1 lb Bread Machine Italian Herb Bread

This 1 lb bread machine Italian herb bread is a delicious recipe designed for small compact bread machines. I like to make this light & fluffy herb bread when I want to add a little extra flavor to my sandwiches. This bread is also great as a tasty side dish for dipping into soups or mopping up spaghetti sauce!

Recipe Sections

1. Ingredients
2. Instructions
3. Helpful Tips

This 1 lb bread machine recipe is ONLY for small compact bread machines (such as the Briskind Compact Bread Maker or Zojirushi Mini Breadmaker). 1 lb bread machine recipes do NOT work well in large bread machines that have 2 lb or greater loaf capacities. See my tips section below for more information.

Sliced Italian Herb Bread – You Can See The Herbs In The Bread

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup – Milk (warm) – 177 milliliters
• 3 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (sliced & softened) – 43 grams – If you prefer, you can replace the butter with olive oil.
• 2 Cups – Bread Flour – 240 grams
• 1 Tablespoon – White Granulated Sugar – 12.5 grams
• 2 Teaspoons – Italian Herbs Seasoning – 4 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Onion Powder (optional) – 2 grams
• 3/4 Teaspoon – Salt – 4.5 grams
• 3/4 Teaspoon – Bread Machine Yeast (or Instant Yeast) – 2.7 grams – Not active dry yeast

Servings – Roughly 9 slices

Equipment Needed – Measuring cup & spoons, silicone spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack and a bread machine.

Dough For Bread Machine Italian Herb Bread

You Can Use This Bread To Make A “Herby” Oven Baked Grilled Cheese

Instructions

• Bread machine settings – 1 pound loaf, light color and “basic/white” bread setting.
• Soften the butter in your microwave. FYI – I like to semi-melt the butter for better “mixability”.
• Unplug your bread machine.
• Remove the bread pan from the unplugged bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
• Pour the milk into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid or salt (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine). Put the bread pan with ingredients back into the unplugged bread machine.
• Plug in bread machine. Enter the correct settings (1 lb, light color & basic/white bread) and press the “start” button.
• When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine and remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan & bread machine will be hot.
• Remove the bread from the bread pan and place the bread on a wire cooling rack. Use oven mitts when removing the bread as the bread & bread pan will be hot.
• Let the bread cool on the cooling rack for 1 to 2 hours before cutting. FYI – This helps the bread to firm up & set properly and prevents the bread from having a “gummy” interior texture. See the tips section below for more details.
• Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully & to avoid common bread machine problems.

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Helpful Tips

• The tips below are designed to help bread machine “novices” and those who haven’t touched their bread machine in years.
• Click on this “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include my tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy 1 lb Bread Machine Recipes such as banana bread, super soft white bread, oatmeal bread and multigrain bread.

• This is the 1 lb version of my popular Bread Machine Italian Herb Bread recipe (which is focused on making larger 1.5 & 2 lb loaves).
• As I stated at the top of the page, this recipe is ONLY for small compact bread machines.
• 1 lb bread machine recipes generally do NOT work well in larger machines with 2 lb loaf capacities, especially if the machines have 2 paddles or a wide horizontal bread pan. However, some visitors have success making 1 lb recipes in a 2 lb “compact” bread machine with a vertical-oriented bread pan (a pan with a square bottom that mainly pushes the bread upwards versus a pan with a wide rectangular bottom)
• If you use larger bread machines with 2 paddles or a wide horizontal bread pan, a 1 lb loaf usually comes out more like a pancake (with lots of exterior crust and less of the soft interior).
• Moreover, some small compact machines have problems with 1.5 lb online recipes (even if the manufacturer says their machine can handle 1.5 lb loaves). This was another reason for Bread Dad to make some 1 lb loaf recipes.
• FYI – I have added a page to Bread Dad with Bread Machine Pan Sizes for a number of popular bread machines. This should help you to determine if your machine is capable of handling Bread Dad’s 1 lb, 1.5 lb or 2 lb recipes.

• WARNING – Since 1 lb recipes use smaller amounts of ingredients, it is easier to mess up 1 lb recipes!! There is less room for measuring errors versus larger loaves. To make 1 lb loaf recipes successfully, you need to measure accurately (no eyeballing ingredients).
• The top of your bread can sometimes be a little lumpy due to the smaller amounts of ingredients in a 1 lb loaf. Why? Because, as I stated above, there is less room for measurement errors in small loaves versus large loaves. A little too much moisture or flour has a bigger impact on a 1 lb loaf versus a 2 lb loaf.
• To make my 1 lb bread maker recipes, I own & use a Briskind Compact Bread Maker Machine. In case you are interested, another popular (but more expensive) bread machine focused on making 1 lb loaves is the Zojirushi BB-HAC10 Mini Breadmaker.

• Optional – If you have run out of Italian seasoning, you can replace it with DRIED rosemary. I do not recommend using fresh rosemary because you need to have 3 times the amount of fresh rosemary compared to dried rosemary (e.g. 3 teaspoons of fresh rosemary has the same flavor as 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary). Dried rosemary has more concentrated flavor per teaspoon (because it is not diluted by the water weight found in fresh rosemary).
• Optional – I like adding onion powder to this recipe in order to add extra flavor to the bread. However, this is purely optional and you can omit the onion powder if your family wouldn’t like a very mild onion flavor in their bread.
• FYI – I use 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning in this 1 lb bread machine Italian herb bread recipe. However, if you want the same “herb” ratio as my 2 lb bread machine recipe, you should use 2 1/4 teaspoons of Italian seasoning. I just rounded down to 2 teaspoons in order to make things easier for people (in case they don’t have a billion different measuring spoons).
• Visitors – What herbs do you like to use when making an Italian herb bread? Italian seasoning? Dried rosemary? Thyme? Oregano? Other? Please leave your herb ideas & suggestions in the comment section below.

• Do NOT use cold milk. The main problem with using regular milk is that people tend to use cold refrigerated milk and this can slow the yeast growth. Try to use warm milk (or instant powdered milk mixed into warm water). If the milk is just coming out of the refrigerator and thus is too cold, I like to put the milk in my microwave for 15-20 seconds in order to warm it up. However, you should also be aware that the milk/water should not be too hot because very hot milk/water can kill the yeast.
• The ideal temperature for liquid ingredients used when making bread machine bread is around 100 to 110 F. Cold liquids (such as water & milk straight from the refrigerator) will slow yeast growth and liquid ingredients that are 140 F or above can kill the yeast. Some people like to use a digital bread thermometer in order to measure the temperature of their liquid ingredients.

• Optional – If you want to make this white bread even softer, you should use buttermilk (instead of the milk called for in the recipe). The slight acidity of buttermilk “tenderizes” gluten and creates a softer bread.
• Optional – You can also use non-dairy milk substitutes such as plain (non-flavored) soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, etc.
• Optional – If you have run out of dairy milk or non-dairy milk, you can use water as a substitute. However, while still good, bread made with water will be a little less tasty.
• Optional – If you do not have butter or do not want to use butter (e.g. due to its saturated fat), you can use olive oil as a substitute. Therefore, instead of 3 tablespoons of softened/melted butter, you would use 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

• If you try to substitute garlic powder for the onion powder called for in this recipe, this recipe will not work as well. Garlic inhibits yeast growth and your bread might have trouble rising properly. Solution – Instead of using dehydrated garlic powder, you should mince & FRY fresh garlic (as the frying will destroy the antimicrobial effect) before adding it to this bread.
• FYI – Italian seasoning is often made from the following herbs; basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme. You can find bottles of dried Italian herb seasoning in the supermarket. Or you can concoct your own mixture out of your favorite dried Italian herbs. If you want to learn more about Italian seasoning, you should read this Wikipedia page.

• Many bakers like to make a small pocket in the top of the flour in order to hold the bread machine yeast in place (looks sort of like a small flour volcano with a yeast crater). This is done to prevent the yeast from falling into the liquid ingredients (and activating prematurely), coming into contact with the salt, etc. until the bread machine is turned on.
• Do not place the salt on top of the yeast (as the salt can kill the yeast or limit the yeast’s growth) when adding the dry ingredients into the bread pan. You can use the yeast “pocket” method (see bullet point above) to keep the salt & yeast separate until the bread machine starts to mix the ingredients. Place the yeast in the pocket and place the salt away from the yeast on one of the sides of the bread pan.

• Always use FRESH ingredients (e.g. bread flour and yeast) for the best results. Ingredients that have been sitting in the pantry for months can become stale or pick up weird smells & flavors.
• Try to keep your ingredients (e.g. flour) in airtight food containers in order to extend their shelf life. Airtight containers protect ingredients from moisture (in the air), pests, dust, etc.
• Flour absorbs moisture from the air (if kept in an open bag and not an airtight container). This extra moisture throws off recipes and can lead to bread collapses, etc.
• Although 99% of the time my recipes do not need any extra attention, I still like to check the dough in my bread machine after the first 4 or 5 minutes of mixing. Factors such as flour absorbing moisture from the air, a humid kitchen or minor inaccuracies in measuring ingredients can all affect the dough’s consistency. If the dough is looking too wet (semi-soupy), I add some flour (a little bit at a time) until the dough consistency looks correct. Check your bread machine’s instruction manual on how to do this safely & effectively with your specific machine.

• In case you are looking at getting a bread machine to make 1 lb recipes, here are some of the benefits of a small compact bread machine; 1 lb loaves are perfect for single people or people who don’t want a ton of bread, a compact machine takes up less space in the kitchen (so more convenient for an apartment versus buying a giant bread machine), it uses less energy than a large bread machine, it creates smaller sandwich slices (sometimes, in my opinion, the slices from 2 lb loaves are too large – especially for kids), etc.
• The disadvantages of a small compact bread machine; small bread pan capacity (so you can’t make a larger loaf if you have guests coming over), not many online recipes are focused on 1 lb loaves, sometimes 1 lb loaves have more uneven crusts (vs bread made with larger horizontal bread pans), etc.
• Visitors – What compact bread machine did you use to make this recipe (such as Briskind Compact Bread Maker or Zojirushi Mini Breadmaker)? Please post your machine & any compact bread machine tips in the comment section below.

• Make sure to level off the ingredients in your measuring spoons & cups. No “mountains” of ingredients in your spoons & cups!! If you add too much of an ingredient, you can have a baking problem.
• Or if you have a kitchen scale, you can weigh your ingredients for more consistent results. You will find gram/milliliter measurements in the recipe’s ingredient list. FYI – Many Europeans prefer to weigh their ingredients versus using measuring cups & spoons.
• FYI – I always like to give my flour container a quick shake in order to aerate and fluff the flour before I measure it with a measuring cup. This easy method helps to reduce the chance of using heavily compacted flour.
• You should let your bread completely cool down before slicing. If you try cutting bread while it is still warm, you will squash & compress the bread and interfere with the bread slowly releasing the steam/water vapor from the interior. Thus premature slicing can negatively impact the bread by making the bread gummy. FYI – It can take 1 to 2 hours for a bread to completely cool.

• This recipe is based on bread flour (and not all purpose flour). A bread made with all purpose flour will NOT be as good as one made with bread flour. Most sandwich bread recipes use bread flour because bread flour has more gluten than all purpose flour. This helps to add “structure” to the bread and capture more of the CO2 “bubbles” put out by the bread yeast. Thus bread flour breads tend to be fluffier than all purpose flour breads.
• Moreover, since all purpose flour has less gluten than bread flour, breads made with all purpose flour do not hold together as well as breads made with bread flour. Gluten provides structural strength to bread. Breads made with all purpose flour will in general “crumble” and/or break more easily when sliced (versus breads made with bread flour).
• This recipe will NOT work with gluten free flour. Gluten free flour differs significantly versus flours with gluten and requires you to use recipes specifically designed for the use of gluten free flour. If you use gluten free flour in this recipe, you are likely to have a baking disaster.

• This recipe uses bread machine yeast (instant yeast). It does NOT use active dry yeast.
• Bread machine yeast and instant yeast are not the same as active dry yeast. Bread machine yeast and instant yeast are added directly to the recipe’s ingredients. In contrast, active dry yeast must be activated in water/milk before being added to a recipe’s ingredients. If you try to use active dry yeast for this recipe, it is much less likely to work properly (as the recipe instructions & leavening time is based on the use of bread machine yeast). Examples of yeast that can be used for this recipe include Fleischmann’s Bread Machine Yeast, Fleischmann’s Instant Yeast, Saf Instant Yeast, Red Star Instant Yeast, etc. You should not use active dry yeasts for this recipe such as Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast, Red Star Active Dry Yeast, etc.
• If you haven’t used your bread machine or bread maker in a long time, please buy some NEW bread machine yeast before making your bread. Old yeast can die or lose its potency and this will lead to bread that does not rise properly. Bread machine yeast is not likely to be viable if it has been sitting in your pantry for years.
• If your dough is having trouble rising properly, you should check out my How To Test Yeast page. This yeast test will show you if your yeast is alive & active or dead/expired. It will save you from a few bread disasters!
• I would recommend NOT reducing the salt in this recipe. You generally want to keep the salt-to-yeast ratio at a 1:1 basis in most bread recipes (1:1 based on teaspoons to teaspoons and NOT grams to grams). The salt moderates the growth of the yeast. If you cut the salt (and disrupt this 1:1 ratio), the yeast will grow faster than expected. In turn, this leads to more bread collapses (because the yeast rises too high and then craters in the middle) and/or results in “slack” less manageable dough. In addition, less salt will impact the flavor and browning of the bread.

• If your bread comes out too dense, it is likely due to one of the following reasons; You are using old or stale yeast, using a cold refrigerator temperature liquid (which slows yeast growth), baking in a cold winter temperature kitchen (yeast likes kitchen temps of 75-80 degree F), using all purpose flour (versus bread flour as called for in the recipe), placing salt on top of or next to the yeast (salt kills yeast so it must be placed away from the yeast in the bread pan), etc. For more reasons, you should visit Bread Dad’s Why Is My Bread Machine Bread So Dense? page.
• Cooler home temperatures in the winter can cause rising problems for bread dough. Ideally, your room temperature should be around 75-80 degrees F. Colder winter room temperatures can significantly delay the rise of the dough. You will need to raise the temperature of your kitchen (if you like a cold house in the winter) or find a warm spot for the dough to rise. I often put my dough (covered of course) next to a heating vent in the winter to make sure it is getting enough heat.
• Conversely, dough can rise faster than expected in a very hot kitchen.

• Kitchen humidity can impact a recipe. A winter kitchen tends to be drier due to your heating system drying out the air. In contrast, a kitchen in the summer can be much more humid. This change in humidity impacts baking as flour can soak up humidity from the air. Therefore, you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid in the winter if the dough is looking too dry. Or you might have to add 1-2 teaspoons of flour in the summer if the dough is looking too wet. If your kitchen is very dry or humid, you might have to add even a little more (but start with 1 teaspoon at a time until you achieve the right consistency). Of course, excessive kitchen humidity or dryness can impact a recipe at any time during the year (not just in the summer & winter)!
• This is one of the reasons that people should store flour in an airtight container if they have already opened the flour package. The flour will pick up extra moisture from the air while sitting in the pantry and this can throw off recipes, spoil flavor, degrade shelf life, etc.
• Having trouble with bread collapses & misshapen bread tops? Make sure to read Bread Dad’s article on Bread Machine Bread Collapses. It has reasons and solutions to potential bread collapses.
• For information on other possible errors, please visit my Common Bread Machine Mistakes page.

• If you have a problem with a “basic” bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (e.g. using the correct bread machine settings), using the correct amount of an ingredient (e.g. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (e.g. bread machine yeast versus regular yeast or bread flour versus all purpose flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes.
• If you start substituting ingredients (e.g. using different types of flour not called for in the recipe), you are experimenting and should not expect similar results to the recipe shown above. Experimenting can be fun. However, you should expect some successes but more potential disappointments when you start to experiment with recipes. For example, if you substitute whole wheat flour for bread flour, you will probably experience a problem (as whole wheat flour doesn’t rise nearly as well as bread flour). Moreover, whole wheat flour has a totally different flavor.

• You can also use this homemade bread to make one of Bread Dad’s delicious & toasty Grilled Cheese & Panini Sandwich Recipes.
• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (e.g. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (e.g. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (e.g. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Before using any bread machine, you should read the bread machine manufacturer’s instructions in order to use the bread machine effectively and safely.
• For more easy bread ideas, please visit Bread Dad’s sections on Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes.

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Reference Sources

1. Wikipedia, Bread Machine
2. Wikipedia, Italian Seasoning
3. Wikipedia, Rosemary

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