I like to make a loaf of bread just for weekend treats. This weekend I turned to a now-out-of-print breadmaker cookbook for inspiration. I came up with this recipe and I have to say, it worked perfectly. I know breadmakers can be noisy but for me, the sound of the engine wheezing and the dough getting knocked around makes me feel at home.
The Recipe
I started by making my own “buttermilk”. I do not often have real buttermilk at home so what I did instead is measured 1 1/2 cup warmed skim milk and added 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice and let it sit.
As the milk acidulates I put into my breadmaker pan 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp of Celeb Margarine. You can add shortening or softened butter if you prefer. I wanted this to be a low saturated fat loaf so…
My Black & Decker Breadmaker does not have a warming cycle so I have to make sure that the milk it warm enough before I put it into the loaf pan. It should just be above body temperature.
Add 3 3/4 cup flour. I just use all purpose and thanks to Reg, have the biggest bag of flour in the world!
I top off the flour with 1 1/4 tsp of traditional yeast. I no longer buy breadmaker yeast to save on money and resources.
I programmed the breadmaker to bake a light 2 lb loaf of bread. It did not get huge but it was quite adorable! More than enough for the weekend.
Please note, I did end up having to add some warm water to the loaf pan to help make the dough come together. Always check on your dough to make sure that it isn’t too dry or too wet at the beginning of the kneading cycle before it is too late!
The Next Foodie Level
I let the bread sit for a day and then sliced thin slices to make Nutella-stuffed French toast. It sliced beautifully, hardly crumbled at all. I sandwiched the Nutella between two slices and then dunked in the French toast batter and cooked it on the grill.
Beautiful! This is one of Reg’s favourites and mine too for weekend brunch. Divine!
Days later I even used it for plain grilled cheese sandwiches with just a little old cheddar inside and some PC Truffle Aioli on the side.
It was a dark dingy day but this sandwich brightened up my life and took something I made for pennies and made it taste like a million bucks. That is one great loaf of bread! And that aioli… yum…
Simple, inexpensive and wonderful. I love getting back to my foodie roots.
[yumprint-recipe id=’108′]
Yes, sometimes the simple things are the most delightful, aren’t they? And yes, that is one honkin’ big bag o’ flour!
Oh Yum! Love this post – I used to have a breadmaker and found the grunting and groaning rather soothing as it meant effort free bread was on the way. 🙂
Lokks really good your bread!
It’s lunch time and your post made me very hungry…mmmmm Nutella!
I like using the lemon juice trick for buttermilk as well. Another alternative I find handy is buttermilk powder, you can get it at Bulk Barn and it’s instant, just add water. Nothing beats “real” buttermilk from the carton but this stuff works pretty good too when you’re in a pinch.
Your pink glass plate makes the bread loaf look extra cozy, so cute!
Nice!
You said it Debra! Not sure they come much bigger!
Janet, happy to hear I am not the only one. 🙂
Thanks Helene!
Oh that’s interesting Ava. I’ve only seen skim milk powder (crazy expensive) at my grocer. Will have to look for buttermilk powder at BB. Thanks! I’m so glad you noticed my pretty pink plate. 🙂
Thanks DB!
Hia, I have baked 4 loafs in 2 weeks…used bread flour wonderful i needed something to bake using the giant 1/2 gallon of butter my husband purchased from the market (when i asked him for a small container) 🙂
first loaf we enjoyed toasted w/ homemade marmalade for breakfast….then toasted really well done and made steak & onion , mushroom sandwiches oh yummy…then the next loaf i sliced into 3 junks and vacuum sealed and put in deep freezer for when I ‘need’ some croutons…bread will be ready to cube…the next loaf i prepared us chicken salad giant sandwiches w/ cheese in Panini press. the 4 th loaf is in the bread machine now. it’s so easy fast delicious…thank u for posting. also i pinned it on my bread board on Pintrest several times already…all the best, Judith