We just got one for Christmas too! I refuse to buy bread from the grocery store anymore! It has too many 'fillers' and preservatives in it!!! YUCK! My daughter has had many health issues with digestion and we found out about 4 months ago that her body cannot absorb high fructose corn syrup, corn sugar, honey or a lot of the 'man made sugars' out on the market. Well, that left us 2 different types of loaves that we could purchase in the store...they were costing us a lot more than just a basic loaf of bread!
SO, I asked my hubby to get me a bread maker for Christmas. I use it every two or three days! Some days I'll use it 2-3 days in a row!
One of our favorite recipes that I've made several times now just in the last few weeks is Cinnamon bread. In fact, my kids beg for me to make it as soon as we are done with a loaf!
Bread Machine Cinnamon bread:
1 cup of water
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons real butter
3 ¼ cup of bread flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 package or 2 teaspoons yeast
Whisk the egg until it's frothy.
Add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order listed.
Make a well in the flour and place the yeast in the well to keep it separate from the wet ingredients.
Use the knead setting on your bread machine to knead the dough.
When the cycle is complete, roll out the dough to a 13x9 inch rectangle.
filling:
1 TBSP room temp butter...RUB all over the 13x9 bread rectangle and sprinkle with:
Cinnamon, sugar and brown sugar. People seem to like different amounts of each of these, but what works for me is 3 TBSPNS Cinnamon (more or less if you like otherwise!), 3 TBSPNS Brown sugar and 2 Tbspns sugar. Like I said, go by what YOU feel your family will like with this 'cinnamon sugar mixture' because I've had to change my amounts twice before we got the right one for us.
THEN, Roll up the bread. Seal all of the edges, so filling won't leak out and bake in a sprayed loaf pan.
I have a smaller loaf pan, so i actually 1/2 the dough and make 2 of these rolls. I bake mine for about 15 minutes, but start checking it around the 12 minute mark. Take it out of the oven, rub a small amount of butter on top and sprinkle with a little more cinnamon and sugar (leave out the brown sugar in this step). It is so yummy!
My girls love the 'swirls' in the bread loaf. They love to bring it to school in their sack lunches! I've had to limit them!
We also love this buns recipe
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon fast rising yeast or 1 tablespoon bread machine yeast
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg , lightly beaten
Put the ingredients in bread machine pan in the following order: milk, oil, sugar, salt, beaten egg, and flour. Make a little well in the flour and add the yeast to flour. Put bread machine on the dough setting, let it finish and then spray a baking dish/pan and start to form rolls placing them on the pan. (Give them enough room to raise so that they touch after baked) Cover them with saran wrap (coat lightly with cooking spray so it won't stick to the rolls). Let them raise for about 45 minutes to an hour- it will depend on the heat/moisture in your kitchen...then bake 12-17 minutes at 350 degrees. cool on a cooling rack and store in plastic bag (they MUST be completely cool before putting them into the bag, or they will become soggy.)
