The moment we got our first bread machine was the moment my life changed forever.

Bread machines perform 21st century alchemy. Just stick about 50 cents worth of ingredients into it, go away for a few hours, and BOOM! A 5 dollar loaf of hot fresh bread is waiting for you. Thanks Taran from Dollar Eater for finding the per-loaf cost for us.

However! Bread machines have one major flaw – few people know how to use them to make adequate bread. Getting our first bread machine to make good bread was an exercise in frustration and dismay. For months we tried recipe after recipe, always ending up with the same thing – a burnt brick of rock-hard particle board.

It’s an extremely common problem. That’s why the majority of bread machines are only used once, then abandoned. Most people who buy a bread machine think it’ll be a great idea until they run into the same problem I did again and again. They get discouraged and the bread machine ends up collecting dust on the shelves of a thrift store. 300,000,000 of them are resigned to this fate in the U.S alone.

I created this infographic to detail my bombproof bread machine recipe that works every time on every bread machine. I’ve taught this recipe to family members and friends, and they all make bread this exact way now – and have cumulatively saved thousands of dollars so far on bread. Today I’m teaching it to you to inspire you to do the same.

I’m hoping this bread machine recipe helps unused bread machines all across America start living out the productive lives they were built to live.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to skip the details and get right to printable recipe.

Here’s the text version of the recipe you can copy, paste and print out. You’re free to cherish it forever.

1 Minute Bread Recipe Using any bread machine, add the following in this exact order. 1+ cup warm water

1 tb sugar

2.25 tsp active dry yeast

3 tb gluten inside 3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil …and press go.

Once you master this dead simple recipe, you can begin to experiment. Try using honey instead of sugar, or using a nice organic spelt flour instead of the cheap Costco stuff. My favorite addition to bread is some fresh chopped rosemary.

Did you catch the part about gluten? It’s of crucial importance to a good loaf but will be the hardest ingredient to find. A lot of the time when I ask grocery clerks where their gluten is, they point me to their gluten free aisle which is not what I asked for at all!!

I usually find my gluten in health food stores like Whole Foods. My favorite gluten to use is from Bob’s Red Mill which – thank the internet gods – is now available to buy in bulk from Amazon.

I make bread constantly and have burnt out many bread machines along the way. The one that worked best for me so far has been this one from Cuisinart.

Also check out my 1 minute wine tutorial which will teach you how set up a batch of wine just as quickly as a loaf of bread!

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