Why I love my Breadmaker

I have a Panasonic SD2500 bread maker and it literally gets used everyday!  Each evening I put bread on using the timer and it finishes baking at 6.30am the following morning.

When we awake in the morning you can smell the gorgeous aroma of fresh bread.  It is a pleasure to make the kids sandwiches with this bread - it is so healthy - not full of additives.  I use a mix of half wholemeal flour and half white flour - I find this nice and light but it still has the fibre of the wholemeal bread.

At the weekend I love to make what I call my "speciality" breads (post here) - garlic bread, olive bread, stilton bread, garlic & cheese bread, ham and mustard bread to name a few.

I also use the bread maker for making pizza dough.  My garlic pizzas and homemade pizzas are so popular with my kids and their friends.  Making pizza is a great way to involve the kids in cooking and they get to make a pizza with their favourite toppings on - no more picking out the bits they don't like.  The great thing is I'm really popular with their friends - to quote my daughters best friend "all the food you make is lush" - I felt like I'd really made it, getting approval from a teenager!

Check out my post here on how to make pizza:-

Tips for buying a bread maker:-

1. Check out the recipe book, does it cover everything you want to make.  Some bread makers can makes jams & cakes as well as bread.  You may be interested in gluten free breads or speciality breads such as Italian or French.

2. What are the ingredients - are they easy to purchase with your weekly shop.  If there are obscure items you will find difficult to source the chances are you won't bother!

3. Are the measurements easy - I prefer grams and ounces rather than cups but that's my personal choice.  As long as you are comfortable with the measurements then that's fine!

4. Does it have a timer - I think this is really important as you can set the bread to finish at a time to suit you.  It may suit you to put bread on the morning and come home from work to freshly baked bread!

5. Can you bake different sized loaves - I think this is important especially if I have friends coming round I can bake a larger loaf.

Tips for using the Bread maker:-

1. Familiarize yourself with the timer option.  By understanding the option it will ensure your bread is ready when you want it.

2. Use good fresh ingredients - strong bread flour is the best.

3. Add the ingredients in the order they are shown in the recipe.

4. Measure accurately to ensure the perfect loaf!

HAPPY BAKING!

Gorgeous Homemade Breads

Stilton Bread - Delicious!

Who loves the smell and taste of fresh baked bread? My family certainly do!  This bread is top quality, delicious, fresh and can be made for a lot less than the cost of a speciality bread in a bakery.

Whenever I prepare a buffet I love to make a selection of breads using bread dough made in the bread maker. When my guests arrive they can smell the aroma of fresh baked bread - gorgeous! 

Here is how I do it and it is so simple!

Select the white bread dough function on your bread maker.

Once the dough is made roll it out into a rectangle shape about half - one centimetre in depth.

Garlic Butter spread over the bread dough

Cover with the toppings of your choice - here are a few ideas:-

• Garlic - simply add crushed garlic to butter and spread over the bread dough
• Olives - roughly chop olives and sprinkle over the dough
• Garlic and cheese - spread garlic butter and grated cheddar cheese over the bread dough
• Stilton - sprinkle crumbled stilton over the bread dough
• Ham & cheese - sprinkle chopped ham and grated cheddar over the bread dough.
• Ham & Mustard - spread mustard and then sprinkle chopped ham over the bread dough

Bread dough rolled up - cut into segments

Once you have added your toppings roll the dough up.
Cut into segments about 2 inches long.
Place the segments upright in a well buttered ovenproof dish.





Olive bread dough ready to rise



Stilton Bread dough once risen

Cover with oiled cling film (loosely as the bread will rise)
Leave in a warm place to proof (rise)
About about 30 - 45 minutes the bread will be risen - the longer you leave it the better as this will make the bread really light and airy.
Once well risen bake in a pre heated oven (180 degrees) for 20 -30 minutes until browned on top.
I like to remove from the dish to serve.
Serve whilst still warm!

 

Delicious!!

 

Why not try different flavours?

TOP TIP - this is also great to take on a picnic as an alternative to sandwiches.

TOP TIP - remember to calculate how long this will take to ensure it is ready on time.  In my bread maker it takes 2 hours 20 minutes for the bread dough, then 40ish minutes for proofing and 30 minutes for baking - a total of about 3 and half hours!