onion powder. I will also be baking it in a 400F oven for about 20-24 minutes.

    The first time I did this recipe, the dough rose so high it was pressing against the lid of the machine! Crazy, right? So, I had pulled about 1/3 of the dough out and baked that third in the oven. the texture was even better (though the machine-baked bread was still amazing).

    Thanks for this! I think next time, I will try adding cheese… or raisins and cinnamon. The possibilities are endless!

  2. hi
    im in england , what is best flour to make a bread that is not dense , we have self raising ,plain , all purpose flour ,

    1. Hi Mike, to determine the best flour, you’ll have to look at the protein content. Use this formula!

      Grams Of Protein /
      Grams Per Serving = _______

      ________ X 100 = _________ %

  3. Hi i was just wondering If it was possible to haLf this recipe? Mine also was squished onto the lid even though i have a 2lb option but holy cow this bread is The best recipe ever! It is DELICIOUS!

    1. I’ve not played with halving this recipe, I know I keep mentioning it in the comments but it makes such a good size in my bread maker, a great alternative would be to use the bread machine to make the dough and then transfer the dough to two loaf pans and bake in the oven?

  4. Hi i just wanted to tell you thank you for the recipe! I wanted to have homemade bread with our soup for supper Friday and found your Recipe. As it was kneading, i found my everything Bag seasoning and decided to add it in on the last CycLe, absolutely delicious!

  5. Hello! I used 1 3/4 c water and the dough was still too sticky so I added about 1/4 c more. Also I have a 2lb bread maker and it was too big for the machine the top was uncooked. I liked the consistency of the bread better than some other recipes I’ve tried that are very dense. I will probably try this recipe again but as a 1.5 lb loaf however I must admit I don’t like the way the bread pot cooks/shapes the finished loaf. I may try baking this in a loaf pan in the oven the bread comes out too tall for the toaster in the pot. Thanks for sharing your recipe

    1. You can totally bake this bread in your oven! I would set my bread machine to the dough cycle, then turn onto a floured surface and shape into 2 loaves. Cover and allow to rise 45-60 minutes, then cook in a 350f oven for 20-30 minutes or until tops are nicely browned

  6. Would using flour milled with hard red wheat berries work? I am new to bread making and jumped in with both feet and hands.

    1. Bread baking rocks! Glad you’re diving in! If your milled flour has the germ and the bran I would actually recommend my whole wheat bread machine recipe. In that recipe, all-purpose or bread flour is combined with the whole wheat to add a bit more lightness, because all whole wheat bread can be dense. If your flour is not whole wheat, then I would definitely try it!

  7. Thank you! This recipe turned out great the second time I made it! FYI, I just used 12 of the smaller 1/3 Cup measure, mostly because it was easier to put it in the bag of flour. The first time, I forgot to troubleshoot during the 10 minute mark, so it came out flat on top. I do have a few questions: When is it the right time to remove the metal bread mixer piece? Is there a way to know before it bakes, if it needs more salt? Lastly, have you ever tried the recipe by weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them? I wonder what would happen if I used different measuring tools. I am very grateful that you included the recipe, tips, and troubleshooting sections.
    Best,
    Annie

    1. Hey Annie, I could certainly try to measure this recipe using grams instead of cups! All of my sourdough recipes are done via weight, I find when the average baker sees a measurement in grams they tend to back away slowly like it’s a sleeping bear!

      If you’d like to remove the mixing piece, the best time to do that is as soon as the final rise begins. Turn the dough out, remove the paddle and pop it back in. This will ensure that any deflation that happens while you handle it will be filled out during the rise.

      Glad you liked the recipe!

    1. Gluten free is a whole different animal. I have talked about making this recipe GF, but I haven’t been able to dedicate the time to truly getting it right! Sorry I don’t have any better advice 🙁

  8. I followed this recipe to the T with the 2 cups of water. The dough was pretty wet and it sank after its final rise, about 40 or less minutes before it was done. The inside was a bit undercooked and the top had a paper mache texture.

    I decreased the water to your revised amount, 1 3/4 cup, and still had the same problem.
    My bread machine was my grandpa’s and he passed nearly 20 years ago… it’s old lol. So I found the manual on the internet and apparently with this bread machine you can’t sprinkle the yeast on the flour, you need to dig a small hole in the flour and put the yeast in the well. Otherwise your yeast gets activated too soon and won’t rise properly. (Anyone else with an old bread machine with rise issues this might help)

    When the bread came out this time around… oh my lanta. AH-MAZING!! This bread is so good – you just put an end to me buying store bought bread 🙂

  9. This is my second time using your recipe in a T-fal bread machine. I use 2 cups of water, MacArthur Bread Flour and add a tablespoonful of cultured buttermilk blend (powder): Perfection! I can’t thank you enough!!

  10. Hi. I wonder how big your cups are. I am Swedish, and am told by Wikipedia that a customary cup is 236,6 ml while a standard measuring cup can be as big as 250 ml. At any rate, if the cups are for water and flour are of equal size, the liquid to flour ratio is 1,75(-2):4, which is less than 0,5:1) and very far from the 0,7:1 ratio that is recommended elsewhere. I am still a novice at baking, and certainly at baking with a bread maker, but yesterday I baked a lump of a bread – compact and dry – with a liquid to four ratio of about 0,65:1. I am so confused. (And I can’t grasp the non-metric (non-)system, with ounces fluid and ounces for non-fluids, customary vs legal cups and pints of different sizes on each side of the Pond. The French killed each other at an alarming rate during the Revolution, but their legacy, which allows me to live in a place where a millilitre is a millilitre and a gram is a gram, has at least brought Europeans (although the Brits might go back to pints and cups now) to common ground when it comes to recipes.)

  11. Wait… I counted the volume of the water against the volume of the flour.
    But 1 3/4 cup of water weighs 414 grams, and 4 cups of flour weighs about 640 grams (600-670 grams, depending on the humidity. That makes the liquid to flour ratio quite exactly 0,7:1. I am sorry! It’s just that these measurments are SO tricky.

  12. We’re having covid here, and are out of bread – hence the emergency…
    The lump from yesterday will become duck food when we’re out of isolation.
    I will try to convert your recipe to a metric system
    (going with the customary cup until told otherwise).

    1. Hi Karin, sorry to hear you’re not well!

      As long as you use the same “cup” for each you’ll be just fine, because all measurements will be a ratio of that cup itself – if that makes sense. If one cup is 250ml, then 1/2 that cup is 125ml and 1/4 cup is 62 ml. Etc. The most important part of the recipe is the proper ratio of ingredients, so consistently use standard cups or customary cups, but don’t mix them within the recipe. As for your question, I use US cups in my baking.

      Next time I make this recipe I will try to get the metric measurements!

  13. I just want to say that this bread turned out good, however it did almost overflow my machine even tho it has a 2lb capacity!

  14. I have a Panasonic SD-2500 and have 3/4ed your given ingredients. The loaf is delicious but twice now I’ve had an indented top rather than the domed top shown in your picture – what am I doing wrong?

  15. Thank you for sharing your receipt . I can’t wait to make it it will be my first time making it. I’m pretty excited so are my husband and son. They love when I try new receipts. They especially love it when I use them for my Ginnie pigs. So wish me luck I’m gonna try it today sometime. So thank you again for taking the time to type/ TeX your receipt out. Wish me luck fingers crossed……

  16. Hello

    Your recipe says 1 3/4 water or 2 cups. What size cup is that. All cups are different. Can we have a measurement in MLS please

    1. Something went wrong for sure. The dough is wetter, but it’s not soupy by any means. Did you try with 1 3/4 cup water to start with?

  17. I gave this a try after seeing the texture of your bread, mine usually comes out really dense but edible. Anyway, my machine will make a 900g loaf so I thought, no problem. Less liquid as I’m at altitude and small adjustments for it. Also extra flour during the kneed, too sticky. The end result was the loaf was trying to escape out of the lid so some extra tweeking needed but the texture was perfect apart from the top stuck to the lid, the birds are loving that part as it ripped off when I opened it. I’m going to try half measures next time and see what transpires.

    1. Glad to hear you were able to adapt it to your high altitude kitchen! I’d love to hear how it goes when you halve the recipe!

  18. Made it, the 1 3/4 cup of flour worked great from the get go. I used my home harvested raw honey and some coconut oil as the oil. wonderful. I believe we shall eat the whole loaf today and make another tomorrow. I made it in my bread maker….as the author stated make sure your bread maker (if using one) will make a 2 pound loaf. Mine does and this bread was at the tippy top of the loaf pan. It was cold outside today so the inside of my house is a toasty 73 or so with the woodstove going so that yeast really had a chance to bloom and get frothy…..increasing the bread size by eating that great honey. Anyway, love it. It is also a very mild bread, I can see adding in all sort of herbs or toasting for a bruschetta toast (topped with fresh chopped tomato, olive oil and balsamic.. maybe a bit of basil) oh the mind runs wild. Anyway, give it a go.

    1. That sounds delicious! My sister makes a really delicious rosemary bread that would probably be yummy with bruschetta

  19. I used Red Mill Flour 1-1 as I am Coeliac. It was a total disaster….a brick came out. I just want to warn others not to try that. The flour is very expensive and I chose the 2 lb loaf. Mea culpa!

  20. Hiya Ally!!

    Am not gonna lie, I’ve literally spent the last hour cussing you for the soupy gloop that is having a spa day in my bread maker……and then I came to the comments!

    Phew. Fingers crossed it comes out ok – I added more flour as thought it was my heat-wave fried brain that had mis-counted!

    1. Gah! This recipe is by far my most popular and also the one that stresses me out the most. It works for me every single time, and the comments are split – some are great some find it too wet and I really can’t figure out what the!?! I hope your loaf turned out well <3

  21. I just made this and it fell, the middle is sunk in. I followed the recipe and used bread yeast I just bought today. Any suggestions as to why this might’ve happened.

    1. Did you check the dough as it was mixing? For whatever reason, this recipe has the internet divided! Some rave about the recipe and others struggle. I’m inclined to think maybe yours was a smidge too wet and could have used a bit less water (or more flour, if you catch it at the mixing cycle)

  22. AMAZING BREAD!! I initially followed the recipe exactly using 1 3/4 cups water at ~120 degrees, honey, and canola oil. But, I ended up having to add 6 tbsp more bread flour as it was kneading because my dough looked like straight soup. It still looked a little too soupy after that but it was pulling away from the sides so I just left it alone after that and it turned out SO SO GOOD. Thank you to every one who left extremely helpful comments (especially Ally)!!!

    1. Ah! So glad to hear! 🙂 Next time, I’d reduce the water by a couple or three tablespoons and see if that helps to avoid having to add more flour!

  23. I made this bread recipe 2 days ago and have another on the go now. I also put on a batch for my mother yesterday.
    It is delicious

  24. So I am very new to bread making and I only have the original fleshiman’s original yeast. Will that work for this recipe?? I would like to make this bread for my first try. Thank you for your help

  25. If you take the dough out of the bread machine and put in loaf pan, does it need another rise before baking in oven? I do my bread on dough setting in machine and then bake in loaf pan in oven.

    1. UK cups. That said it shouldn’t matter as long as you’re using all the same cup measures because it’s just an easy way to ratio wet ingredients to dry ingredients!

  26. Hi,
    first time using my bread maker. I followed all the instructions in this recipe. Came home to it after the baking cycle was done and my bread had exploded inside the bread maker. Any hint on what i did wrong? I used honey, bread flour, and bread machine yeast brand new from the store.

  27. My 3.5 hour cycle does just fine with this bread, but my 1 hour cycle does not make this bread well….what can I adjust.? It’s an Oster.

  28. I’ve made this bread a few times now and love it! I use 1 3/4 cups water and works great! Loaf doesn’t last long!

  29. If I accidentally put this in my bread maker that only is a 1 pound machine, how would I fix it?! Can I take half out after the kneading cycles and put in a loaf pan and bake it in the oven? What temp and how long? Oh boy did I mess up 😅

    1. Good thing you caught it! Yes, After the kneading cycles you can take it out and shape into loaf pans allow to rise and bake in the oven, or do that with just half! 🙂

  30. So glad I found this recipe. Now I won’t get rid of my bread maker. This bread turned out so good and was edible. With other recipes I would have to throw the bread away. Thanks for posting this recipe.

  31. I made this tonight and let it cool and drove right in to try it! Very good white bread. I did use Bread Flour and 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. The 1 3/4 Cups worked just right and baked up beautifully! thank you!

  32. Omg. This was a costly disaster. I am not new to bread machine baking but thought I would try a difficult recipe. Followed the recipe to a T. Using bread machine flour and new machine yeast. ( 1 3/4 c water). Dough looked like it was fermenting. Riser to portion and fell in center. Cooked bread is like a blob of goo. I have never had this experience. Wow

    1. Eileen, I am so sorry to hear that. This recipe really confounds me, because I get so many great reviews and then I get the odd negative result! I’d love to try and figure this out though, if you’re up for a little investigating, I am too!

      Usually if bread rises and falls, it’s caused by too much yeast – I’m wondering if your super fresh new yeast is almost too active? If you do try again, I’d reduce the yeast amount by 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon.

      When you say it looked like it was fermenting – what do you mean exactly? Fermentation is vital to the bread making process – that’s what makes it rise, so this is why I ask

      Without any more information, I’m wondering your elevation (roughly), loaf size chosen, cycle chosen (quick or regular), what is in the bread machine flour that makes it different than regular flour, and is it very humid where you are right now?

  33. My bread machine says to never exceed 1.5tbs of yeast. I just did 1.5 tbs because I wasn’t sure what would happen, turns out it was a bad call lol, my bread just spilled over the machine and almost caught fire during the baking process it was wild! Not sure if that’s the issue but I definitely make 2lb loaves all the time, I’m sad because I was so excited for this recipe!

  34. Here goes nothing kid! Trying this loaf right now it took literally minutes to put together in my machine! Hope it rises well in my OH 69% humid and 31° temp day.

  35. I made this today for n my bread machine that does 2lb loaves. It blew open the top of my bread machine and only the bottom half cooked. What’s cooked looks amazing but this definitely went monster loaf lol

    1. Omg. I literally laughed out loud. I’m so sorry. I just pictured like the bread version of the Kool-Aid man bursting out of your bread machine.
      I cannot figure out this recipe. Some people love it and others have nothing but trouble. It’s confounding. I’m really sorry you had a mess to clean up

  36. Love this recipe! I used King Arthur Organic unbleached bread flour. I used 1 and 3/4 cups water. I substituted the oil for water. I used coconut sugar for the sweetener and 4 cups plus 1.5T flour. I cooked on the quick setting. Turned out perfect. Thank you!

  37. I don’t see a temp and time for baking.. am I missing something somewhere?
    Mine also was like soup, I had to add more flour. Quite a bit more

    1. This recipe is designed for the basic/quick/sandwich cycle in your bread machine, so time and temp is designated by the bread maker.

      How much water did you use? What kind of flour did you choose?

  38. Can anyone help me figure out what I’m doing wrong, I follow the bread recipe precisely and all looks to be going well, however at some point in the baking process my bread completely collapses; goes from almost touching the top of the machine lid to becoming concave in the center. This results in a grainy, unusable loaf 🙁 this keeps happening to me with different recipes so I know it’s not the recipe but something I am doing. Any feedback is appreciated!

    1. Hey Summer, collapsing can be a sign of a bit too much liquid or yeast, you can try to dial back both by a smidge. I’d reduce the liquid quantity by 2 tablespoons and the yeast by 1/4 teaspoon and see if that helps?

  39. Hello! Today is my second time making this recipe! It’s by far the best in both taste and texture! lol however, even though my bread maker accommodates a 2lb loaf, both times making this recipe the bread literally rises so much it almost lifts the lid right up! HAHA!!! My husband and I find it so funny. Didn’t know if you or anyone else has had this happen.

  40. Wow! I just made this bread & my family loved it. I am sure this bread will be wonderful for our lunch sandwiches.