I never thought I would like my bread machine as much as I do.  My favorite use of the machine has been for the dough cycle.  I just dump the ingredients in and it does the work - no fuss or muss.  It has been so wonderful, in part, because we had given up some of our favorite bakery items due to my children’s food allergies to nuts and milk.  Cinnamon rolls and sticky buns (sans nuts and milk) are now back on the menu and surprisingly easy.  My favorite thing was to make my own Paska bread at Easter.  I am Byzantine Rite and Ukrainian Paska was always a large part of my childhood tradition but with food allergies became a “no -no”.  I made my own Paska bread dough and baked it off in round pans in the oven - as delicious as any bakery specialty I have had and wonderful to introduce my children to this part of their culture in a safe way. 

Happy baking!

I absolutely love my bread machine- especially the dough setting! My favorite bread recipes come from King Arthur Flour! They have great recipes, wonderful products, and best of all, if you have questions they have live bakers on the phone that can help you problem solve for free!!! I use the dough setting on the machine to make bread, rolls, and even the dough to my cinnamon rolls. I agree it’s my favorite machine!

I have had a bread machine for 10 yrs and I love it.  I have stopped actually baking teh bread in it though and just use it to mix, knead and raise the bread.  I have never really liked how it baked the bread, so I would rather shape the loaf and bake it in the oven.

I LOVE my bread machine. I’ve only had it a little over a month now, but so far I’ve been able to give up store-bought bread entirely. (I was baking recreationally, and then I read a book by Michael Pollan, and the rest is history . . .) My husband has a tendency to think that the more processed a food is, the better it tastes, and even HE loves the bread-machine bread. I haven’t attempted jam yet, but I look forward to it!

Yes! We have tried the jam feature. I have to say it was the most delicious strawberry and blueberry jam I’ve ever tasted. It doesn’t last as long as the store bought kind, I assume because it’s not full of preservatives..but it’s so yummy that it hardly sticks around to go bad anyway! Definitely try making jam after berry season! We are hoping to make some for Christmas gifts this year…

One of our family staples is embarrassingly easy, I replace the butter in the standard white or french bread recipe with italian dressing and add extra garlic and serve the bread with spaghetti or savory soups.

When I get back to China, I have the most amazing recipe to mail to you. Chocolate bread!

I had a bread machine for about a decade. I baked with it once or twice, but I didn’t like the taste of the loaves it baked, and my husband absolutely abhorred them. So it became a dough machine, and worked very well. Two Christmases ago I was blessed with a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Since space is at a premium in our rental townhouse, I did a test batch of cinnamon buns using the dough hook on the KitchenAid. Perfect. I gave my bread machine to a friend. And I have never looked back.

I’ve used various ones for 15 years and love them.  One of my fave things to do (like some of the ladies already mentioned) is to let the machine do all the mixing/kneading/rising, then take out the dough and make braided breads or fun shaped rolls (turtles and flowers are big at my house) to have with dinner.  Enjoy - and Happy Birthday!

I make all our bread in the bread machine and can’t imagine going back to store-bought bread. It just doesn’t taste right to me anymore. I do use it to bake mine, though I’ve often thought of shaping it and baking it in the oven, but it’s much cooler for me to use the machine (no opening the hot oven) and easier since I set it and forget it.

Buy your yeast at Sam’s Club (or maybe another club). It’s a fraction of the cost as at the grocery store. I store mine in a mason jar in the fridge after opening the package.

We make our own bread due to food allergies & getting “burned” in the past w/cross-contaminated store bought breads (as in, no allergens in the bread, but somewhere in the production line).
After 6 mos of tweaking different recipes, this one is our standard for sandwich bread.

**An electric carving knife/bread knife makes ALL the difference in the world!  Now I can slice it thin, get more out of one loaf, & I save it in old cereal liner bags (some preservative coating inside.)

White/wheat Oat Sandwich bread (for 1.5 lb. loaf)
1 1/4 C water @ 90 degrees
1 1/2 C white flour
1 1/2 C wheat flour
1/2 C old fashioned oats
1 t salt
2 T brown sugar
1 1/2 t yeast
2 T margarine

Following my bread machine’s instructions, I put in the water, mix the dry ingreds. separately & place on top & level, quarter the margarine & add to corners, make the well & add the yeast.  I usually set it on “light” crust and do the overnight timer.

It’s not exactly gourmet, but it gets eaten & my kids are safe and fed.  I’d love to see other people’s tried and true recipes, especially for a little more “flavorful” taste w/ more whole grains.

I bought my yeast here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KWEZTO on amazon last week. At 7.50 for a 4 oz bottle (in my local grocery), I spend 1.87 per oz, with the 2 lb bag, I spent .26.  I saved around $52 on 2 lbs.  I am keeping the bag in the fridge but the reviews said you could keep it in the freezer, too. 

I had a bread machine for 5 years before I used it. I was being a purist - if I am going to make bread, I want it to be BY HAND… blah blah blah.  But one day I realized I wasn’t making bread.  So I pulled it out and never looked back.  Now I am in love - no mess, fresh bread. Not even a mixing bowl to wash.

I am liking this recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/bread-maker-hamburger-buns-89932 for buns - I made them last week, wrapped them around hotdogs and baked them. PIGS IN A BLANKET.  Awesomeness.  I replace one cup of flour with whole wheat.

Enjoy!!

I use my “dough machine” often; I don’t bake in it because I prefer baking in a regular loaf pan rather than a big square loaf with a hole in the bottom.
Here are some of my tried & true recipes to start you off.  My kids swear by Portuguese Easter Bread.  http://sfomomfridge.blogspot.com/2006/09/portuguese-easter-bread.html
http://sfomomfridge.blogspot.com/search/label/Bread

I loved our bread machine when we had one, but it didn’t make the cut when we moved.  Do they make loaves big enough for a large family?  Danielle, how many loaves can your kids eat in a meal?  LOL! :D

I own the Blendtec Mix and Blend mixer.  It is an awesome machine that does all “hard” work for me.  I use a whole wheat bread recipe, grinding my own whole wheat.  This machine will make dough enough for 6 loaves of bread.  I bake it in the oven, not in a bread machine.  My favorite feature is the automatic knead option/sensor.  It knows when the gluten is just right and stops kneading automatically.  Our family had not purchased store-bought bread in almost 2 years.  Here is a link to the Blendtec:  http://www.blendtec.com/products/mix-and-blend 

I’m so happy to see all the wonderful comments here and to see so many people making bread.

I have been using a bread machine for years and years now, and I do bake my loaves in it as well. Hole in the bottom or not, I am unhampered.   I also grind my wheat in my electric flour mill and weigh the ingredients on a small kitchen scale atop a piece of wax paper. No fuss, no muss. Combining my wheat with King Arthur bread flour and using SAF yeast, I have a delicious loaf. My blood sugar readings are much better when I make my bread rather than buying the store-bought loaf. Perhaps it is from additional fiber in mine, but who knows what is added to the loaves when the bakery does them. I am becoming increasingly skeptical. I have used mine for so long that I am wondering how much longer it will keep going, but so far so good. I love it!

I use my bread machine to make the dough and then bake it in the oven in loaf pans.  I just don’t like the shape and size of bread machine loaves, and the hole in the bottom from the padlle always annoys me.

I LOVE mine too! I make it mostly for my little guy with dairy and egg allergy.  But I love the pizza dough it makes too! It is so easy.