Betty Crocker Best Bread Machine Cookbook

Betty Crocker Best Bread Machine Cookbook, Wiley Publishing, 1999

I really can't say enough nice things about this cookbook. It's the reason I love my bread machine. Simply put, this book is a collection of nearly flawless and easily executed recipes. It's a must have for anyone with a bread machine.

Pretty much every thing you can imagine making in a bread machine is covered in this cookbook. There are plenty of loaves baked right in the machine, ranging from sweet to savory, but the recipes that really shine are the shaped loaves that use the machine just to create the dough. There are recipes for coffee cakes, cinnamon rolls, pizza crusts, focaccia, and more. I've personally tested about half the recipes in the book and have only had one flop. And unless you are the type who enjoys frustration, reliable recipes is essential to making friends with your bread machine. I've never had a loaf cave in. I don't think I'd like how that feels.

There's nothing particularly ground breaking or gourmet about these recipes. I appreciate the simplicity, but, as is clear from this blog, I'm not a gourmet-type chef. The book is divided into seven chapters: white-flour based loaves, whole grain loaves, fruit and veggie loaves, small loaves, rustic loaves/flatbreads, rolls/breadsticks, and sweet breads. All of the recipes use easily found ingredients. Unlike in many other bread machine cookbooks, none of the recipes call for added gluten (which can be hard to find).

A sampling of recipes included: Orange Cappuccino Bread, Pumpernickel Pecan Bread, Rosemary Apricot Bread, Greek Olive Focaccia, Curry Rice Dinner Rolls, and Chocolate Caramel Sticky Buns.

Hungry yet? In sum, this is a gold star cookbook, especially for newer bread machine owners.