I’ve told you before that cooking is not really my thing, but I am a pretty good baker. Especially desserts for special occasions, like holidays and birthdays. I have some awesome Christmas cookie recipes that we only make at the holidays and occasionally I bake biscuits or cinnamon rolls. But I have never baked a loaf of bread before in my life. And I wanted to do that.
So I asked Santa for a bread machine for Christmas and the big guy came through with a beautiful Cuisinart, not too expensive and probably lots more bells and whistles than I need. I chose a medium sized (1-1/2 pound loaf) of cinnamon swirl raisin bread for my first attempt. How hard could that be, right?
Well, I perused the directions and got my ingredients out. I warmed the milk to room temperature and had bread flour and a new jar of fresh yeast. I put everything in exactly as the recipe said, chose the settings and started the machine.
When it dinged five times I opened it and took out the dough to roll it out, sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and raisins and roll it up and tuck it back into the machine. It kept dinging annoyingly the whole time until I hit stop while I rolled out the dough. Then I turned the machine back on but instead of resuming, it started kneading my dough again! Because it had gone back to the beginning of the cycle instead of resuming. Because I had shut it off.
I didn’t want to waste the whole unbaked loaf, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Then I realized there was a bake only setting and changed the machine to that, to bake for an hour. But then I panicked because I didn’t know if the bread should rise again, so I turned the machine off (again!) And let the loaf sit for an hour or so. It did rise some more, I’m not really sure how much. So I finally just baked it.
All in all, the bread came out looking and tasting okay. In reading the directions more carefully, I found the five dings signal when to add in ingredients, six dings would have signalled when all the kneading and stuff was done and I should have rolled out the dough. I should have just left the top open and not turned the machine off to finish rising and baking.
Tomorrow I might try just a plain white sandwich loaf and see how that goes before I work my way through the recipe book. 🙂
I bought a bread maker and made one loaf. I can bake a pie though. Laughed out loud at the pic!
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Yeah, not sure if I’ll use it all the time but maybe for a big group…or not! Good job on the pie!
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there’s always the bakery! 🙂
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Right now I’m determined it’s not going to get the best of me, so until we reach a truce, I’m going to keep experimenting 🙂
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Way to go!!
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I could so easily imagine myself in this scenario.😄 The only difference is neither cooking or baking are my thing. Delightful story.
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Haha, don’t know how I’ve kept the kids alive for so long! I’ve tried to get better at it, just not a cook at heart, I guess 🙂
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😂Yup, same here. I remember when my oldest son was in second grade and he asked me to bake some cupcakes, like all the other moms, to take to school on his birthday. After I got done laughing we went to the bakery to buy cupcakes. Tsk, tsk, poor kid.🤣
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Hahaha!
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Oh no! I’m glad the loaf was still good. Trying a recipe that doesn’t require additions midway through the cycle will go much better for sure. But yay! I’m glad you got the bread maker! We gonna Boulangerie this year!
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Lol, I should have just done something super easy at first. But I think I still have to open it and take the little kneading paddle out before it bakes…
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Hahahaha!!!!! YES! But its a mistake we’ve all made! 😃😃😃
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Hahaha…I could easily see myself screwing up the dings!
“If at first you don’t succeed…” 🙂
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Oh wow, you have to count the dings. That would be hard. That’s exactly when the dogs would start barking. 🙂
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I know, and in my defense, the directions were not totally clear!
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or as Laura says the telephone start ringing. I think I will stick with bakery. Hope you are feeling good. Wishing you a healthy New Year.
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I know! Thought it would be foolproof, lol. I’m doing well, thanks, hope the same for you!
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Mmmmmmm…. bread. And kneading…is one of my favorite things, ever. Something about beating up on that dough ??? ☺
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Yes, lots of punching, lol
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Lol! You’ll get the hang of it. It sounds delicious! I suck at baking, so….
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No bread machine is going to defeat me! 😀
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No way!
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I don’t have a Cuisinart but I love my bread machine. The problem I have with it is that sometimes (for no reason that I can figure) the loaf will rise unevenly. So, I will have a very tall left side and a somewhat shorter right side. Looks funny but tastes great. Don’t give up. Even funny loaves are yummy and the house smells so much better than when you buy a loaf in a plastic bag!
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I’m going to try again, it’s not getting the best of me, lol!
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Oh no — don’t let it get you! You will conquer it, I am confident! And, you will be eating yummy bread in the meantime! 🙂
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What an adventure!
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I swear, I’ll get the hang of it! 🙂
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You will!
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The dings would have me batty in seconds! Glad the loaf turned out. ❤
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In my defense, the directions were not super clear, lol. And I should have started with a simpler recipe first! Oh, well, live and learn, right?
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Of COURSE they were unclear. 😉 That is a given. 🙂
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That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
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😉
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That picture is hysterical. I have no doubt the directions could have been a tad clearer. Seems to be the way of the world these days. Buyer beware? Buyer to learn how to work the machine only by trial and error. Fresh baked bread is the best. DING. Oh, my time is up…!
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I love that picture, too! Today I’m attempting French bread. We shall see 🙂
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Funny tale. I’m sure it will get easier with experience. Meanwhile, don’t you just love the aroma of the freshly baked bread? (Are you by any chance a member of the “read the directions if all else fails” club?)
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It smelled wonderful and I really did read the directions. Well, maybe a little too quickly, lol!
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You are so funny! I am one of those freaks who reads the directions 20 times before I start anything… then I keep them nearby since I’ll still forget something anyway… hahaha! And I cannot imagine that cinnamon swirl anything could ever turn out anything but good!
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Thank goodness it tasted good. If it just hadn’t kept beeping at me!
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Haha!
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Good luck with the white bread! I have always thought a bread machine would be great. And then I realize I probably don’t need another kitchen gadget (says someone who got three of them for Christmas – and that’s just what I can think of off the top of my head).
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I get it. Had to find a place for the Soda Stream that we used for awhile then got bored with 🙂
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Yay! Learning!
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Hopefully 🙂
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Gadgets! Gotta love them, bells, whistles, and all.
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I always think I’ll use them!
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Experimenting is what makes it fun!! Who cares how the machine works lol. Enjoy your new toy ❤
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Thank you, today I’m making French bread but I’m doing dough in the machine and baking it in the oven. Fingers crossed!
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Haha! You’re a trooper, Betty Crocker
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Lol, I’m surprised my children made it to adulthood.
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Lol! I know exactly what you mean.
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Sometimes these new gadgets, just aren’t as easy to operate as they seem. Lol…. 😉
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I know, I thought there would be nothing to it, but it’s a lit like baking! 🙂
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I don’t know if it helps any, but I’ve never had much luck with bread machines and I’ve had two. Eventually I just used them to make the dough, because if I baked it in the oven I didn’t have to be as careful with ingredients. 🙂
At least you have a new toy to play with, right? Have fun!
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You know, I think that’s the way to go. I did a loaf of Fench bread today, just the dough, and baked it in the oven and its perfect. I don’t see how a loaf in the machine would bake the same way because the shape is so different
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Exactly. The oven gives a much better crust, but even so, the machine makes great dough. I never had much patience for all the kneading.
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I’m making pizza dough right now, my French bread is going to become garlic bread. I might have found my niche!
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Don’t give up Diane. Trust me, I was a novice once but now I’m a pro! And there’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread.
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I’m trying some more, using regular flour along with the bread flour, mixing in the bread maker but baking it in the oven instead
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Sounds good. Do you have pre made packets of bread mixes over there? Where you just add the yeast and water.
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There are some, yes. And some mixes made especially for a bread machine.
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Some of them are pretty good.
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Ha! You sound like me…directions ah who needs directions!! But kudos to you for attempting it again…I would have gone to the grocery store and bought one!! hee hee…you’ll be a master breadmaker before you know! 🙂
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I’ve tried a few more, but there’s only so much bread you can eat! But it smells so good when it’s baking 🙂
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Haha! Oh technology. 🙂 And what a nice Santa!
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I do like it, will experiment more. But I like baking in the oven better than in the bread machine
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Bread is so tricky! I am currently in trial-and-eror mode with a 3 ingredient bread dough using wild yeast cultures. It is a labor of love! Thanks for the post.
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Thanks, I’ve never heard of wild yeast cultures. I want to keep experimenting. I like the machine for prep but like baking the breads in the oven better. Thanks for visiting!
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