Who doesn’t love bread sticks? They’re the best companions of pasta and are delicious appetizers perfect for dinner parties and for all occasions! Bread sticks are easy to make and can be customized depending on your personal taste, which makes them way better. But if you’re doubting yourself because you’re still a beginner, I suggest you read this post first to help you maximize your bread machine.

Anyway, let’s face it, our hectic schedules don’t allow us to serve food that involves complicated processes nowadays. So if you need simple but delicious food to feed your visitors with, bread sticks are the best choice. Preparing everything will only require 15 minutes and the steps? Elementary, my dear Watson.

First, you’ll need to prepare the following:

• 1 1/3 cups of warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/4 cup of sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup of white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons of dry milk powder
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 tablespoons of softened butter
• 4 cups of bread flour

Let’s start cooking!

1. Put all the ingredients you’ve prepared in your bread machine’s pan. Remember to follow the order recommended by the machine’s manufacturer. Generally, all wet ingredients go first, then the flour and other dry ingredients, with the yeast as the last one to be added. However, it would still be best to read the manual. So study and follow its instructions properly. Note: Remember not to let the yeast have direct contact with sugar, salt, and water as this will shoot its activity up.
2. Choose the Dough Cycle from the machine’s menu settings and press the Start button. Now, spray cooking spray on two baking sheets and prepare another oiled surface and an oiled board.
3. Now it’s time to preheat your oven to 190°C.
4. Once the dough cycle is finished, remove the dough and place it on the surface you’ve oiled earlier. Then, divide the dough into 18 equal pieces. In order for them to look like bread sticks, you should roll each piece on an oiled board. Each bread stick should be placed on the baking sheets you’ve prepared. They should be at least one inch apart from one another on the pans.
5. Bake them for 10 to 15 minutes or until they’ve become gorgeously golden.
6. Remove the pans and cool them by placing them on a wire rack.
7. Serve with or without dip!

Smart Tips

• Bread sticks taste a lot better with dips such as taramasalata, guacamole, hummus, and marinara sauce.
• To keep the dough moist and to allow it to evenly cook, you can line your baking sheets with aluminum foil. It makes cleaning up easier too!
• If you’re looking to buy a bread machine we can highly recommend our guide.

Garlic bread is a popular appetizer consisting of bread, garlic, and butter or olive oil.  At times, it even includes chives or other herbs. There are so many garlic bread recipes nowadays (totally confusing, by the way) but we’ll give you the easiest and the best of the best. Are you ready to step into the world of garlic bread? Here we go!

Preparation and Cooking Time    :           3 hours

Servings                                            :           15

You’ll need:

• 3/8 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of bread machine yeast
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh chives (alternatives: parsley, basil, or oregano)
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of white sugar
• 4 cups of bread flour
• Optional: Bread dough enhancer
• Optional for a more garlic taste: 2-3 small garlic bulbs, roughly chopped

Steps:

1. Place all the ingredients in your bread machine pan. Make sure to follow the order recommended by the manufacturer. Usually, all wet ingredients go first, followed by the dry ingredients, then the yeast.
2. Select the Basic Bread Setting or White Bread cycle. If your bread machine allows you to choose the color of the crust, then do so. Press the Start button.
3. Wait for the cycle to finish, remove the bread, and let it cool.
4. Cut into slices and get a thrill out of your homemade bread!

Note: If you aren’t going to consume it immediately, you can freeze the bread by wrapping it securely in foil and placing it in a resealable plastic bag. If you want to consume it, you just have to thaw the bread at room temperature.

Nutritional Information:

1 Serving
Servings Per Recipe: 15
Amount Per Serving

Calories: 175

Calories from Fat: 34

% Daily Value:

All Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Did you love the combination of garlic and herbs in this recipe? They were in partnership in the 2nd recipe of this blog post too!

Are you in search for ways to avoid problems when using your bread machine? You’ve come to the right article! These tricks and tips will aid you in your cooking quest. Read on, chef!

1. Avoid uneven loaves by lifting the dough ball after kneading. Don’t you just hate uneven loaves? Imagine you’ve waited for a couple of hours for the loaf to finish, then when it’s finally done, it’s uneven! That just ruins the day, doesn’t? But don’t worry. There’s a counterattack for it. All you have to do is lift the dough after the kneading cycle and place it in the center of the bread pan just before it rises. What a piece of cake! Or bread!

2. Dealing with sourdough? Calm yourself. You have to be patient with sourdough. It deserves your clemency and understanding after all. Sourdough loaves usually take up 12 hours to rise. One thing you could do is use the bread machine to make dough, then use your oven for proofing or rising in the bread pan in the oven. That’s if you don’t like the idea of waiting half a day for your bread to rise.

3. Introduce Bread Machine Yeast to your bread machine for best results. Bread machine yeast comes in a jar that you have to refrigerate after you open. It’s a mortal sin not to do this hack.

4. Measure everything properly especially the flour. This is an important hack. You should follow the instructions in the recipe. When it comes to the flour, use a measuring scale to make sure you use the exact amount of flour every time. Scooping the flour into your measuring cup won’t guarantee the same amount of flour, so do yourself (and your bread) a favor and weigh your flour!

5. Combine whole wheat flour and bread flour. Yep, you’ve read that right! Whole wheat flour is ideal for making flatbreads and pizza crust like this delicious garlic+herb pizza crust recipe, but not for a sandwich bread. Plus, it doesn’t have the required protein to make a tall rise. This is why combining it with bread flour is a brilliant idea. The ratio could be 1:1 or 2:1, meaning you’ll need two parts of whole wheat flour for every one part of bread flour. Remember to use high-quality flours only! Don’t ever compromise the taste and texture of your bread by settling with cheap and low-quality flours.

6. Mix gluten-free flours. I’m sure you want to achieve a delicious gluten-free bread. How will you do that? Blend two or more gluten-free flours! The bread will
   taste, feel, and rise better!

7. Get to know your bread machine. Ahh, this is one of the hacks that are usually ignored. Sometimes you’re too focused on the ingredients that you neglect the getting-to-know stage you need to go through with your appliance. Either that or you think reading the manual once is enough. I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but it’s best to comprehend all the cycles on your bread machine before you start anything. Knowing how to customize or adjust the settings is going to be beneficial for you as well, especially when dealing with wheat bread and sourdough recipes.

8. Restart the bread machine if you have to. Go on, don’t be shy. If you think the bread hasn’t risen the way it should be or there seems to be a problem, restart your appliance. Unplug it and reset. You could select the same options or change the cycle—your choice.

9. Get rid of the hole in your baked loaf by removing the dough ball after kneading and pulling the kneading paddle off of the spindle. Another annoying thing that ruins the classic appearance of your baked loaf is the hole at the center. Who knew there’s a hack for that? All you have to do is take the kneading paddle off, restore the dough ball to the pan and let the machine do the rest of the job.

10. Check your automatic hoppers once in a while. This is applicable only for bread machines that are equipped with automatic hoppers that release fruits, nuts, or yeast to the recipe at a specified time. This feature is absolutely useful, but sometimes the nuts and fruits can get stuck in the hopper making their distribution late or impossible. What should you do? Make sure not a single thing gets stuck before the kneading cycle has finished.

Aside from investing in quality ingredients and taking good care of her bread machine, a beginner should also follow these tips to get the most out of the appliance:

1. Begin with simple recipes. Never start with a complicated one; you’ll just frustrate and disappoint yourself. You can begin with pizza dough because the recipe is almost idiot-proof. You can also make a simple loaf of white bread using white flour first. You may substitute the white flour with whole grain flours after being successful with white flour.

2. Open the lid if necessary. A lot of beginners are afraid of opening the lid because they think it’ll ruin the entire process. Actually, taking a peek after 5 to 10 minutes into the process is a sight to behold! Opening the lid makes it easier for you to identify if there’s something wrong with the blade or the machine, therefore allowing you to save the recipe at once. It’s necessary to check the moisture of your dough as well and you can only do that if you open the lid. If the dough seems to be too moist, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough ball becomes a little sticky. The dough should come in contact with the pan’s wall and then draw away. What if the dough is too dry? Then add a tablespoon of water at a time until it becomes tacky. Don’t worry much about the dough, remember there’s this thing called beginner’s luck. If you follow the procedure and the measurements of the recipe properly, then you don’t have to get worked up.

3. Be very careful with your substitute ingredients. Beginners should always follow the list of ingredients in a recipe as much as possible. Doing so will increase their chances of being successful. If you want to replace some ingredients, you ought to be cautious. For instance, if you’re going to use whole wheat flour rather than white flour or use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, you should know that the ratio isn’t always 1:1. That means you should first study how they absorb moisture and the amount of gluten they contain before you consider substitutions. Also, be careful about the yeast because not all of them are similar. Other recipes might advise you to dissolve regular yeast first before adding it to the pan with other ingredients. At the end of the day, I recommend you to follow the ingredients exactly as they’re listed first—it’s the safest way for any beginner.

4. Mind the room temperature. Where is your bread machine situated? Is the spot cool or warm? If it’s in a room that’s too cool, you will have a problem with your dough rising to double in the time assigned by the Dough Cycle of your machine. It’s best to move the appliance to a warmer area in the house. Sure, the bread machine has its own heating element, but the room temperature can still affect how fast or slow the dough will rise.

5. Maximize the dough cycle, I beg you. When I say maximize, I mean use it as often as possible, especially when mixing ingredients. This will allow your oven to rest and save energy for the bigger tasks. Doing this will also let you have more control and shaping choices—even a better crust!

And that’s a wrap, folks! Just follow these tips, read these hacks, clean your machine properly, and practice!