I’ve even developed a version for a two pound bread loaf.

Sour Milk Bread – Two Pound Loaf

1 ½ cups sour milk (regular milk works fine too)
4 cups flour
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons oil (optional)
1 ¾ teaspoons yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.

You’ll notice that I’ve added oil as an optional ingredient.  The bread tastes fine without it.  However we freeze our bread.  We noticed that after freezing the toasted crust is a little tough without the oil.

Note that this bread doesn’t have any oil.  That’s not a typo.  There’s no oil in this recipe.  I think the fat may come from the milk fat instead of oil or butter.  If anyone tries this recipe using fat free milk please leave a comment and let me know how it turns out.  I used 2% milk and the bread was great.

I’m going to experiment with this bread.   The below makes about a 1.5 pound loaf.  I’d like a recipe for 2 pounds.  What happens when regular (non sour) milk is used?  What happens if you use buttermilk?  I see variations aplenty with this one!

Sour Milk Bread

1 ⅛ cups sour milk
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.

Chocolate Bread

1  3/8  Cup milk
1 Egg, lightly beaten
4  ¼ Cups bread flour
2 Tablespoon butter
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast
2/3 Cup chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

This makes a two pound loaf. Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  Most of the time though, the above amounts should be just right.

If I had to pick between the two varieties of chocolate bread, I’d pick this one.  The chocolate flavor was more pronounced and there was no pesky coconut to toast.

Chocolate Coconut Bread
1 Cup milk
3 Tablespoons water
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
4 teaspoons butter
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 Cups bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons yeast
½ Cup chocolate chips
½ Cup toasted coconut (more about this later)

This makes a two pound loaf. Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  Most of the time though, the above amounts should be just right.

Different people will have different results with this recipe.  It all depends on how hot your bread machine gets.  The chips may just slightly melt, they may entirely melt, or you could get some sort of mixture.  I used mini chocolate chips for maximum melting.  Plus, mini chocolate chips are very cute.    Here’s how my bread turned out.

The bread is chocolate flavored with the occasional chocolate burst caused by an unmelted chip.  The coconut is very subtle.  The next time I make this recipe I’m going to double the coconut.

Toasting Coconut

This was the first time I toasted coconut.  I preheated the oven to 300 degrees and spread the coconut out in a baking dish.

I cooked it for 20 minutes and stirred it every five minutes.  Coconut can burn very quickly, so keep an eye on it.  Here’s how it looked after 20 minutes.

Hawaiian Bread
¾ cup pineapple juice
1 egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 ½ Tablespoons sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons milk
1 ½ teaspoons yeast

This makes a two pound loaf. Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  Most of the time though, the above amounts should be just right.

I made mine with the bread machine set at medium crust.  It came out a little darker than I’d like.  The next time I’m going to use the light crust setting.

We found the crust to be extra flaky and the bread had a cake-like texture.  It was great!

Potato Bread

2/3 C. Water
3/4 C. Milk
1 Egg, beaten
4 C. Bread Flour
2/3 C. Potato Flakes
4 teaspoons Sugar
1  teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 – 1/4 teaspoons Yeast

This makes a two pound loaf. Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.

Taco Bread

1 – 1/2 C. Water
2 – 2/3 C. Bread Flour
2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
3 Tbsp Taco seasoning mix
1 – 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Yeast

This makes a two pound loaf. Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.

What’s all the stuff happening on the top of the loaf?  It’s just the way it came out of the machine.  Chances are that your loaf will look more “normal” than this. 

Raspberry Bread

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/4 butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons orange zest
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Use the “light” crust setting.

Because different preserves have different consistencies, it’s a good idea to check on this bread after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  I had to add a little flour to mine.

Apricot Bread

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 1/2 cups bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.

Because different preserves have different consistencies, it’s a good idea to check on this bread after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  Just pop the top of the bread machine and see how the dough is doing.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  Most of the time though, the above amounts should be just right.

As you can see by the below photo the bread came out a little dark.  I used the medium crust setting on this loaf.  Next time I’m going to use the light setting.

We don’t have wheat bread very often at our house.  (Mr. Diva is not a fan.)  However I enjoy a nice hearty bread.  This bread is indeed hearty, without being overwhelmingly so.

Bread Machine Wheat Bread

1 – 1/2 C. Water
2 – 2/3 C. Bread Flour
2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 – 1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp Yeast

This makes a two pound loaf. Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first. This recipe can be cooked either on the white or wheat setting.