Making bread at home is one of the best things I have learned over years. However, making dough is one of the biggest challenge. Once you make the dough right then you can make your favorite baked goods at home. Bread machine is my favorite when it comes to making bread dough.
How does a bread maker work?
A bread maker has a pan and a paddle. The paddle fits loosely inside the pan. All the ingredients are placed in the bread machine pan which is then fitted and locked in the bread machine.
There is a lot of cycles on the bread machine like white bread, French bread, dough, gluten-free, jam, cake, and more. You have to select the right cycle and other options like loaf size and crust. Just start the machine and it will do the rest!
Well, yes it is that easy but for every cycle, you must put the right ingredients in the right order and measurements to ensure you get the perfect end result!
How to make dough in bread machine?
Depending on the bread machine you have, you will have to place the ingredients in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Some require wet ingredients first and some dry ones.
A bread maker usually has the "Dough" cycle which does all the work of mixing, kneading, resting and giving the dough its first rise. You can prepare dough for a variety of bread like dinner rolls, naan, pizza base, croissants, burger buns and more.
Once you make the dough, it is then punched down to remove all air, kneaded for a few seconds, rolled into the desired shape and size; and allowed to rest for a final rise. After the final rise, it is baked in the oven.
How long is the dough cycle on a bread machine?
It would depend on the bread machine brand and model but generally the dough cycle would be around 1.5 hours. In the initial 15-30 minutes the bread machine kneads the dough and then it rests which allows the dough to go through the first rise.
If a recipe does not require the dough to rise, like Indian chapati, paratha, or puri, then you can stop the dough cycle after about 10-15 minutes once the kneading is done.
How to make homemade bread soft?
For a soft bread, sifting the flour is a key as it aerates the flour. Also, weighing the flour with a food scale helps in getting consistent results every time. When measured using cups, there are chances of adding more flour than needed by the recipe.
Bread machine yeast and instant yeast work well in a bread machine so you can use either. Depending on your bread maker, active dry yeast may work well too. Read more about which yeast to use in a bread machine.
Bread machine dough cycle recipes you will enjoy
- Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Eggless Burger Buns
- Pizza
- Naan
- Soudough bread
- Garlic pull apart rolls
- Focaccia bread
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📖 Recipe
How To Make Bread Dough in Bread Machine
Watch Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup Water
- 4 tablespoon Oil
Dry ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 3 ½ cup Bread Flour 420 grams
- 2 ¼ teaspoon Instant Yeast or Bread Machine yeast 7 grams
Instructions
- Depending on your bread machine manufacturer's instructions, place the wet and dry ingredients, in the required order (wet first and dry later or vice versa), in the bread machine pan.3 ½ cup Bread Flour, 4 tablespoon Oil, 1 cup Water, 2 tablespoon Organic cane sugar, 1 teaspoon Salt, 2 ¼ teaspoon Instant Yeast or Bread Machine yeast
- Close the lid and start the "Dough" cycle.
- Once the "Dough" cycle is complete, the dough has got its first rise and is ready for use.
- Remove the dough from the container and place it on a lightly floured surface and knead it for a few seconds.
- Shape and use the dough for making your favorite bread recipe. (linked some in the notes)
To make white bread
- To make basic white bread, shape it to a log of 8 inches length and tuck all the edges and seam on one side.
- Place the shaped dough in a 9 inch by 5 inch pan with smooth side on top.
- Cover it with a cling wrap and let it rise for about 45-50 minutes until double in volume.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. with rack at mid level.
- Remove the cling wrap and bake in oven at 350°F for 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the baking pan from the oven and invert it to remove the bread.
- Place the bread on cooling rack.
- Slice the bread only after it has completely cooled down.
Notes
- Weigh the flour using a digital food scale for consistent results.
- If the dough is sticky, use additional flour while kneading.
- Read more about which yeast to use in a bread machine
- Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Eggless Burger Buns
- Pizza
- Naan
- Soudough bread
- Garlic pull apart rolls
- Focaccia bread
- Cinnamon rolls
- Recipe makes dough for 1.5 lb. bread. To make 1 lb. bread change servings to 8 and for 2 lb. bread, change servings to 16.
Mia says
The bread is nice, but you should include in your recipe to grease the pan before placing it in the oven. Other than that, great recipe!
John Hastings Sr says
My bread is in the pans, (2lb) recipe used waiting to rise. My question is: once I roll the dough and tuck the ends, it not sticking very good. I sprinkled a small amount of water from my finger tips to "seal" the seams. Is this ok? What's your method?
Thank you.
John
Alpa Jain says
Hi John,
I usually just tuck it (no need to seal) as once it will rise it will take the shape of the container. I ensure the top is smooth while shaping it.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Alpa
Mandi says
I love your white bread dough recipe. it makes the fluffiest bread buns. Question....can I replace the white bread flour with wholemeal bread flour?
Alpa Jain says
Hi Mandi,
Thankyou for the feedback 🙂
You can use this recipe for whole wheat bread. https://culinaryshades.com/whole-wheat-bread-machine-recipe/
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Alpa
Nancy Needham says
One of the VERY few bread recipes that I could get to turn out AWESOME!!!!
Alpa Jain says
Hi Nancy,
I am glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thankyou for the feedback 🙂
Cheers
Alpa
BWhit says
So good. Perfect texture.
Tash says
wonderful!!!
JenOoi says
Hi, thank you for your post.
May l know when to add in the add ons during the dough cycle? Thank you. God bless.a
Alpa Jain says
Hi JenOoi,
Depending on your bread machine, it will beep for add-ins after some time. Otherwise, you can add it after about 15 minutes.
Hope this helps.
rosemary says
my bread machine does not have a dough cycle, i want to make dough for challah bread. I have recipe from previous bread maker. Need to know how long to set mix and knead cycle for.Help-what i guessed at would make good shoe leather.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Rosemary
The dough cycle usually mixes and kneads for about 30 minutes and then rises for about 1 hour. So if your machine only kneads and mixes, you can do it for about 30 minutes. After that allow it to go through the first rise in a warm place for about an hour. Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Treasure says
Easy and delicious
Abhilasha says
Hi Alpa, I've used your bread machine naan recipe 100s of times! Thanks so much 🙂 Quick question, I'm trying to make 100% whole wheat bread. My machine has a 100% whole wheat dough cycle (3h 10m) and a leavened dough cycle (1h 30m). Separately the whole wheat bread cycle goes through for 4h 5m. Any recommendations on what cycle would work best here? I usually prefer not to bake within the machine and only use it for preparing dough. Thanks for any help.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Abhilasha
Glad to know you like my naan recipe :). For the whole wheat bread, please use the whole wheat dough cycle and then bake it in the oven.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
CD Hobbs says
I’m new to the bread machine and my goal is to make French baguettes using the dough cycle on the machine. Do you have a great recipe for baguettes that will work on the dough cycle in the bread machine. I’ve eaten baguettes in France and would love to duplicate them here at home.
Alpa Jain says
Hi CD Hobbs,
I have the French bread recipe for the bread machine, it has instructions to bake in the machine or in the oven. https://culinaryshades.com/french-bread-bread-machine/
Hope this helps.
Regards
Alpa
Jen says
So I have everything in the bread machine and now I see that I’m to “use my favorite bread recipe”? How about you give some instructions for how to bake this dough in your recipe. I’m so disappointed that I will likely not make this correctly since you assume everyone “has a favorite recipe”. If I did, I wouldn’t need to know how to make the dough.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Jen,
I have already linked a few recipes in the post. Based on your feedback I have updated the notes section as well with some recipes. The ingredients may vary for those recipes. But if you have followed the recipe in this post, you can bake dinner rolls, burger buns and bake them in the oven. Please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to help.
Regards
Alpa
Bonnie says
Her response did not answer your question. I, too, wanted to know temperature and bake time.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Bonnie,
I have linked a few recipes for dinner rolls, French bread, burger buns, pizza dough, and more in the post that can use the bread machine dough cycle to make the dough, shape them and bake in the oven. Please let me know what you are exactly looking for and I will be happy to help.
Regards
Alpa
admin says
Yo