Rediscovering the Simple Joy of Homemade Bread: A Tale of Bread Machines and Rye Loaves

 

We often chase “better” and end up over complicating the simplest pleasures. Take my bread-making journey: about 20 years ago, I snagged a no-frills $42 Sunbeam bread machine from Walmart. It became a kitchen hero, reliably baking loaf after loaf and filling my home with that irresistible fresh-bread aroma. For nearly two decades, it was my go-to for cozy, homemade goodness—until it finally gave out, leaving me heartbroken.

Hoping to level up, I splurged on a fancy upgrade that cost four times as much. It boasted all the bells and whistles, but the complexity overwhelmed me. I never quite got the hang of it, so it ended up boxed in the basement, gathering dust. On the plus side, number two son is excited to inherit it once their home rebuild from the devastating October 18 fire wraps up—it'll get a fresh start in a new kitchen.

Lately, I've craved that effortless joy of experimenting with recipes and waking up to the smell of baking bread. I searched for a replacement like my trusty old Sunbeam but struck out. Instead, I found a similar basic model on Amazon for just $70 and pulled the trigger. What a game-changer! Its straightforward design lets me dive right into the fun of baking, without fiddling with endless settings. Trust me when I tell you that the older I get, the simpler I like.

To kick things off, I whipped up this delightful ABM Rye Bread just in time for one of my son's marathon visits. As it baked, the heavenly scent wafted through the house, turning the wait into sweet torture—I had to hold off for an hour and a half to let it cool before slicing in.

I can't share the recipe here (rules are rules), but you can grab it from Bread Dad’s site here, complete with a helpful video to guide you. As Bread Dad describes it: “This bread is used for classic sandwiches such as the Reuben Sandwich, Ham & Cheese on Rye, etc. Rye bread is a modestly dark bread made with ingredients such as rye flour, molasses and cocoa powder. It has a unique flavor (which can be described as ‘earthy’) and is a nice change from the white bread used for many sandwiches.”

  What hooked me? The texture was spot-on—not the dense, heavy brick some rye breads turn into. It stayed moist, sliced like a dream (Just LOOK at those thin slices, thanks to my favorite bread knife.), and elevated every sandwich to perfection. Sometimes, going back to basics is the real upgrade. 

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Butter Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

These are the cinnamon rolls of your dreams. Not only do they have a wonderful texture, the flavor of cinnamon is throughout, the caramel sticky bun coating is phenomenal, they can be made in the bread machine, and 1-2 days ahead of serving. I offered these on the 27th, but didn't get a chance to eat one until two days hence, and it was still amazing!

 

I wish I would have been able to take more pictures of these addicting and delicious rolls, but, when setting up a buffet for a bunch of hungry diners, it's hardly appropriate to grab an item off of the buffet, and carry into the next room, for staging and photographing. No, that just won't work.

This picture is the one that I took of the rolls as I pulled them out of the oven, inverted them, and was allowing them to cool.

This was a totally experimental thing for me. I wanted to have caramel rolls on my buffet, because that was something my mother would make very often at Christmas time. I also wanted to make it easy on myself by making a recipe in the bread machine. So, using a variety of different recipes from over the years, I created this one. One thing that I did differently, and this was totally on a whim, was to throw in 1/2 cup of cinnamon chips along with the flour. My thoughts were that they were going to be chopped up by the little blade and dispersed throughout the dough like delicious little cinnamon speckles. What turned out was that they were completely absorbed by the dough, and melted throughout. It gave these rolls a beautiful caramel color, and light cinnamon taste. I've never had a roll like this before, and I will never make it another way again. These were caramel roll perfection.

Here's the recipe. If you don't have a bread machine, that's no problem. Just make the dough as you would make any yeast dough, allow the dough to rise in a warm area until it's doubled in size, then simply punch it down and turn it out onto a floured board, and shape them and fill them as you would any cinnamon roll. Another thing I really liked about these rolls is that the topping is made in the pan before you put the rolls into the oven. So, when the rolls are finished baking, your job is done. You don't have to make a glaze, you don't have to make a cream cheese frosting, you are finished!

I'm telling you, these are absolute perfection!

Butter Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup whole milk, slightly warm
1/4 cup shortening (I used Crisco)
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cinnamon chips
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine in the order listed. Set to the dough cycle, and press start.

When the dough cycle has completed remove dough to a lightly floured cutting board, punch down, and roll into a 24" x 8" rectangle.

Filling:

Spread 4 tablespoons melted and slightly cooled butter over the surface of the dough.

Combine 1/2 cups sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and sprinkle on top of the butter. Tightly roll up in jelly roll fashion and seal the ends. Cut into 16 1-1/2 inch slices.

Topping:

In the bottom of a 10" x 10" metal pan, stir together 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and 2 tablespoons light corn syrup. Place pan on a stove burner over very low heat, and stir frequently until well blended. Remove from heat, and sprinkle 2/3 cups of broken pecans over your sugar mixture, spreading gently to fill pan.

After the topping has cooled, place the rolls cut side down in the pan. Cover lightly and let rise in a warm place until doubled. This will take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour depending upon the warmth of your house. When they have risen to double in size, preheat oven to 375°. Bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until done. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool for 2 to 4 minutes to allow the topping to settle onto the rolls. Invert the rolls onto a rack that has parchment paper or wax paper beneath it to catch the drips, and slowly remove the pan. This recipe makes approximately 16 rolls.

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Tomato Basil Bread

Summer is the absolute BEST time to bake bread.  It’s also probably the last thing on your mind, and admittedly, heating up the kitchen by turning on the oven for an hour or so doesn’t sound all that appealing, but the weather is ideal for yeast dough.  The heat and humidity will cause even the heaviest loaf to rise and crown beautifully.

Having recently gone through the pantry at my dad’s house, tossing out items long past their due date (Just in case you’re wondering, after EIGHT years – you read that right – canned crab claw meat turns black.), I started to eye my own pantry.  A jar of sun dried tomato pesto jumped out at me.  After the great success I had with the pesto rolls, it seemed only natural to give this a try in a similar manner, pairing it with basil in loaf form.  Brace yourself for a house that smells so good that you’ll want to swoon, and prepare to indulge in a bread so delicious that you will have to hide it away to keep from devouring the entire loaf.  As you can see from the picture, I didn’t roll mine quite as tightly as I should have, resulting in spacing between the dough and pesto, but it had no effect on the taste or my enjoyment. 

This recipe is designed for the ABM (Automatic Bread Machine), but it can be easily made using traditional methods.

Tomato Basil Bread

½ cup warm water
½ cup whole milk

2 large eggs
6 tablespoons shortening
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups wheat flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1½ pkgs. Red Star Bread Machine Yeast  (3-1/2 teaspoons)

1 tablespoon baking powder 

1 tablespoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup Melissa’s Sun Dried Tomato Pesto 

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Place first 11 ingredients into the work bowl of your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Set machine on “dough” setting and press “start.”  When machine has completed the dough making process (usually 90 minutes), remove dough to a lightly floured surface and roll into a large rectangle. 

Using an offset spatula, spread with pesto, covering to the edge.  Beginning at the short end, roll up as tightly as possible (obviously, I cannot stress this enough), pinching the seam to seal.  Tuck ends under and place in a greased loaf pan.

Cover loosely with a kitchen towel, place in a warm spot and allow to raise until doubled in size, 50-60 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush top of loaf with melted butter. Bake for 30-45 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and leave in pan for 5-10 minutes before carefully removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

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Toasted Hazelnut Bread

Mr. O-P likes mixed nuts. Well, let me rephrase that. Mr. O-P buys mixed nuts. There's a difference. Once he gets the oil-drum-size container of nuts home, he then painstakingly removes those he doesn't care for - the almonds and hazelnuts, and sometimes the Brazil nuts, depending upon his mood.  He places each type into its own little separate plastic container and passes them along to me as if I'm loaded with recipes and uses for this nut duo/trio. Let's face it, a girl can only use so many nuts. Imagine my delight then, when I stumbled upon this recipe in my “Try before I die” file. Not only did it make use of hazelnuts, but also employed one of my favorite appliances, the automatic bread machine.

I wasn't sure if I wanted bread or rolls, so decided to make both - a pan of rolls, and a small loaf of bread. When I make it again (and I will), I'm going to make a large loaf and forget the rolls.  This bread was tasty out of the oven, but the next morning made the best tasting toast that I think I've ever eaten.

Toasted Hazelnut Bread

2/3 cup warm milk (70° to 80°)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted

***

Egg wash (1 egg + 1 T. Water)

Place the ingredients (milk through the hazelnuts) into the bread machine in the order listed. Select the “Dough” setting and press “Start.”

When machine signals that the dough is done, remove to a lightly floured cutting board. Shape dough into rolls or one large loaf (or two small ones, or both -- the world is your oyster). Place shaped dough into greased pans and set in a warm spot to raise until double in size, 30-45 minutes. Brush top with egg wash and sprinkle with Kosher salt or finely ground hazelnuts. Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and makes a hollow sound when thumped. 

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