The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook: A Master Baker's 300 Favorite Recipes For Perfect-Every-Time Bread - From Every Kind of Machine by Beth Hensperger

Notes about this book

  • Lunacran on December 13, 2018

    Good recipes. I have tried sourdough rye, Hungarian bread, naan and sour dough.

  • mfto on September 09, 2014

    I own a Welbilt ABM-100-3 bread machine which may not be the first model but is very old. I must have bought it in the 1980's. I want to point out to owners of Welbilt machines that on p 17, the author warns to add 2 tbs water to every recipe. Actually on my machine, I end up adding more water than that during the 1st kneading cycle. You learn by doing. On the same page there is a chart for order of loading ingredients. At least for my ABM-100-3, her listing is incorrect. The loading for my machine is Yeast + Dry + Wet, the opposite of her listing. Her recipe ingredients are listed in 3 sections: Wet + Dry + Yeast so it is easy to tailor the recipe for Welbilt machines like mine.

Notes about Recipes in this book

  • Honey white bread

    • AngelNewsi on July 26, 2011

      Super easy to make and the results were fantastic. I had to substitute agave nectar for the honey because I didn't have any honey in the house. I imagine the bread would have even more flavor if I hadn't had to substitute.

    • mamacrumbcake on July 03, 2015

      This is our family's favorite everyday white bread. Very nice! UPDATE: this is still a great loaf of bread but has recently been demoted to the #2 spot in the family lineup.

  • Buttermilk cheese bread

    • AngelNewsi on April 03, 2012

      Made this recipe on Sunday night and I love it. I didn't have Swiss cheese, so I used a Mexican cheese blend that I had on hand. The buttermilk adds a wonderful tang. The cheese flavor comes out most when eating the middle of the bread (not the crust as much.) It makes great toast and I would imagine it would make great eggs-in-a-hole!

  • Squash or pumpkin cloverleaf rolls

    • AngelNewsi on December 02, 2011

      I made these with pumpkin for Thanksgiving this year. They were good, but next time, I will use less orange zest. The recipe calls for the zest of an entire orange and I felt that the flavor overpowered the rolls. The texture was wonderful and these are definitely on my "do-again" list.

  • Cranberry-pumpkin bread

    • AngelNewsi on December 02, 2011

      I made this without the cranberries because I didn't have any on hand and it was a huge hit! Several people at my office have asked for the recipe.

  • Pumpkin challah

    • AngelNewsi on December 02, 2011

      Super easy and very yummy! You can definitely taste the pumpkin and the spices.

  • Lolly's roasted red peppers

    • debwfrank on September 06, 2010

      Great fall meal served with grilled sausages

  • Polish beer rye bread

    • vickster on June 01, 2015

      I made the 1 1/2 pound loaf in my bread machine and it came out perfect. Very moist bread with delicious flavor from the beer and caraway. Makes good toast!

    • Skamper on October 31, 2019

      This was delicious. I made a 1.5 lb loaf and used blonde hoppy ale because that's what I had. Added the caraway seeds and don't regret it! Made it to go with corned beef, then had corned beef panini with leftovers.

  • Sunflower pumpernickel rye

    • ccav on December 10, 2012

      Dense, good flavor with the caraway balancing it. A slightly sweet, chewy texture and good rise.

    • sayeater on September 25, 2022

      The dome of my loaf sank, but other than that this was one of my favorite bread machine loafs ever. Nice flavors from rye, caraway, and cocoa hint. Lightly sweet, soft, chewy texture with slight crust. A definite repeat! Note: subbed sorghum for molasses

    • Pandan on May 22, 2024

      It was really difficult to get out of my Panasonic croustina bread machine, I scratched the pan badly. It came out quite good otherwise. For my taste this was too sweet though. It looks like a wholemesl rye bread, but of course the colour here comes from the cocoa, molasses and espresso powder. I prefer a more savoury rye bread with sourdough.

  • Quinoa bread

    • ccav on February 22, 2014

      Used white whole wheat flour which made the bread seem like white bread. Light texture, somewhat moist crumb, high rise.

  • Banana bread

    • ccav on February 10, 2013

      substitute greek yogurt for sour cream; 3 bananas; use 3/4 c. brown sugar and no white sugar.

    • Gamerbetty on June 12, 2024

      Page 543

  • Pissaladiére

    • ccav on January 14, 2021

      Very good, even after frozen. Next time make half recipe.

  • Chuck Williams's country French

    • mfto on September 16, 2017

      p 200 This is a perfect bread machine recipe to make using the dough cycle and then transferring to a La Cloche clay baker with lid to rise for 30 minutes, slash the top of the dough and then transfer to a cold oven; set temp to 450 degrees and bake for 30 minutes before removing the lid and continue baking. I think that you could also use a Romertopf baker. I have a very old WelBilt machine with the paddle in the middle bottom of the bread. So my suggestions may not fit your machine. For helping you shape your dough, use food spray on instruments to almost eliminate dough sticking. Instead of using flour or cornmeal inside the baker, spray the inside of the bottom and cover. Also wet your hands or even spray them to avoid sticking. My dough really rose and if it had hit the cover, it would have stuck. Not pretty. It has been 3 days since I baked my first loaf and it is still moist and tasty. You do lose some crispness of the crust since I store in plastic.

  • Instant-potato bread

    • mfto on September 09, 2014

      p66 I get out my old Welbilt bread machine (ABM-100-3) about once a year, usually to make raisin bread that my husband loves. I can make "from scratch" bread successfully, but there is something to be said for the ease of a bread machine every now and then. I just bought this cookbook because of the large number of EYB members giving high ratings to many of the recipes. This Instant-potato bread was easy and my husband says is delicious. He is the bread critic in the house. The author warns in her early chapters that Welbilt owners must add 2 tbs water to every recipe. I did as she instructed for this recipe but knew to stand beside the machine through the first kneading cycle and add water tbs by tbs as needed. I didn't keep count but this recipe needed lots of additional water. It may be just my machine or the weather or who knows.

    • bching on January 01, 2016

      Delicious and easy. Makes wonderful toast. This bread rises very high in my Breadman machine so the 1.5 recipe is the max it will hold.

    • damazinah on January 01, 2016

      Good sandwich bread

  • Jewish egg bread

    • domesticGeek on December 17, 2012

      Came out great. I slashed the top near the end of the last rise and it came out really tall! (Not too tall -- the slash gave it room to rise a bit more that it would have.) Used a light olive oil. Wonderfully tender. Made in a Zo.

  • Morning sticky buns

    • Reginavsmith on May 15, 2013

      I added some currants that I first soaked in a bit of brandy.

  • Sourdough raisin bread

    • anightowl on July 29, 2016

      See recipe for "Sourdough olive bread" variation.

  • White clam pizza

    • bching on May 25, 2021

      Very good although it needed a sour note; next time I will top with a little grated lemon rind along with the parsley.

  • Cottage cheese dill bread

    • bching on June 20, 2020

      Great bread. It smells wonderful while baking, has a lovely texture, and makes delicious toast. It calls for a lot of dried dill--don't skimp, though.

  • Old-fashioned potato bread

    • bching on December 30, 2013

      This bread rises very high; in my bread machine, the 1.5 lb recipe hits the top. There wouldn't be space for the 2 lb recipe even though technically my machine has that capacity. The result is a lovely texture, airy interior and crisp crust. Great for toast and sandwiches.

  • Polenta-chestnut bread

    • bching on December 19, 2016

      We loved this spread with blue cheese and drizzled with more honey. I used chestnut honey, of course!

  • Barley bread

    • bching on April 13, 2020

      Nothing special. I probably wouldn't make this again.

    • vikingcook on April 23, 2016

      Yummy! Beautiful loaf in my Zojirushi bread machine.

  • Wine, bread, and cheese soufflé

    • bching on November 21, 2020

      This dish was made a lovely late fall dinner with a salad. It took a lot longer to cook than the recipe indicated--50 minutes as opposed to 35. We got 3 servings out of it as opposed to the 4 stated, My husband had seconds!

  • Sunflower oatmeal bread

    • vikingcook on May 11, 2017

      Yum! The top sank somewhat.

    • Kitiara121 on April 11, 2021

      I really like this recipe. It has nice flavor and browns the crust nicely.

  • Mountain herb bread

  • Beer bread with cheddar

  • Cranberry-golden raisin bread with cardamom

    • vikingcook on May 11, 2017

      Delicious but top sunk a bit - less yeast?

  • Sourdough whole wheat bread

    • vikingcook on May 11, 2017

      High rising loaf. Good!

  • Italian whole wheat bread

  • Cornell bread

    • vikingcook on April 23, 2016

      Good! turned out beautifully.

  • Yogurt bread

    • vikingcook on April 23, 2016

      Delicious bread. Made with Greek yogurt.

  • French sandwich pain au lait

    • vikingcook on April 23, 2016

      Tasty but top sank....too much yeast?

  • Flax seed whole wheat bread

    • ShannonS on December 14, 2022

      This is my house loaf. I’ve been making it almost weekly for years. I add a couple tablespoons wheat bran and bake it in a loaf pan in the oven after mixing the dough in the bread machine.

  • Naan

    • ShannonS on December 10, 2022

      I make this all the time and was really surprised by the mediocre reviews. We love it with all of our Indian style meals.

    • sayeater on October 04, 2022

      Like an anemic Wonder bread pita. No chew, just soft and mushy. Disappointing. I didn't expect tandoori quality naan but this isn't even a distant relative.

    • Ishie1013 on April 26, 2022

      This was pretty good though strangely fairly sweet, with final taste more like a biscuit than traditional naan. My mom put jam on it. It rose very nicely, and in the future, I think I need to roll it out more.

  • Buttermilk whole wheat bread

    • Neodymia on August 16, 2014

      Very good, but needed at least 1/2 cup more water.

  • Buckwheat-millet bread

    • damazinah on July 22, 2016

      This was pretty good bread. The recipe says to use the dark crust setting, but in my machine (a Breville) it came out a little too crusty, will use the medium setting if I make it again.

  • Feta and spinach bread

    • damazinah on November 15, 2015

      Really yummy. I used marinated feta, which really upped the flavor. I did drain the extra moisture off the feta first. I wasn't sure if the cup of spinach was to be measured before squeezing the water out or after. Consequently, I measured it afterward. The top of bread rose beautifully, then fell a bit, so I'm thinking there may have been too much spinach, making it too heavy. Next time, I'll measure it before removing the water.

    • Skamper on August 10, 2020

      The dough looked and felt perfect during the knead, but the bread baked up with a craggy top, so maybe needed more water? The loaf itself was light and very tasty. As stated in the note, it's a very soft bread,

  • Farmstyle cottage cheese bread

    • damazinah on June 28, 2016

      A good tender bread, makes great sandwiches.

  • Italian chocolate bread with amaretto icing

    • damazinah on February 06, 2016

      Fantastic! This chocolate yeast bread is not too sweet, makes for a nice breakfast treat with a cup of coffee.

  • Rose rolls with rose buttercream

    • annmartina on April 10, 2016

      I use this dough for the base of the cinnamon bun pie in Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook

    • IowanCorn on March 12, 2024

      A roll well worth making! Takes a bit of time, even with the bread machine doing the initial mixing, but I took the first refrigeration rise overnight, and then did the second rise of 1 1/2 hour on the table. I also ended up with 13 rolls not 16, but I like them a little larger than I think the recipe assumed. Not really all that difficult, just waiting on bread to rise. I followed this one and used cherry filling, but I think any fruit pie filling would work.

    • Ishie1013 on August 07, 2024

      This took a long time, but the results tasted very good and there were no leftovers at the function they were cooked for. One thing though, the book mentions filling with two tablespoons of the cherry filling! There is NO way you're going to get that much room in them. I used the extra cherry filling to make thumbprint cookies.

  • French whole wheat bread

    • ricki on February 15, 2022

      Revisited the recipe (see notes for the dried fruit variation). This time I used freshly-milled local Rouge de Bordeaux whole wheat flour instead of aging, generic whole wheat, and we were very pleased with the loaf. Cut the recipe in half and it baked in 28 minutes.

  • French whole wheat bread with dried fruit

    • ricki on February 15, 2022

      Dried fruit variation, using chopped dried apricots. The recipe worked well, in that the rise, texture and crust were all nice. But we were disappointed in the resulting loaf. The main problem, I believe, is that my whole wheat flour was pretty ordinary and was getting old. Such a simple bread wants excellent flour. We also would have preferred the dried fruit mixed evenly into the dough, rather than rolled in. A very large loaf, so with only two of us I froze half. Although the recipes suggests eating within 2 hours, we liked it better toasted the next day.

  • Stonehenge bread

    • ricki on February 15, 2022

      Nice, flavorful, grainy loaf. Mostly as written, except substituted 1 tablespoon of French buckwheat flour for 1 tablespoon of the white (for a 1-½ pound loaf). Will make again.

  • Polenta-sunflower-millet bread

    • ricki on May 06, 2022

      Good-looking loaf with great texture and good flavor. If there was a higher proportion of whole wheat, I'd give it 5 stars, but I'll work on increasing it. On this first try with a 1½ pound loaf, I increased whole wheat (a local, finely milled red wheat) to 1 cup and decreased bread flour to 2 cups. Increased gluten by ½ teaspoon and SAF yeast by ¼ teaspoon, and it worked out well.

    • sayeater on September 30, 2024

      This is a nice bread machine loaf! I like artisan fermented hearth loaves so am always cautious in my expectation for yeasted bread machine loaves. But you can't beat the dump and go nature of them. This was one of the better machine loaves, the crunch from the millet makes it interesting and the polenta gives it more substance. The sunflower seeds don't stand out as much as I'd expected. Flavor is great, I'm marking this as a make again.

  • Sampler oatmeal loaf

    • ricki on July 09, 2022

      Good flavor and texture, and a hit with the family. It looked small and sad in the large bread machine pan, so I pulled it out towards the end of the 2nd rise. Formed a loaf, let rise for 35 minutes in a small loaf pan, and baked at 350 for 40 minutes. Ingredients: honey, and Central Red whole wheat flour for ? of the AP.

    • LauraMB on March 10, 2023

      This is my go-to recipe for white bread. I DOUBLE the recipe and bake it in a large loaf pan in the oven. Great texture and flavor. I've been making this bread for years.

  • Basic pizza dough

    • luluf on August 05, 2021

      This made a good thin crispy base. It didn’t rise as much as my usual pizza dough does in the second rise so maybe needed longer than the 30 minutes specified. I liked it as it was though and the family agreed

  • Fresh dill bread

    • Skamper on November 22, 2023

      A delicious loaf. I had a small bunch of dill that needed using. I used "garden vegetable" flavored spreadable cream cheese, which worked fine. Replaced 1/4 of the bread flour with white whole wheat, and added an extra teaspoon of gluten and about a tablespoon more water during kneading; it was a dry day.

    • sayeater on September 29, 2024

      I loved the scent and flavor of this bread although I would say it's more onion than dill. Needs a LOT more dill to be dill bread, couldn't even see any dill in finished bread. The crumb was tighter than I normally like but it has stayed moist even on day 2 (will be gone by end of it though LOL). I'd probably make again tripling the dill and see what happens.

  • Balsamic-caramelized onion bread

    • Skamper on April 15, 2022

      This made a tasty loaf. I swapped 100g of the bread flour for white whole wheat. I probably used a few more onions than called for and added 2 tsp flour during kneading. was great for sandwiches and avocado toast. I have a couple of slices in the freezer that I'm excited to use for grilled cheese.

  • Sour cream bread

    • Skamper on October 16, 2019

      This baked up nice and light with a lovely rich taste. I used cultured sour cream but had only a scant cup so added butter to make up 8 oz. I made this on a 5 hour total delay (which the book says not to do) but on a cool day it was fine. Made really good grilled cheese. I'm a beginning bread baker and it really made a difference for this loaf to be sure my dry ingredients (yeast, flour) were at room temp.

  • Brioche bread

    • Skamper on March 03, 2020

      This baked up beautifully, but was a bit too eggy for my tastes.

  • Soft whole wheat dinner rolls

    • Skamper on December 07, 2019

      I'm a newbie bread machine user and made these for Thanksgiving. Since the turkey had priority in the oven, I made these in the morning, baking for about 20 minutes, then cooled and kept them loosely covered all day. Popped back into a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes to warm up just before dinner. They are plain but good.

  • Irish potato brown bread

    • Skamper on September 26, 2020

      Delicious loaf. I used white whole Wheat flour. Used whole Wheat setting but took it out of the machine to rise, shape and bake. Rose pretty quickly. One of my go-tos.

  • German beer starter

    • IowanCorn on July 28, 2024

      More like a really long poolish than a sourdough starter, it worked nicely in the sourdough pesto bread that I made from this book. I did use some mead instead of beer, because that's what I had in the kitchen, but it was fine.

  • Cornmeal honey bread

    • IowanCorn on April 23, 2024

      An excellent bread for sandwiches. The cornmeal gave it a nice corn taste, but not enough to make it gritty on the tongue. It kept well in a plastic bag, only drying out a smidge after a few days.

  • Chickpea flour bread

    • IowanCorn on March 09, 2024

      A very nice bread! Not a GF bread at all, the chickpea is mainly there for mouthfeel and crumb, while the cinnamon and red pepper flakes bring a nice warm, extra background flavor to the bread. We just ate it with butter as a side to dinner, but I think this would make a good sandwich with a good pastrami.

  • Zucchini bread

    • IowanCorn on July 25, 2024

      This is a really good sandwich bread. It had a nice tight crumb, and the zucchini was nicely spread throughout the bread, so it wasn't overpowering zucchini, rather a nice subtle taste.

  • Sourdough pesto bread

    • IowanCorn on July 28, 2024

      First off, there are no apples in this recipe at all. That being said, this is very tasty, and a good sandwich bread, especially with fresh tomatoes. I used a pesto that used walnuts instead of pine nuts due to my allergy to pine oil. I also had to use a tablespoon more of water, since I didn't quite have enough starter. The bread had a really good rise, regardless.

  • Herb light rye bread

    • IowanCorn on December 25, 2023

      A wonderful loaf! Had a nice crust and flavor, with the seeds well balanced. Not a heavy rye bread, this went well as sandwich bread.

  • English muffins

    • sayeater on October 04, 2022

      So much easier than anticipated and tasted much better than store-bought. I'll never buy them again! Want to try sourdough version next.

  • C.R.O.W.W.

    • LauraMB on May 16, 2023

      I love this bread, and I have made it many times. I use SAF gold yeast for a better rise.

  • Rosemary-golden raisin bread

    • LauraMB on May 16, 2023

      This is one of my all-time favorite breads. I have been making it for years and giving it for gifts.

  • Coconut milk white bread

    • Pandan on May 20, 2024

      I made this to use up an opened can of coconut milk. It smelled great while baking but didn’t come out nice. It didn’t rise much and the dough initially was super dry, I had to add more water. Somehow the ratios didn’t work for me. As with other recipes from this book: would be nice to have Gram measurements and not cups.

  • Spelt bread

    • Pandan on April 21, 2024

      This was surprisingly good for a wholegrain bread! It was super soft, I added some ginger powder and soy lecithin to get a better texture.

  • Cornmeal and hominy bread

    • Pandan on April 24, 2024

      I made this to use up an opened can of hominy. The dough was way to dry, but it could work with more water/milk. Unfortunately the flour in this whole book is only measured in cups. Tastewise it was ok, but could have been a bit saltier and less sweet for my taste.

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  • ISBN 10 155832156X
  • ISBN 13 9781558321564
  • Linked ISBNs
  • Published Jan 10 2000
  • Format Paperback
  • Language English
  • Countries United States
  • Publisher Harvard Common Press
  • Imprint Harvard Common Press,U.S.

Publishers Text

The greatest invention since sliced bread may well be the machine that makes the loves everyone dreams of slicing into--right in home kitchens at the touch of a button. This book finally bridges the gap between great taste and convenience, with over 300 glorious recipes for bread machines.


Renowned bread baking expert Beth Hensperger's best bread recipes yield great results--just add the ingredients and let the machine rise and bake loaf after loaf of delicious fresh bread.


Once you've enjoyed a still-warm slice of Maple Buttermilk Bread, Walnut Rye Bread, Sourdough Cornmeal Bread, Parmesan Nut Bread, Balsamic-Caramelized Onion Bread, Chocolate Challah or Orange Gingerbread, you'll never settle for store-bought bread again. Beginning bakers will appreciate the ease of a bread machine, while more experienced cooks will find that they can use the versatile machines to make doughs to shape by hand and bake in traditional ovens as well. Whether you're a novice or a long-time baker, new to bread machines or looking to expand your machine's repertoire, whether you bought a bread machine to minimize your time in the kitchen, to broaden your culinary horizons or to save money spent on fancy bakery loaves, this book's recipes and instructions are the best way to ensure a steady supply of fragrant, delicious fresh-baked bread.



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