This all purpose flour bread machine recipe creates an old-fashioned country white bread. Moreover, it is simple & easy to make… as your bread machine does most of the hard work!
Have you ever said something like “$&@! I am out of bread flour. How am I going to make some decent bread now?“. Unfortunately, lots of bread recipes call for the use of bread flour. However, there are many times when you find yourself with only all-purpose flour at home (i.e. you ran out of bread flour). Therefore, I decided to create an easy all-purpose flour bread machine recipe that you can use to create a “country” white bread. It only uses simple ingredients such as milk, butter, eggs… and all purpose flour! This basic white bread is perfect for sandwiches or toast.
Of course, this is not some fancy artisanal bread… rather, it is a good emergency recipe if you are missing bread flour and only have all purpose flour in the pantry. It allows you to create a nice sandwich bread or toast with your bread machine & all purpose flour. Moreover, this easy recipe hopefully saves you from making a special trip to the supermarket in order to buy some bread flour!!!
All Purpose Flour Bread Machine Recipe – Finished Loaf
Since all purpose flour has less gluten than bread flour, all purpose flour breads often do not rise as well as bread flour breads. The extra gluten in bread flour helps to “trap” the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast and this results in a better rise. Therefore, to offset this “rising” issue, I added an egg to the bread machine white bread recipe (because eggs have a modest positive leavening effect).
Sliced Country White Bread (made with All Purpose Flour)
Since this white bread contains eggs, I decided to turn this all purpose flour bread recipe into a great country white bread recipe. Country white breads are usually made with milk, butter and eggs… things that you might find on a farm (i.e. in the “country”side). These ingredients help to produce a more old fashioned but delicious “homemade” type of white bread.
Ingredients – All Purpose Flour Bread Machine Recipe
- 7/8 Cup – Whole Milk (lukewarm) – 7/8 cup equals 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons – 200 milliliters
- 4 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
- 1 Large Egg (lightly beaten)
- 3 Cups – All Purpose Flour – 360 grams
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons – White Granulated Sugar – 19 grams
- 1 Teaspoon – Salt – 5 milliliters
- 1 Teaspoon – Bread Machine Yeast – 5 milliliters
- Optional – 2 Teaspoons – Italian Seasoning (if you want to make a country “herb” bread) – 10 milliliters
Key Ingredient – All Purpose Flour
Servings – Roughly 12 slices
- Equipment used for this recipe – Measuring cup & spoons, flexible spatula, oven mitts, cooling rack… and of course, a bread machine!
Instructions – All Purpose Flour Bread Machine Recipe
- Settings – 1.5 lb, light color and basic bread
- Unplug your bread machine.
- Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
- Soften the butter in your microwave.
- Lightly beat the egg.
- Pour the milk, butter & egg into the bread pan and then add the dry ingredients. Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine).
- Put the bread pan with the ingredients back into unplugged bread machine.
- Plug in the bread machine. Enter the correct settings (1.5 lb, light color & basic bread) and press the “start” button.
- When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine.
- Take the bread pan out of the bread machine.
- Remove the bread from the bread pan and place it on a cooling rack. Use oven mitts when removing the bread pan from the bread machine because it will be very hot! Let the bread cool down on the cooling rack for at least 1-2 hours.
- Please read the tips section below for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.
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Tips
- The tips below are for bread machine “novices”. Hopefully, these tips will help you to maximize the success of your bread machine white bread.
- If you want to print out this recipe, please scroll down the page to our recipe widget “box”. You will find a “print recipe” button located right under the product image photo in this box. Click on that button in order to print out the basic recipe instructions.
- As I said at the top of the page, this recipe does not produce a fancy artisanal bread… as we are using a bread machine! Rather, it creates a nice white bread especially if you only have all purpose flour at home. It is perfect for lunch sandwiches or toast.
- This bread machine white bread recipe makes what is known as a country white bread or farm bread. This type of bread uses typical farm (country-side) ingredients such as milk, butter and eggs.
- Country white breads are an old-fashioned style of sandwich bread with (in my opinion) a nice homemade taste. However, if you are looking for an extra soft white bread, you should try Bread Dad’s Bread Machine Buttermilk Bread. Or if your family can’t eat eggs, you should try our buttery Bread Machine White Bread.
- Milk and butter help to provide a richer flavor to bread machine white bread recipes. These ingredients also help to soften white breads. Eggs help with things such as color, leavening, structure and moisture in this all purpose flour bread machine recipe.
- The interior of country white breads is usually white with a slight tinge of yellow because of the eggs.
- Optional – If you find white bread a little too bland, you can easily tweak this bread machine white recipe in order to create a country “herb” bread. Just pour in 2 teaspoons of your family’s favorite herb (i.e. rosemary or Italian seasoning) when adding the dry ingredients to the bread pan.
- As you probably know, all purpose flour is used to make many types of baked goods (i.e. cookies, cakes… and bread!) whereas bread flour is used primarily for making bread. Most of us have tons of all purpose flour at home (because it is used in so many recipes) but we might not have any bread flour. Therefore, in order to save you from a trip to the supermarket in order to buy bread flour, I created a simple white bread recipe that uses all purpose flour.
- You can use low fat milk but whole milk creates a bread with more flavor.
- 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 lukewarm milk (or instant powdered milk mixed into warm water). However, you should also be aware that the milk/water should not be too hot because very hot milk/water can kill the yeast.
- Many bakers (myself included) like to make an indent 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.
- Sometimes a little flour will stick to the sides of the bread pan during the mixing process. Therefore, during the “pause” between the first and second mixing cycle (when the mixing paddle has fully stopped), I like to scrape the flour from the inside of the bread pan with a soft flexible spatula. Of course, always wear oven gloves when dealing with a bread machine & don’t put your hands inside the machine.
- Do not leave the bread in the bread pan (or the bottom may become too moist). Unlike a quick bread recipe (i.e. banana bread), regular bread should be removed from the bread pan as soon as it is taken out of the bread machine.
- After removing the bread from the bread pan, don’t forget to remove the mixing paddle if it is stuck in the bread. Use oven mitts as the mixing paddle will be very hot coming out of the bread machine. Or wait until the bread is completely cooled and then remove the mixing paddle.
- Before cutting the bread, you should allow it to completely cool. Otherwise, the sliced bread will come out “gummy”. The cooling process is essential for the creation of good breads (because it allows excess moisture to escape as the bread cools). This helps to create a firm and airy bread.
- Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. flour) 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 (i.e. flour) in airtight containers in order to extend their shelf life.
- If you have a problem with a “basic” bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly (i.e. using the correct bread machine settings), using the correct amount of an ingredient (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measurement cup or accidentally add a tablespoon when a teaspoon is called for), using the correct ingredients (i.e. 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 (i.e. different types of flour), 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.
- Be aware that some bread recipes may differ slightly between different types of bread machines & bread makers. Therefore, please read your bread machine manufacturer’s instructions for basic bread recipes (i.e. white bread or whole wheat bread) as these are more likely to work on your individual bread machine.
- 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. Moreover, if the bread machine yeast is exposed to air & moisture (i.e. the bottle not sealed tight) or is exposed to higher temperatures, the yeast will expire even more quickly.
- My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. 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 (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
- Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine. The bread pan and the rest of the bread machine can get very hot during the baking process. This means that the bread pan and bread machine is likely to be very hot when you attempt to remove a baked good from the bread machine and/or bread pan.
- Visit Bread Dad’s sections for Bread Machine Recipes and Homemade Bread Recipes for more easy bread ideas.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. We LOVE to hear from people who have enjoyed our recipes!!
Reference Sources
- Wikipedia, Bread Machine
- Wikipedia, Flour
- Wikipedia, White Bread
All Purpose Flour Bread Machine Recipe (Country White Bread)
This all purpose flour bread machine recipe creates an old-fashioned country white bread. Moreover, it is simple & easy to make… as your bread machine does most of the hard work! Visit Bread Dad (BreadDad.com) for more easy bread machine recipes.
Servings: 12 Slices
Calories: 172kcal
Ingredients
- 7/8 Cup Whole Milk (lukewarm) – 7/8 cup equals 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons – 200 milliliters
- 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (softened) – 57 grams
- 1 Egg (large)
- 3 Cups All Purpose Flour – 360 grams
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons White Granulated Sugar – 19 grams
- 1 Teaspoon Salt – 5 milliliters
- 1 Teaspoon Bread Machine Yeast – 5 milliliters
Instructions
- Settings – 1.5 lb, light color and basic bread
- Unplug your bread machine.
- Remove the bread pan from the bread machine (so when you add the ingredients, they can not accidentally spill into the machine).
- Soften the butter in your microwave.
- Lightly beat the egg.
- Pour the milk, butter & egg into the bread pan and then add the dry ingredients. Place the bread machine yeast in last and the yeast should not touch the liquid (until the bread machine is turned on and the ingredients start to be mixed together by the bread machine).
- Put the bread pan with the ingredients back into unplugged bread machine.
- Plug in the bread machine. Enter the correct settings (1.5 lb, light color & basic bread) and press the "start" button.
- When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine.
- Take the bread pan out of the bread machine.
- Remove the bread from the bread pan and place it on a cooling rack. Use oven mitts when removing the bread pan from the bread machine because it will be very hot! Let the bread cool down on the cooling rack for at least 1-2 hours.
- Please read the tips section for extra information on how to make this recipe successfully.
Notes
This is a Bread Dad recipe and may not be copied or reproduced. This recipe is copyright protected under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Legal Disclaimer
The nutritional information is provided using recipe tools such as WP Recipe Maker. These figures should only be considered as an estimate. They should not be construed as a guarantee of accuracy given visitors may use different serving sizes, ingredients, etc. See our legal disclaimer for additional nutrition disclosures.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Slice | Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 208mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 165IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 2mg
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