Canadian Bread Machine Recipes

Christmas Bread from a vertical pan breadmaker

Brown Bread from a horizontal pan breadmaker

Here's what you need to know to use your automatic breadmaker to produce a different bread each day of your life, or to find your favourite that you'll make time and time again.

They use Canadian measures and ingredients: unless otherwise mentioned, hard white flour (13% protein), white sugar-cane sugar, unsalted butter and 'active dried' yeast. All perishables, whole grain, nut flours, and cracked grains included, come straight out of the frig for freshness; the liquid gets enough time in a microwave to bring them to room temperature. As usual, ingredients are added to the pan in the order given. European measures provided are conversions.

I prefer moist breads rich in flavour for cutting in thick slices that warm to perfection in a microwave (~9 seconds per slice) as a meal in themselves. After an hour cooling on a rack, I store the loaf in a plastic bag at room temperature to keep it moist. But, you can make any bread you wish with the ideas presented here. In particular, many bakers prefer smaller proportions of added ingredients than I enjoy. It's your bread: make it your way!

Ingredient Tips

Bread machines vary in their rising temperatures and in their vigour and length of kneading. Expect to adjust liquids in these recipes for your machine and flour. Once you have made a perfect Basic White Bread in your kitchen, you can expect the same adjustments to work with all the recipes here. For example, my Black&Decker did best with 1 fl.oz. less liquid than here, while I can add up to 1 fl.oz. more with my Zojirushi to get the moist breads I prefer.
They also vary in their ability to mix ingredients added near the end of kneading. If these don't end up evenly distributed throughout your loaf even with moist doughs (they don't with my Zojirushi), add them earlier than the signal.
If your machine offers the option of turning off preheat, don't! It's important insurance that your ingredients start off at the same temperature each time for consistent results no matter what the weather.
Flours are natural products and vary even within one brand by season and year. If the top of your loaf ends up lumpy, or the loaf doesn't spread across the pan (horizontal pans), use a bit more liquid next time; if it caves in during baking, use less. Use the same method all the time when measuring flour. If you scoop it out of a bag, you'll get a lot more flour into a cup than if you fluff or sift the flour first. Either way is fine, but stick to it.
If your loaf splits along the side, the usual cause is too much flour for the pan. Many breadmakers make their best bread one size smaller than is advertised.
If you have problems getting good rise, here are some things to try:
1. use the autolyse method described below.
2. ensure that your flour is fresh - old flour doesn't produce as much gluten during kneading as fresh flour does, especially whole wheat.
3. try a different flour - different brands can be quite different in their bread making qualities. Canadian all purpose flour should have 4 g protein per 30 g serving - if you see less in the nutrition label, or see ascorbic acid in the ingredients (it's used to cover up low gluten), choose another brand for bread making if one is available.
4. replace a tsp per cup of whole wheat flour with gluten flour, a Tbsp per cup for rye or spelt, 2 Tbsp/cup for non-gluten flours. Gluten is wheat flour with the starches dissolved out with water.
If you don't mind chemicals, there are two other methods commercial bakers use to increase rise that I don't use myself:
1. add 100 mg ascorbic acid (crushed vitamin C tablets) per cup of flour to strengthen gluten proteins during rise; it breaks down during baking into diketones that are supposed to be nontoxic. (A lemon contains 20 mg.) Many cheap flours have this as an additive to make up for a shortfall in gluten content. Reduce liquid a bit if you use it.
2. add 1/4 tsp lecithin per Tbsp of gluten flour. Lecithin is a group of fats that have been chemically isolated from egg yolks or soy - 1/4 tsp is the amount in a medium egg yolk.
Yeast also varies. If your loaf rises less than the photo, try a bit more yeast; if it hits the cover, a bit less. If your bread rises initially with fine bubbles on the surface, then collapses, you used too much yeast for the sugar available - use more sugar next time. If you end up with a doorstop, something killed the yeast. (Or, you forgot to add it or the kneading paddle!)
Use only as much yeast as is required. When too much yeast is present, the excess ferments itself and produces glutathione, which gives an undesirable ammonia-like taste to the dough.
Some yeasts are killed more easily than others - if Garlic or Curry breads fail, try another yeast. Buckwheat, flour or kasha, is another additive that shows up weak yeast, so does cinnamon.
I recommend "active dried" yeast because in Canada any yeast called that almost certainly is; the "instant" yeast recommended by many U.S authors goes under a variety of names here and you can easily end up with quick-acting yeast, a quite different product. In particular, Fleishmann's calls their quick-acting yeast "quick acting" when in packets, "bread machine" when in jars, and "instant" when in bulk packs; all are designed for the rapid-rise cycle of a breadmaker and will work differently than the 'active dried' I use.
Bulk yeast costs a tenth as much as separate packets. I keep it in the frig, with the package rolled down tight and closed with a rubber band, and have never had it go flat on me. I find it keeps better that way than the versions that come in glass jars which can't be rolled airtight once opened. If you can't find bulk yeast at your local food store, try a health-food store. (Make sure it's 'active dried' bread yeast, not 'nutritional' yeast which they also sell.)
Yeast Food: As an alternative to 1-1/4 Tbsp cane sugar, try 2 Tbsp (1 oz) of corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, malt syrup, molasses or rice syrup. 2 oz. of most frozen fruit juice concentrates also works, but be prepared to add extra yeast or give extra time to rise. Reduce liquid by half the volume of any of these. 2 Tbsp malt powder works (without liquid reduction, of course). Using over 1/2 cup sugar or its equivalent in syrups or juices will often give problems with rise. To measure sticky liquid sugars easily, put the recipe liquid in your measuring cup then add liquid sugar to make 1 fl.oz. additional (or more as desired). Note that Stevia and artificial sweeteners don't work in breads - they don't have any yeast food in them.
Lipids (oils and fats): Olive and canola oils are the healthiest - high in monounsaturates. Up to 1/4 cup may be used for extra energy for an outdoors person in winter, more than that tends to makes the bread tough. If you don't have a cholesterol problem, butter gives your bread a more traditional taste; I also find it carries the taste of spices better than oils. Just remember to reduce other liquids a bit with butter, it's 16% water. Lipids soften the texture of bread, if you love crisp crusts, omit them as the French do. I find the taste of some seeds, anise in particular, better without them as well. However, if the non-stick coating on your bread pan is old, expect more problems getting the loaf out of the pan without them.
Salt: A bit of salt is needed for gluten formation, but too much inhibits yeast fermentation. The bread researcher Calvel considered that optimal yeast action for French bread (no fat or oil added) was with salt weight 1.8% of flour weight, 1-1/2 tsp for 4 cups flour. I find that 1/2 tsp is enough to give me reliable results with the ingredients I use. If you use more salt, you'll need more yeast - as a rough guide, 1/2 tsp more for each additional 1 tsp salt. No matter how much you use, keep salt from contacting the yeast directly. Adding it to the liquid under the flour, with the yeast on top of the flour, makes it easy; if you use the autolyse method, as I always do now, move the premixed dough to the middle of the pan, then put yeast one side, everything else the other.
Liquid: Fresh milk of any variety is fine, as is up to 1/3 cup powdered milk (non-instant is no problem), whole, skim or buttermilk. Most yoghurts also work, as long as they don't have preservatives in them. Be warned: some dried milks contain preservatives that upset yeast, and they usually aren't on the label. Sadly, most liquid fruit juices and concentrated frozen juices also kill yeast.
Dried Fruits: Many dried fruits such as raisins have preservatives added (sulphur dioxide in particular) that kill yeast, but this aspect of them is usually unlabelled - you just have to find out for yourself the hard way, source by source, even in health-food stores unless they are specifically labelled organic. Light-coloured raisins, figs etc. almost always give problems for this reason. It's worth visiting a health food store and selecting organic for dried fruits - not only do they have no sulphur dioxide, but no transfats either.
If fruit added near the end of kneading isn't spread evenly throughout the loaf, try adding more liquid next time - that helps. But, some machines just need more time than the manual says.
Spices: Pre-ground spices are convenient, but have a heavy dull flavour compared to fresh ground. If you haven't tried a granite mortar&pestle on whole spice seeds, bread making is the time. As fast as a coffee grinder, it works on a single seed as easily as with several Tbsp, handles even hard mahleb stones with ease, and never overheats your spices. Most weigh 2 g per tsp when ground, so weighing them before grinding is handy with modern digital scales.
Herbs: Dried herbs are also convenient, but lack almost all the aroma that is so important for breads. I buy mine fresh, separate leaves from stems, put them in plastic bags rolled down tight, and keep them in the freezer; the result is very close to true fresh flavour when lightly crushed in a mortar&pestle just before use.
Eggs: Using an egg lets you make a moister loaf without it caving in during baking, often a problem with vertical pan machines. I find them unnecessary for moist loaves with my horizontal pan machine. Egg replacers are mostly baking powder - none that I've tried work the same in bread as eggs do.
Bananas: Since about 2003, every banana I've tried raw has almost killed my yeast, even organic ones. It seems that all commercial bananas are now grown from a single plant cultivar (AAA Cavendish) which has substances in its fruit that inhibit leaf spot fungus, a major problem in monoculture banana production. My tests with Equicosta bananas from Ecuador that meet EcoCert certification indicate that fungicide residues are not responsible for this problem. However, heat seems to deactivate the banana substance: heat peeled bananas in a microwave until they steam (5 minutes on high with my microwave), then you can use them.
Potatos: Raw Canadian potatos inhibit yeast too, however this time it's fungicide residues that are to blame. Raw organic potatos are fine. Increasingly, food growing is getting so industrialized that systemic pesticides are required to maintain cheap production. In Canada, potatos are too important to the province of PEI to be allowed to fail; rigorous government inspections there against potato pathogens effectively enforce residues of fungicides. Heat seems to deactivate the fungicides used; cooked potatos are fine for bread, at least for now.
Supplements: You can add finely ground tablets of any mineral your diet is low in - vegans frequently are short on calcium, magnesium, potassium or zinc but nothing else. Don't add heat-sensitive vitamins though.
Other Additions: Almost anything that doesn't kill yeast can be added to Canadian all-purpose flour up to 3 oz dry weight, or a water content of 12 fl.oz if the water content is compensated for. Some examples from the web: left-over baby food, hamburger relish, salad dressings, peanut butter... More can be added of some things - experiment! For a first try at proportions, visit the USDA to find what proportion of what you want to try is water. For example, frozen spinach is 89% water. A 10 oz package thus contains 10*.89=9 oz water and 10-9=1 oz dry weight. So, to make bread with a package of spinach, reduce water by 9 fl.oz; the 1 oz dry weight is within limit.
With starchy additions such as potato, also check the starch content. An oz starch ties up 1/2 oz water. So, using potatos, 75% water and 18% starch, use 75-(18/2)=66% water for this calculation.
High Altitude Baking: I have to rely on family in Alberta here. Generally, flour gets drier at high altitudes, so a bit more fluid will be needed. The gas produced by the yeast expands more at high altitudes, so loaves can rise more quickly; expect to use a bit less yeast. At the same time the gas is weaker, so loaves with additives will collapse more easily, reduce additives a bit.
Experiments: If you're experimenting with really new recipes:
- vertical pan machines with a single paddle: the dough should form a moist-looking but firm ball after 5 minutes of kneading (that is, after the end of the mixing cycle when the motor runs in pulses). If it doesn't, add remedial flour a tablespoon at a time if it looks gooey, water if it looks really dry, and keep track of what you do for next time. For the eggless recipes, the motor should be audibly working (variations in speed and noise) after 5 minutes or so, and the ball should be bouncing vigorously around - if not, it's probably too wet and liable to collapse near the end of baking.
- horizontal pan machines with two paddles: the dough must look moist, and can even snake around both paddles a bit as long as most of it sticks together in a ball. Check at the start of the final rise - if the dough is lopsided, pick it up, reshape it and plan on a bit more liquid next time.
- if your motor slows to a stall, the dough is too sticky - a tsp or more vinegar usually helps.
- if fruits added near the end of the kneading cycle aren't evenly spread throughout the loaf, add more liquid next time, or add them earlier in the cycle.
- doughs with added ingredients that soak up liquid more slowly than wheat flour, cracked wheat and rolled grains for example, look more liquid at the beginning of kneading than at the end. Don't rush to add flour with them. Conversely, mashed potato and shredded raw veggies release their liquid slowly, and will look dryer at the beginning than at the end.
- if the dough rises above the container edge long before baking time, or at baking time the dough has not risen enough, salvage the experiment by turning off the machine and baking the dough (in the bread-maker container) in an oven when ready. 30 minutes at 350°F works for me. With my Zojirushi, I have a 'home made' program with the same timing as basic, and a second program with everything turned off except the bake cycle. I begin with the first cycle; if more or less time is needed, I turn it off, then start the second (bake-only) cycle once the bread has fully risen.

Canada's Bulk Barn has a marvellous selection of unusual flours and other baking products, each with their own distinct taste and texture. Never make the same bread twice!

If you're going to buy a book, check my book reviews. If you want to chat with bread artisans, visit the forums of The Fresh Loaf.

The Basics
Basic White Bread
water 12 fl.oz 340 g Here's where it all starts: the basic proportions for a 2 lb loaf. If you are making another size of loaf, scale all the other ingredients but keep the amount of yeast the same to start - contrary to intuition, large loaves are usually best with slightly less yeast than smaller ones. Get this recipe right for your ingredients, machine and methods, then you can confidently move to any other recipe here by making the same adjustments. With American flours expect as much as 2 fl.oz. less liquid and perhaps the addition of some gluten flour. 1-1/4 Tbsp is, of course, a "heaping tablespoon". If you prefer your crust to be crisp, omit oil.
sugar 1-1/4 Tbsp 15 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
vegetable oil 2 Tbsp 25 g
flour 4 cup 560 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
Autolyse Method
This is how you get the very best bread from your machine with any recipe that doesn't use liquid that contains fats (such as milk) or sugars (such as fruit juices). Mix flour with water first, then add other ingredients on top, ensuring that the salt is at one end of the pan and yeast at the other, press start. During the ensuing 20-30 minute prewarm, the gluten is autolysed; let the machine do the rest. You'll get improved flavour and extra rise compared to the unmodified basic cycle.
With programmable machines, add water and flour, set a cycle to knead for 2 minutes and nothing else, add other ingredients, then press start of the normal cycle. With my Zojirushi machine, I can't use the Basic cycle this way, as it fouls up the timing by reducing rise time. However, a second "Home Made Course" with Basic timing works properly.
Old Dough Bread
water 8 fl.oz 230 g In English it's old dough, in French poolish, in Italian biga, in Chinese tangzhong - in any recipe you get richer flavour. Here's a way of using your bread machine to the best advantage to make it. Add these four ingredients to your machine in the evening, let it run until everything is thoroughly mixed, then pull the plug. Cracked wheat provides useful natural wheat yeasts and enzymes, as will stone ground whole grain flour.
flour 7/8 cup 120 g
cracked wheat 2 Tbsp 18 g
yeast 1/4 tsp 1 g
water 6 fl.oz 170 g In the morning, add remaining ingredients, press start. With a vertical pan, the dough will dry out less overnight, so start this step with 5 fl.oz water then check after a few minutes of kneading.
sugar 1-1/4 Tbsp 15 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
vegetable oil 2 Tbsp 25 g
flour 3-1/4 cup 450 g
yeast 3/4 tsp 3 g
Loaf Topping
egg white 1 30 g For horizontal pan machines. Beat egg white, sugar and any finely ground spice you wish with a fork, brush on top of loaf just before baking starts, sprinkle on topping. Sesame, caraway or anise seed, hulled millet, coarse corn meal, rolled grains, herbs, spices such as cinnamon, festive coloured sugars - you decide. One egg bastes 3-4 loaves, so I freeze excess; cake bakers will have a more immediate use for it.
sugar 1/2 tsp 2 g
topping 1-2 Tbsp 8-16 g
Filled Bread
For horizontal pan machines. Use an extra 1/4 tsp (1 g) yeast. At beginning of 3rd rise, remove dough from machine (do not turn machine off), stretch dough on a lightly floured surface to the length and 6-8 times the width of the breadmaker pan, spread up to 8 oz. filling over the surface, roll up into a cylinder the length of bread pan while keeping the filling evenly spread, return to pan for final rise and bake. The filling must be a bit moister than the dough or it will fall out of the bread when sliced. If you want a true "jelly roll", use 1/2 tsp (2 g) more yeast than usual, roll the dough out once, cover with a moist towel to relax for a few minutes, then continue to roll it as thin as you can before filling.
Added Grains and Seeds
Cracked Grain Bread
water 13 fl.oz 370 g To Basic White Bread add cracked wheat or any other cracked grains you prefer on top of the flour; increase water a bit. If the result is too crunchy for your taste (cracked rye probably will be), increase water to 14 fl.oz. and add them to the water; they'll soak up some during the prewarm. Or, use the method of Cooked Grain Bread to soften them even more.
cracked wheat 1 cup 140 g
Rolled Grain Bread
water 13 fl.oz 370 g To Basic White Bread add rolled oats on top of the flour, increase water a bit. Baking style rolled oats are best. These proportions also work with Scottish steel-cut oats, with barley, kamut, spelt and rye flakes, and all rolled multigrain cereals I've tried. If the result is too textured for your taste, increase water to 14 fl.oz. and add them to the water; they'll soak up some during the prewarm. To make them really soft, use the method of Cooked Grain Bread.
rolled oats 1 cup 100 g
Light Multigrain Bread
barley flour 1 cup 225 ml To Basic White Bread add barley flour, reduce wheat flour. Over the years I've also used these proportions successfully with arrowroot, barley, corn, garbanzo bean, kamut, oat, rye, semolina, sorghum, spelt and teff flours, with corn/hominy meal, graham cracker crumbs, wheat bran, and with pecan and almond meals. With 2 oz extra liquid, so does oat bran. Every soy flour I've tried so far has killed the yeast. The various flours vary considerably by weight; I tested them by volume as noted. Using molasses instead of sugar and adding caraway seed is traditional with rye breads, and works with others as well.
wheat flour 3-3/4 cup 525 g
Half n'Half Multigrain Bread
barley flour 2-1/4 cup 500 ml To Basic White Bread add barley flour and gluten, reduce wheat flour. These proportions probably work for all the flours listed under Light Multigrain Bread, but I haven't tested all of them yet. Again, I measure by volume, not by weight, hence the unconventional metric measure.
wheat flour 2-1/4 cup 500 ml
gluten flour 1/4 cup 35 g
Seed Bread
seeds 1 cup 100 g To Basic White Bread add whole seeds. Seeds that are high in oil, such as flax and sesame, are best limited to 1/2 cup or the bread becomes tough. Poppy seeds are a family favourite. Most seeds have their best flavour when toasted: sesame, squash and sunflower are popular. Most trail mixes work too.
Kasha Bread
kasha 1/2 cup 90 g To Basic White Bread add kasha. Kasha is toasted whole buckwheat - it is cooked during the baking cycle. Bread that tastes toasted right out of the pan! Adding more kasha inhibits yeast.
Millet Bread
hulled millet 1 cup 200 g To Basic White Bread add millet and chopped green onion. The millet is cooked during baking. Quinoa ends up crunchier than I like. Pearled barley stays tough and doesn't develop its flavour.
green onion 1 15 g
Cooked Grain Bread
Red River Cereal 3/4 cup 110 g Hot cereals are so out of fashion now that I can only find one locally in supermarkets: Red River Cereal, a mixture of cracked wheat, rye and flax. Heat 7 fl.oz. water to boiling and add to cereal, let stand 15 minutes, then add cold water and other ingredients as for Basic White Bread. Decreasing the portion of water as boiling moves texture and taste towards cracked wheat; increasing it gives softer texture and more of a porridge taste. This will rise about 3/4 of the height of your basic recipe, if you want it lighter, add 1 Tbsp extra gluten. 1/3 cup white rice also works well this way; be prepared to add a bit of liquid or flour 5 minutes into kneading as rices vary in the amount of water they soak up. Most whole grains need more cooking than this, wheat berries for example need 3/4 hour simmer.
boiling water 7 fl.oz 195 g
cold water 8 fl.oz 225 g
Omega-3 Bread
flax or chia seed 1/2 cup 60 g Omit the oil from Basic White Bread, add whole seeds. Both seeds contain about 18% short-chain omega-3 oils, an alternative to fish for young vegans. (Seniors, males in particular, can no longer convert short chain oils into the long chain oils we actually need.) Adding more seed toughens the texture.
Nut Bread
nuts 2 cup 200 g To Basic White Bread add nuts. This is expensive to make often if you have to buy your nuts, but black walnuts and butternuts grow in the wild around Ottawa, free for the collecting. Another way to make nut breads is to use ground nuts (meal) using the proportions of Light Multigrain Bread. Pecan meal is remarkably inexpensive in the fall, I usually buy a kilo and keep it in the frig for use the rest of the year; almond and chestnut meals are available year round in Italian stores. Yet another way is to boost 1/2 cup nut presence with related flavours: slivered almonds with 1 oz almond paste, cashews with a few dates, macadamia nuts with an oz white chocolate, hazelnuts with an oz chocolate-hazel spread...
Lentil Bread
green lentils 3/4 cup 140 g Put lentils in the water for Basic White Bread, bring just to a boil, let cool, add carom (also called ajwain pods). This makes a slightly crunchy bread; if you prefer smooth texture, add an oz. water and simmer the lentils for 15 min. before cooling.
carom 1/4 tsp 0.5 g
Brown Bread
water 12 fl.oz 340 g A reliable traditional North American bread. The use of dried milk powder (I use buttermilk) allows use of the delay timer for fresh breakfast bread. Use dark brown sugar if you have it.
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
brown sugar 2 Tbsp 25 g
vegetable oil 2 Tbsp 25 g
whole grain flour 2 cup 280 g
white flour 2 cup 280 g
milk powder 1/4 cup 30 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
Whole Wheat Bread
water 11 fl.oz 310 g It's not easy to make light natural 100% whole-grain wheat bread in a bread maker once the flour has aged for more than a day after grinding. Here's the closest I've found that uses a standard cycle. Use the autolyse method. Check loaf height just before it would start baking (62 minutes from the end with my machine). If you want it to rise more, turn the power off and leave the bread in the machine until it has risen to the top of the container. Remove from the machine and bake (in the container) in a preheated oven at 350°F until it looks done (35 minutes for me).
brown sugar 2 Tbsp 22 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
vegetable oil 2 Tbsp 25 g
whole-grain flour 3-1/2 cup 490 g
gluten flour 1/4 cup 35 g
yeast 1-1/2 tsp 6 g
Corn Bread
mustard powder 1 tsp 2 g Thaw frozen corn to room temperature before adding; drain canned corn. The corn contains most of the water required, and is puréed and cooked by the breadmaker. Be sure to add the mustard at the bottom so its flavour will develop in the water before kneading starts. And don't panic at the amount of mustard - the heat of baking greatly reduces its effect. 1/4 cup chopped bright red pepper makes a colourful addition.
water 1/4 cup 60 g
sugar 1-1/4 Tbsp 15 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
kernel corn 14 oz 400 g
chili powder 1 Tbsp 7 g
corn oil 2 Tbsp 25 g
corn flour 1/2 cup 60 g
wheat flour 3 cup 420 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
Added Fruits
Raisin Bread
raisins 1 cup 120 g To Basic White Bread add raisins near the end of the kneading cycle. Most unbleached dried fruits may be used in this way. A half-tsp cinnamon is nice with raisins (not more; cinnamon inhibits yeast), as is a pinch each of allspice and nutmeg. Try a pinch of orange zest with peaches, apricots or cranberries, a tsp ground almonds with cherries, a piece of candied ginger chopped fine with pears.
Applesauce Bread
applesauce 13 oz 370 g Replace the water of Basic White Bread by applesauce, add cinnamon, omit oil. I prefer unsweetened applesauce, but sweetened works too. All the liquid required is in the applesauce. 12 oz mashed pears, peaches or fruit salad mix plus 1/4 cup juice also works; try 1/2 tsp ginger or 1 Tbsp almond flour with them.
cinnamon pinch 0.1 g
Mock Apple Strudel
apple juice 12 fl.oz 340 g In Basic White Bread use apple juice for liquid, butter for fat.
butter 2 oz 56 g
sugar 2 Tbsp 22 g At beginning of final rise, fill with thinly sliced apple sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon (method here).
cinnamon 1 tsp 2 g
apple 1 130 g
Tomato Bread
fresh tomato 13 oz 370 g Replace the water in Basic White Bread by tomato, add chopped green onion and cheese. Cut the tomato into a dozen pieces, it will be puréed during kneading. Fresh tomatos are 95% water - no other liquid is required. This is the healthiest way to eat tomatos - cooked with a bit of oil to maximise absorption of lycopene. Look for canned crushed tomatos, they are what is left after squeezing for tomato juice and have double the solids of fresh or normal canned tomatos - use 14 fl.oz. Other options are a fresh or dried Italian herb mix, or 1/4 cup chopped colourful sweet peppers.
green onion 1 15 g
feta cheese 1 oz 28 g
Cucumber Bread
cucumber 14 oz 400 g Replace the water in Basic White Bread by cucumber, add savory. Cut the cucumber into chunks so the breadmaker can purée it during the kneading cycle. If you grow your own cucumbers, let them get mature, the seeds have a nice taste when it's toasted. The cucumber contains all the liquid needed. Zucchini works with this recipe too.
savory pinch 0.1 g
Pumpkin Bread
canned pumpkin 14 oz 400 g Replace the water in Basic White Bread by pie pumpkin or canned pumpkin, add spices. As with any natural product, be prepared to adjust moisture during kneading. The taste and smell of pumpkin pie, especially when toasted. Jack o'lantern pumpkins usually have little taste and are fibrous, as they're grown solely for size.
cinnamon 1 tsp 2 g
nutmeg 1/4 tsp 0.5 g
Lemon Bread
lemon 1 100 g To Basic White Bread add lemon rind and mace, add water to the lemon juice to make the required amount of liquid. Grate the bright coloured part of the rind from the lemon and squeeze the juice to get the best spicy lemon taste. If you put the entire lemon into a blender, you get a taste like Mediterranean salt-preserved lemons (they also work). Don't use bottled lemon juice, it almost always contains yeast-killing preservatives.
sugar 3 Tbsp 34 g
mace pinch 0.1 g
Banana Bread
heat-treated banana 12 oz 340 g Heat 12 oz fully ripe peeled bananas in a microwave until they steam, about 5 minutes on high, to deactivate the fungicides in them. Bananas are 25% solids, so 12 oz is the maximum most flours can handle. In Basic White Bread, replace liquid by bananas and yoghurt (natural unsweetened is best), use light brown sugar (I use turbinado, it never goes solid), add 1 oz butter and a pinch mace. I recommend light crust setting.
yoghurt 1/2 cup 112 g
butter 1 oz 28 g
light brown sugar 2 Tbsp 25 g
mace pinch 0.1 g
Fig Bread
dried figs 5 oz 140 g To Basic White Bread add figs and nutmeg. Cut the figs in half so the machine will break them up during kneading. This makes a tasty and crunchy bread. Bulk Barn Calmyra figs are sulphur dioxide free and work well, but most packaged ones won't; all dark figs I've tried work well. Dates also work well with these proportions.
nutmeg pinch 0.1 g
Blueberry Bread
sour cream 8 oz 225 g This is a spectacular bread, both in appearance and taste. The sour cream brings out the blueberry flavour, the poppy seed provides a bit of crunch, the lemon zest a sparkle to the taste. The blueberries (fresh or thawed frozen) contain 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar, the sour cream 3-1/2 Tbsp oil, between them 12 fl.oz. liquid.
blueberries 8 oz 225 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
poppy seed 2 Tbsp 18 g
lemon zest 1/4 tsp 0.5 g
flour 4 cup 560 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
Added Vegetables
Root-Veggie Bread
cooked veggie 11 oz 310 g Replace the water in Basic White Bread by the root veggie plus 1/4 cup water, add herb of choice. Cook any root veggie until soft, then cut it into chunks so the breadmaker can incorporate its liquid with the flour. (For starchy roots, see Potato Bread for a better method.) Roots contain all the liquid needed but a bit of water is needed to help the bread machine to purée the ones that don't get really soft, beets in particular. I've made this recipe with beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatos and turnips so far - all worked. Most except turnip have a bland taste, so a bit of your favourite herb such as basil is good, as is chopped green onion.
water 1/4 cup 60 g
herb 1 tsp 1 g
Sprout Bread
alfalfa sprouts 5 oz 140 g To Basic White Bread add fresh sprouts, reduce liquid by the amount in sprouts. Alfalfa sprouts are 90% water; for other sprouts visit the USDA. The dough will be very dry for the first 5 minutes of kneading until the sprouts are broken up enough to release their water to the flour.
water 8 fl.oz 225 g
Carrot Bread
cooked carrot 12 oz 340 g Replace the water in Basic White Bread by cooked and raw carrot, add tarragon. Cook carrot until entirely soft. Some of the water in the raw carrot comes out during baking; adding more than this will cause the loaf to collapse. Replace the shredded carrot by drained sauerkraut for an east European touch, or add bits of colourful chopped sweet peppers or other garden veggies for colour texture.
shredded carrot 1/2 cup 50 g
tarragon 1 tsp 1 g
Green Pea Bread
raw peas 10 oz 280 g Replace the water in Basic White Bread by fresh or thawed-frozen green peas and 1/4 cup water. Cook the spices in the oil before adding. This is a traditional Indian seasoning for peas.
water 1/4 cup 60 g
turmeric 1/4 tsp 0.5 g
cumin 1/4 tsp 0.5 g
garlic 1 clove 3 g
Salad Bread
salad greens 10 oz 284 g Chop the greens to 1" size to keep them from overflowing the container, run the machine to the end of the kneading cycle then turn it off. Lift the container out to ensure that no greens have overflowed (they'll smell during baking). This breaks the greens up so that the second kneading can incorporate them into the bread. If you have a food processor that chops the greens finely, you can skip this first kneading.
water 3 fl.oz 85 g
flour 4 cups 560 g
feta cheese 1 oz 28 g Add cheese and yeast, restart a basic cycle. Feta cheese has the fat and salt needed. Some machines don't knead strongly enough for this recipe, signalled by the top collapsing due to moisture released from the greens during baking - if that happens reduce greens and increase water proportionally.
sugar 1-1/4 Tbsp 15 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
Bean Bread
cooked beans 8 oz 225 g Add cooked beans and spices to Basic White Bread, reduce liquid by 2 fl.oz. (the liquid in the beans).
water 10 fl.oz 280 g
chili 1/2 tsp 1 g
paprika 1/2 tsp 1 g
Mesquite Bread
mesquite flour 1/4 cup 30 g To Basic White Bread add mesquite bean flour. A natural combination of chocolate and cinnamon.
Garlic Bread
garlic 1 50 g An Italian friend jokes that "a garlic a day keeps the doctor away - because people with colds stay clear of your smell!" Add up to 5 cloves garlic to Basic White Bread; more in the batter slows the yeast down too much for a bread machine. Add the rest as filling (method here). I use a fine cutting grater to pulp the garlic.
Potato Bread
potato water 1/4 cup 60 g Mash potato, chop onion, grate garlic, add first 8 ingredients to pan, run until mixed then turn off, let sit in the pan at least an hour to let the flour incorporate the water in the potato, overnight is best. Potatos are 75% water but 9% is bound to the starch in them, so only 66% is available to the flour. Raw potatos, from PEI at least, have systemic fungicides in them that kill yeast; they have to be cooked to break them down. 1/4 cup fresh chopped chives work well too.
sugar 2 Tbsp 22 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
cooked potato 11 oz 310 g
vegetable oil 2 Tbsp 25 g
green onion 1 15 g
garlic 1 clove 3 g
flour 4 cup 560 g
yeast 1-1/4 tsp 5 g Add yeast and start a basic cycle.
Other Additions
Buttermilk Bread
dried buttermilk 1/3 cup 40 g Add dried buttermilk to Basic White Bread, on top of the flour so it won't form lumps. Paradoxically, liquid "buttermilk" in Canada is artificial, but dried buttermilk is the real thing! Set crust to light, buttermilk browns quickly.
Eggnog Anise Bread
egg nog 12 fl.oz 340 g Version 1: when commercial egg nog is available
egg yolk 2 35 g Version 2: during the 11 months of the year when Canadian marketing boards forbid us to buy egg nog, use these ingredients
cream 2 fl.oz 56 g
vanilla extract 1/4 tsp 1 g
milk to make 12 fl.oz to make 340 g
nutmeg 1/8 tsp 0.3 g
cinnamon pinch 0.1 g
sugar 1/4 cup 45 g
flour 4 cup 560 g Add to pan after whichever eggnog you have, start basic cycle
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
anise seed 1 Tbsp 6 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
Ginger Bread (two words, not one!)
ginger root 1 oz 28 g Use ginger plus sugar in place of sugar in Basic White Bread. Coarsely grate the ginger root, mix with the sugar and let stand overnight. Candied ginger is boiled in sugar syrup - a different taste, but good too: use 3 oz chopped finely, reducing the sugar to 2 Tbsp if the ginger is not sugar coated, to 1 Tbsp if it is.
sugar 3 Tbsp 34 g
Cheese Bread
mustard powder 1/2 tsp 1 g To Basic White Bread add cheddar cheese and mustard, omit oil (it's in the cheese), reduce liquid a bit, whole milk is best. Crumble or grate the cheese. The mustard accentuates the flavour of the cheese; put it on the bottom so it will develop its flavour before kneading starts. Other options are Ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup chopped chives, Romano with 1/4 cup pine nuts, cottage cheese with 1 Tbsp dill. With a vertical pan breadmaker, limit cheese to 3 oz. to ensure proper rise.
milk 11 fl.oz 310 g
cheese 4 oz 110 g
Chocolate Brownies
cocoa 3/4 cup 65 g To Basic White Bread add cocoa, increase sugar. Cocoa inhibits yeast so this rises only half way up the pan, for brownie-like density. This is a chocoholic's version if you use natural cocoa. If you like your brownies sweet, use 1/2 cup alkali-processed (Dutch) cocoa instead. Carob powder also works.
sugar 1/4 cup 45 g
Curry Bread
fresh onion 6 oz 170 g To Basic White Bread add onion and spices, reduce water. Chop the onion enough that the breadmaker can purée it during the kneading cycle. Cook spices in the oil before adding. Curries vary greatly - this quantity with my favourite warm mix just lets the taste of the onion come through, the way I like it. Replace curry by ground cumin seed to get the taste of Tajikistan flatbreads.
water 6 fl.oz 170 g
curry powder 1 Tbsp 5 g
Chocolate Cake
coffee 12 fl.oz 340 g This doesn't have the traditional shape of a cake, but it has the texture and taste. There's lots of oil in the chips - no additional is needed. Cool the coffee to room temperature. The chips melt during baking. This assumes semisweet chips, if you use bittersweet or dark chocolate chips, you may want to add more sugar. Chocolate moulding wafers also have the additives required for cake-like texture. Adding halved maraschino cherries near the end of kneading approximates Black Forest Cake. My granddaughters love 'white chocolate' in this, but I confess to making it that way only for them - I love real chocolate.
sugar 1-1/4 Tbsp 15 g
salt 1/2 tsp 3 g
chocolate chips 8 oz 225 g
flour 3-1/2 cup 490 g
yeast 1 tsp 4 g
maraschino cherries 1/2 cup (opt) 75 g

The Basics
Basic White Bread
water	12 fl.oz	340 g	Here's where it all starts: the basic proportions for a 2 lb loaf. If you are making another size of loaf, scale all the other ingredients but keep the amount of yeast the same to start - contrary to intuition, large loaves are usually best with slightly less yeast than smaller ones. Get this recipe right for your ingredients, machine and methods, then you can confidently move to any other recipe here by making the same adjustments. With American flours expect as much as 2 fl.oz. less liquid and perhaps the addition of some gluten flour. 1-1/4 Tbsp is, of course, a "heaping tablespoon". If you prefer your crust to be crisp, omit oil.
sugar	1-1/4 Tbsp	15 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
vegetable oil	2 Tbsp	25 g
flour	4 cup	560 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
Autolyse Method
This is how you get the very best bread from your machine with any recipe that doesn't use liquid that contains fats (such as milk) or sugars (such as fruit juices). Mix flour with water first, then add other ingredients on top, ensuring that the salt is at one end of the pan and yeast at the other, press start. During the ensuing 20-30 minute prewarm, the gluten is autolysed; let the machine do the rest. You'll get improved flavour and extra rise compared to the unmodified basic cycle. With programmable machines, add water and flour, set a cycle to knead for 2 minutes and nothing else, add other ingredients, then press start of the normal cycle. With my Zojirushi machine, I can't use the Basic cycle this way, as it fouls up the timing by reducing rise time. However, a second "Home Made Course" with Basic timing works properly.
Old Dough Bread
water	8 fl.oz	230 g	In English it's old dough, in French poolish, in Italian biga, in Chinese tangzhong - in any recipe you get richer flavour. Here's a way of using your bread machine to the best advantage to make it. Add these four ingredients to your machine in the evening, let it run until everything is thoroughly mixed, then pull the plug. Cracked wheat provides useful natural wheat yeasts and enzymes, as will stone ground whole grain flour.
flour	7/8 cup	120 g
cracked wheat	2 Tbsp	18 g
yeast	1/4 tsp	1 g
water	6 fl.oz	170 g	In the morning, add remaining ingredients, press start. With a vertical pan, the dough will dry out less overnight, so start this step with 5 fl.oz water then check after a few minutes of kneading.
sugar	1-1/4 Tbsp	15 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
vegetable oil	2 Tbsp	25 g
flour	3-1/4 cup	450 g
yeast	3/4 tsp	3 g
Loaf Topping
egg white	1	30 g	For horizontal pan machines. Beat egg white, sugar and any finely ground spice you wish with a fork, brush on top of loaf just before baking starts, sprinkle on topping. Sesame, caraway or anise seed, hulled millet, coarse corn meal, rolled grains, herbs, spices such as cinnamon, festive coloured sugars - you decide. One egg bastes 3-4 loaves, so I freeze excess; cake bakers will have a more immediate use for it.
sugar	1/2 tsp	2 g
topping	1-2 Tbsp	8-16 g
Filled Bread
For horizontal pan machines. Use an extra 1/4 tsp (1 g) yeast. At beginning of 3rd rise, remove dough from machine (do not turn machine off), stretch dough on a lightly floured surface to the length and 6-8 times the width of the breadmaker pan, spread up to 8 oz. filling over the surface, roll up into a cylinder the length of bread pan while keeping the filling evenly spread, return to pan for final rise and bake. The filling must be a bit moister than the dough or it will fall out of the bread when sliced. If you want a true "jelly roll", use 1/2 tsp (2 g) more yeast than usual, roll the dough out once, cover with a moist towel to relax for a few minutes, then continue to roll it as thin as you can before filling.
Added Grains and Seeds
Cracked Grain Bread
water	13 fl.oz	370 g	To Basic White Bread add cracked wheat or any other cracked grains you prefer on top of the flour; increase water a bit. If the result is too crunchy for your taste (cracked rye probably will be), increase water to 14 fl.oz. and add them to the water; they'll soak up some during the prewarm. Or, use the method of Cooked Grain Bread to soften them even more.
cracked wheat	1 cup	140 g
Rolled Grain Bread
water	13 fl.oz	370 g	To Basic White Bread add rolled oats on top of the flour, increase water a bit. Baking style rolled oats are best. These proportions also work with Scottish steel-cut oats, with barley, kamut, spelt and rye flakes, and all rolled multigrain cereals I've tried. If the result is too textured for your taste, increase water to 14 fl.oz. and add them to the water; they'll soak up some during the prewarm. To make them really soft, use the method of Cooked Grain Bread.
rolled oats	1 cup	100 g
Light Multigrain Bread
barley flour	1 cup	225 ml	To Basic White Bread add barley flour, reduce wheat flour. Over the years I've also used these proportions successfully with arrowroot, barley, corn, garbanzo bean, kamut, oat, rye, semolina, sorghum, spelt and teff flours, with corn/hominy meal, graham cracker crumbs, wheat bran, and with pecan and almond meals. With 2 oz extra liquid, so does oat bran. Every soy flour I've tried so far has killed the yeast. The various flours vary considerably by weight; I tested them by volume as noted. Using molasses instead of sugar and adding caraway seed is traditional with rye breads, and works with others as well.
wheat flour	3-3/4 cup	525 g
Half n'Half Multigrain Bread
barley flour	2-1/4 cup	500 ml	To Basic White Bread add barley flour and gluten, reduce wheat flour. These proportions probably work for all the flours listed under Light Multigrain Bread, but I haven't tested all of them yet. Again, I measure by volume, not by weight, hence the unconventional metric measure.
wheat flour	2-1/4 cup	500 ml
gluten flour	1/4 cup	35 g
Seed Bread
seeds	1 cup	100 g	To Basic White Bread add whole seeds. Seeds that are high in oil, such as flax and sesame, are best limited to 1/2 cup or the bread becomes tough. Poppy seeds are a family favourite. Most seeds have their best flavour when toasted: sesame, squash and sunflower are popular. Most trail mixes work too.
Kasha Bread
kasha	1/2 cup	90 g	To Basic White Bread add kasha. Kasha is toasted whole buckwheat - it is cooked during the baking cycle. Bread that tastes toasted right out of the pan! Adding more kasha inhibits yeast.
Millet Bread
hulled millet	1 cup	200 g	To Basic White Bread add millet and chopped green onion. The millet is cooked during baking. Quinoa ends up crunchier than I like. Pearled barley stays tough and doesn't develop its flavour.
green onion	1	15 g
Cooked Grain Bread
Red River Cereal	3/4 cup	110 g	Hot cereals are so out of fashion now that I can only find one locally in supermarkets: Red River Cereal, a mixture of cracked wheat, rye and flax. Heat 7 fl.oz. water to boiling and add to cereal, let stand 15 minutes, then add cold water and other ingredients as for Basic White Bread. Decreasing the portion of water as boiling moves texture and taste towards cracked wheat; increasing it gives softer texture and more of a porridge taste. This will rise about 3/4 of the height of your basic recipe, if you want it lighter, add 1 Tbsp extra gluten. 1/3 cup white rice also works well this way; be prepared to add a bit of liquid or flour 5 minutes into kneading as rices vary in the amount of water they soak up. Most whole grains need more cooking than this, wheat berries for example need 3/4 hour simmer.
boiling water	7 fl.oz	195 g
cold water	8 fl.oz	225 g
Omega-3 Bread
flax or chia seed	1/2 cup	60 g	Omit the oil from Basic White Bread, add whole seeds. Both seeds contain about 18% short-chain omega-3 oils, an alternative to fish for young vegans. (Seniors, males in particular, can no longer convert short chain oils into the long chain oils we actually need.) Adding more seed toughens the texture.
Nut Bread
nuts	2 cup	200 g	To Basic White Bread add nuts. This is expensive to make often if you have to buy your nuts, but black walnuts and butternuts grow in the wild around Ottawa, free for the collecting. Another way to make nut breads is to use ground nuts (meal) using the proportions of Light Multigrain Bread. Pecan meal is remarkably inexpensive in the fall, I usually buy a kilo and keep it in the frig for use the rest of the year; almond and chestnut meals are available year round in Italian stores. Yet another way is to boost 1/2 cup nut presence with related flavours: slivered almonds with 1 oz almond paste, cashews with a few dates, macadamia nuts with an oz white chocolate, hazelnuts with an oz chocolate-hazel spread...
Lentil Bread
green lentils	3/4 cup	140 g	Put lentils in the water for Basic White Bread, bring just to a boil, let cool, add carom (also called ajwain pods). This makes a slightly crunchy bread; if you prefer smooth texture, add an oz. water and simmer the lentils for 15 min. before cooling.
carom	1/4 tsp	0.5 g
Brown Bread
water	12 fl.oz	340 g	A reliable traditional North American bread. The use of dried milk powder (I use buttermilk) allows use of the delay timer for fresh breakfast bread. Use dark brown sugar if you have it.
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
brown sugar	2 Tbsp	25 g
vegetable oil	2 Tbsp	25 g
whole grain flour	2 cup	280 g
white flour	2 cup	280 g
milk powder	1/4 cup	30 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
Whole Wheat Bread
water	11 fl.oz	310 g	It's not easy to make light natural 100% whole-grain wheat bread in a bread maker once the flour has aged for more than a day after grinding. Here's the closest I've found that uses a standard cycle. Use the autolyse method. Check loaf height just before it would start baking (62 minutes from the end with my machine). If you want it to rise more, turn the power off and leave the bread in the machine until it has risen to the top of the container. Remove from the machine and bake (in the container) in a preheated oven at 350°F until it looks done (35 minutes for me).
brown sugar	2 Tbsp	22 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
vegetable oil	2 Tbsp	25 g
whole-grain flour	3-1/2 cup	490 g
gluten flour	1/4 cup	35 g
yeast	1-1/2 tsp	6 g
Corn Bread
mustard powder	1 tsp	2 g	Thaw frozen corn to room temperature before adding; drain canned corn. The corn contains most of the water required, and is puréed and cooked by the breadmaker. Be sure to add the mustard at the bottom so its flavour will develop in the water before kneading starts. And don't panic at the amount of mustard - the heat of baking greatly reduces its effect. 1/4 cup chopped bright red pepper makes a colourful addition.
water	1/4 cup	60 g
sugar	1-1/4 Tbsp	15 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
kernel corn	14 oz	400 g
chili powder	1 Tbsp	7 g
corn oil	2 Tbsp	25 g
corn flour	1/2 cup	60 g
wheat flour	3 cup	420 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
Added Fruits
Raisin Bread
raisins	1 cup	120 g	To Basic White Bread add raisins near the end of the kneading cycle. Most unbleached dried fruits may be used in this way. A half-tsp cinnamon is nice with raisins (not more; cinnamon inhibits yeast), as is a pinch each of allspice and nutmeg. Try a pinch of orange zest with peaches, apricots or cranberries, a tsp ground almonds with cherries, a piece of candied ginger chopped fine with pears.
Applesauce Bread
applesauce	13 oz	370 g	Replace the water of Basic White Bread by applesauce, add cinnamon, omit oil. I prefer unsweetened applesauce, but sweetened works too. All the liquid required is in the applesauce. 12 oz mashed pears, peaches or fruit salad mix plus 1/4 cup juice also works; try 1/2 tsp ginger or 1 Tbsp almond flour with them.
cinnamon	pinch	0.1 g
Mock Apple Strudel
apple juice	12 fl.oz	340 g	In Basic White Bread use apple juice for liquid, butter for fat.
butter	2 oz	56 g
sugar	2 Tbsp	22 g	At beginning of final rise, fill with thinly sliced apple sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon (method here).
cinnamon	1 tsp	2 g
apple	1	130 g
Tomato Bread
fresh tomato	13 oz	370 g	Replace the water in Basic White Bread by tomato, add chopped green onion and cheese. Cut the tomato into a dozen pieces, it will be puréed during kneading. Fresh tomatos are 95% water - no other liquid is required. This is the healthiest way to eat tomatos - cooked with a bit of oil to maximise absorption of lycopene. Look for canned crushed tomatos, they are what is left after squeezing for tomato juice and have double the solids of fresh or normal canned tomatos - use 14 fl.oz. Other options are a fresh or dried Italian herb mix, or 1/4 cup chopped colourful sweet peppers.
green onion	1	15 g
feta cheese	1 oz	28 g
Cucumber Bread
cucumber	14 oz	400 g	Replace the water in Basic White Bread by cucumber, add savory. Cut the cucumber into chunks so the breadmaker can purée it during the kneading cycle. If you grow your own cucumbers, let them get mature, the seeds have a nice taste when it's toasted. The cucumber contains all the liquid needed. Zucchini works with this recipe too.
savory	pinch	0.1 g
Pumpkin Bread
canned pumpkin	14 oz	400 g	Replace the water in Basic White Bread by pie pumpkin or canned pumpkin, add spices. As with any natural product, be prepared to adjust moisture during kneading. The taste and smell of pumpkin pie, especially when toasted. Jack o'lantern pumpkins usually have little taste and are fibrous, as they're grown solely for size.
cinnamon	1 tsp	2 g
nutmeg	1/4 tsp	0.5 g
Lemon Bread
lemon	1	100 g	To Basic White Bread add lemon rind and mace, add water to the lemon juice to make the required amount of liquid. Grate the bright coloured part of the rind from the lemon and squeeze the juice to get the best spicy lemon taste. If you put the entire lemon into a blender, you get a taste like Mediterranean salt-preserved lemons (they also work). Don't use bottled lemon juice, it almost always contains yeast-killing preservatives.
sugar	3 Tbsp	34 g
mace	pinch	0.1 g
Banana Bread
heat-treated banana	12 oz	340 g	Heat 12 oz fully ripe peeled bananas in a microwave until they steam, about 5 minutes on high, to deactivate the fungicides in them. Bananas are 25% solids, so 12 oz is the maximum most flours can handle. In Basic White Bread, replace liquid by bananas and yoghurt (natural unsweetened is best), use light brown sugar (I use turbinado, it never goes solid), add 1 oz butter and a pinch mace. I recommend light crust setting.
yoghurt	1/2 cup	112 g
butter	1 oz	28 g
light brown sugar	2 Tbsp	25 g
mace	pinch	0.1 g
Fig Bread
dried figs	5 oz	140 g	To Basic White Bread add figs and nutmeg. Cut the figs in half so the machine will break them up during kneading. This makes a tasty and crunchy bread. Bulk Barn Calmyra figs are sulphur dioxide free and work well, but most packaged ones won't; all dark figs I've tried work well. Dates also work well with these proportions.
nutmeg	pinch	0.1 g
Blueberry Bread
sour cream	8 oz	225 g	This is a spectacular bread, both in appearance and taste. The sour cream brings out the blueberry flavour, the poppy seed provides a bit of crunch, the lemon zest a sparkle to the taste. The blueberries (fresh or thawed frozen) contain 1-1/2 Tbsp sugar, the sour cream 3-1/2 Tbsp oil, between them 12 fl.oz. liquid.
blueberries	8 oz	225 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
poppy seed	2 Tbsp	18 g
lemon zest	1/4 tsp	0.5 g
flour	4 cup	560 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
Added Vegetables
Root-Veggie Bread
cooked veggie	11 oz	310 g	Replace the water in Basic White Bread by the root veggie plus 1/4 cup water, add herb of choice. Cook any root veggie until soft, then cut it into chunks so the breadmaker can incorporate its liquid with the flour. (For starchy roots, see Potato Bread for a better method.) Roots contain all the liquid needed but a bit of water is needed to help the bread machine to purée the ones that don't get really soft, beets in particular. I've made this recipe with beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatos and turnips so far - all worked. Most except turnip have a bland taste, so a bit of your favourite herb such as basil is good, as is chopped green onion.
water	1/4 cup	60 g
herb	1 tsp	1 g
Sprout Bread
alfalfa sprouts	5 oz	140 g	To Basic White Bread add fresh sprouts, reduce liquid by the amount in sprouts. Alfalfa sprouts are 90% water; for other sprouts visit the USDA. The dough will be very dry for the first 5 minutes of kneading until the sprouts are broken up enough to release their water to the flour.
water	8 fl.oz	225 g
Carrot Bread
cooked carrot	12 oz	340 g	Replace the water in Basic White Bread by cooked and raw carrot, add tarragon. Cook carrot until entirely soft. Some of the water in the raw carrot comes out during baking; adding more than this will cause the loaf to collapse. Replace the shredded carrot by drained sauerkraut for an east European touch, or add bits of colourful chopped sweet peppers or other garden veggies for colour texture.
shredded carrot	1/2 cup	50 g
tarragon	1 tsp	1 g
Green Pea Bread
raw peas	10 oz	280 g	Replace the water in Basic White Bread by fresh or thawed-frozen green peas and 1/4 cup water. Cook the spices in the oil before adding. This is a traditional Indian seasoning for peas.
water	1/4 cup	60 g
turmeric	1/4 tsp	0.5 g
cumin	1/4 tsp	0.5 g
garlic	1 clove	3 g
Salad Bread
salad greens	10 oz	284 g	Chop the greens to 1" size to keep them from overflowing the container, run the machine to the end of the kneading cycle then turn it off. Lift the container out to ensure that no greens have overflowed (they'll smell during baking). This breaks the greens up so that the second kneading can incorporate them into the bread. If you have a food processor that chops the greens finely, you can skip this first kneading.
water	3 fl.oz	85 g
flour	4 cups	560 g
feta cheese	1 oz	28 g	Add cheese and yeast, restart a basic cycle. Feta cheese has the fat and salt needed. Some machines don't knead strongly enough for this recipe, signalled by the top collapsing due to moisture released from the greens during baking - if that happens reduce greens and increase water proportionally.
sugar	1-1/4 Tbsp	15 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
Bean Bread
cooked beans	8 oz	225 g	Add cooked beans and spices to Basic White Bread, reduce liquid by 2 fl.oz. (the liquid in the beans).
water	10 fl.oz	280 g
chili	1/2 tsp	1 g
paprika	1/2 tsp	1 g
Mesquite Bread
mesquite flour	1/4 cup	30 g	To Basic White Bread add mesquite bean flour. A natural combination of chocolate and cinnamon.
Garlic Bread
garlic	1	50 g	An Italian friend jokes that "a garlic a day keeps the doctor away - because people with colds stay clear of your smell!" Add up to 5 cloves garlic to Basic White Bread; more in the batter slows the yeast down too much for a bread machine. Add the rest as filling (method here). I use a fine cutting grater to pulp the garlic.
Potato Bread
potato water	1/4 cup	60 g	Mash potato, chop onion, grate garlic, add first 8 ingredients to pan, run until mixed then turn off, let sit in the pan at least an hour to let the flour incorporate the water in the potato, overnight is best. Potatos are 75% water but 9% is bound to the starch in them, so only 66% is available to the flour. Raw potatos, from PEI at least, have systemic fungicides in them that kill yeast; they have to be cooked to break them down. 1/4 cup fresh chopped chives work well too.
sugar	2 Tbsp	22 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
cooked potato	11 oz	310 g
vegetable oil	2 Tbsp	25 g
green onion	1	15 g
garlic	1 clove	3 g
flour	4 cup	560 g
yeast	1-1/4 tsp	5 g	Add yeast and start a basic cycle.
Other Additions
Buttermilk Bread
dried buttermilk	1/3 cup	40 g	Add dried buttermilk to Basic White Bread, on top of the flour so it won't form lumps. Paradoxically, liquid "buttermilk" in Canada is artificial, but dried buttermilk is the real thing! Set crust to light, buttermilk browns quickly.
Eggnog Anise Bread
egg nog	12 fl.oz	340 g	Version 1: when commercial egg nog is available
egg yolk	2	35 g	Version 2: during the 11 months of the year when Canadian marketing boards forbid us to buy egg nog, use these ingredients
cream	2 fl.oz	56 g
vanilla extract	1/4 tsp	1 g
milk	to make 12 fl.oz	to make 340 g
nutmeg	1/8 tsp	0.3 g
cinnamon	pinch	0.1 g
sugar	1/4 cup	45 g
flour	4 cup	560 g	Add to pan after whichever eggnog you have, start basic cycle
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
anise seed	1 Tbsp	6 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
Ginger Bread (two words, not one!)
ginger root	1 oz	28 g	Use ginger plus sugar in place of sugar in Basic White Bread. Coarsely grate the ginger root, mix with the sugar and let stand overnight. Candied ginger is boiled in sugar syrup - a different taste, but good too: use 3 oz chopped finely, reducing the sugar to 2 Tbsp if the ginger is not sugar coated, to 1 Tbsp if it is.
sugar	3 Tbsp	34 g
Cheese Bread
mustard powder	1/2 tsp	1 g	To Basic White Bread add cheddar cheese and mustard, omit oil (it's in the cheese), reduce liquid a bit, whole milk is best. Crumble or grate the cheese. The mustard accentuates the flavour of the cheese; put it on the bottom so it will develop its flavour before kneading starts. Other options are Ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup chopped chives, Romano with 1/4 cup pine nuts, cottage cheese with 1 Tbsp dill. With a vertical pan breadmaker, limit cheese to 3 oz. to ensure proper rise.
milk	11 fl.oz	310 g
cheese	4 oz	110 g
Chocolate Brownies
cocoa	3/4 cup	65 g	To Basic White Bread add cocoa, increase sugar. Cocoa inhibits yeast so this rises only half way up the pan, for brownie-like density. This is a chocoholic's version if you use natural cocoa. If you like your brownies sweet, use 1/2 cup alkali-processed (Dutch) cocoa instead. Carob powder also works.
sugar	1/4 cup	45 g
Curry Bread
fresh onion	6 oz	170 g	To Basic White Bread add onion and spices, reduce water. Chop the onion enough that the breadmaker can purée it during the kneading cycle. Cook spices in the oil before adding. Curries vary greatly - this quantity with my favourite warm mix just lets the taste of the onion come through, the way I like it. Replace curry by ground cumin seed to get the taste of Tajikistan flatbreads.
water	6 fl.oz	170 g
curry powder	1 Tbsp	5 g
Chocolate Cake
coffee	12 fl.oz	340 g	This doesn't have the traditional shape of a cake, but it has the texture and taste. There's lots of oil in the chips - no additional is needed. Cool the coffee to room temperature. The chips melt during baking. This assumes semisweet chips, if you use bittersweet or dark chocolate chips, you may want to add more sugar. Chocolate moulding wafers also have the additives required for cake-like texture. Adding halved maraschino cherries near the end of kneading approximates Black Forest Cake. My granddaughters love 'white chocolate' in this, but I confess to making it that way only for them - I love real chocolate.
sugar	1-1/4 Tbsp	15 g
salt	1/2 tsp	3 g
chocolate chips	8 oz	225 g
flour	3-1/2 cup	490 g
yeast	1 tsp	4 g
maraschino cherries	1/2 cup (opt)	75 g

How much does home-made bread cost? Here's what I paid for a basic loaf at the beginning of 2009 (Canadian dollars):

item quantity price cost
flour 4 cup $1.40/kg .71
olive oil 2 Tbsp $6.66/l .19
bread machine * $172.44 .10
electricity .38 kwh 12.7¢/kwh .05
sugar 1-1/4 Tbsp $1.45/kg .03
yeast 1 tsp $11.09/kg .02
total $1.10
(*I made at least 2000 loaves over 20 years with my Black&Decker.)

item	quantity	price	cost
flour	4 cup	$1.40/kg	.71
olive oil	2 Tbsp	$6.66/l	.19
bread machine	*	$172.44	.10
electricity	.38 kwh	12.7¢/kwh	.05
sugar	1-1/4 Tbsp	$1.45/kg	.03
yeast	1 tsp	$11.09/kg	.02
total			$1.10

That's for an 850 g loaf as baked. The cheapest white bread currently costs $1.99 for 675 g, quality breads start at $2.50 for 450 g. So my great tasting basic loaf costs less than half the cheapest junk in the stores. Plus, I get all the variety I want, any time I want it. That's why I love my bread machine!

Canadian measures and flour

Traditionally, Canadian all purpose flour was made from 100% hard wheats (average 13.6% protein), but American all purpose was 25% soft wheats (9-10% protein). Even some American bread flours were lower in gluten than Canadian all purpose until recently, especially in the southern states. Since Robin Hood/Monarch, the last major Canadian controlled miller, was bought by Smuckers in 2004, their all purpose too now follows American norms. Americans must use their bread flour in these recipes, or add a tsp gluten flour (75% protein) per cup of all purpose, to get good quality bread. All supermarket Canadian all purpose and bread flours now seem to contain ascorbic acid; I recommend and use Grain Process Hard White flour, carried by Rainbow Foods in Ottawa.

Whole Wheat flour in Canadian supermarkets almost always has the wheat germ removed. Some contain chemical preservatives to keep the germ from going rancid that you'll find on the label; microwave radiation is increasingly being used to increase shelf life of foods and it's not on the label. To get natural whole grain flour, you have to grind it yourself or visit a health food store that keeps it refrigerated. Durum, kamut, semolina, teff and triticale flours are high in proteins, but not of the prolamin and simple glutelins that combine to produce elastic gluten for good bread. Rye and spelt produce some gluten but not as much as hard wheat does, and what they produce is weaker.

Canadian cups I've checked vary from as much as 240 ml to as low as 220 ml (official American size is 236.59 ml). Tablespoons are supposed to be 1/2 fl.oz.; a US tsp is 1/3 Tbsp but a British tsp is 1/4 Tbsp. However, several manufacturers seem to make their measuring spoons any size they like (cf. this page; search for Weight vs Measure.) To compare the actual measures in my kitchen to yours, use the table at right.

1 cup = 225 ml
1 Tbsp = 11.2 ml
1 tsp = 4.6 ml
pinch = 0.3 g

Machine Cycle Timings

1990 B&D Basic
15 min preheat 35C
2 mix 35
23 knead 35
50 1st rise 35
20 2nd rise 35
60 3rd rise 35
60 bake 140

Zojirushi CEC20 Basic
20 min preheat 28C
3 mix 28
15 knead 28
45 1st rise 28
25 2nd rise 28
45 3rd rise 38
62 bake 125

Bread Machine Choices in Canada

The first home automatic bread makers were made in Japan for Japanese consumers in 1987. The first machines introduced to Canada, a year or two later, came from Europe - the British Black&Decker and the German Braun. Both were 3 cup size, with a 4 cup large size as an option. In the USA, the first were made there with 2 cup and 3 cup sizes. I've long since lost the bill, but I got my 4 cup B&D about 1990; it made over 2000 loaves to raise 5 children. The bearing on the pan failed after a guest mistakenly put the pan in the dishwasher in 2010, so I had to look for a new one.

Selection of bread machines in Canadian stores in 2010 was almost non-existent, and very few stores in Ottawa carried them. Black&Decker models could be found fairly easily, and two of the Cuisinart/Breadman at a few stores. Almost all the new models take up double the counter space of the old ones. Reviews by users on the web (Google "bread machine reviews") were very negative on the reliability of today's B&D machines as compared to the old ones like mine. Experienced users were almost unanimous in praising West Bend 21300 and Zojirushi. There were a startling number of negative experiences consistently recorded that you'd never have heard about before the web, such as a Breadman model that mixed its non-stick coating into your bread, and an Oster model that beeped so loudly and incessantly it woke the dead. I couldn't find a Canadian source for the West Bend. The Zojirushis are expensive, but bread making for me is far more than saving money, it's a passion.

John Sankey
other notes on food