I love searching for bread machine cookbooks, they’re so useful and helpful in exploring the capabilities of a bread maker.
Let me put it this way: what’s more interesting than using a good bread maker?
Using one to its full potential with the help of bread machine cookbooks.
Moreover, if you want to expand your horizons into making bread by hand, you can also check out these books about bread.
Contents
Bread Machine Cookbooks: My Favorite 6
1. Best Overall: The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger
For those who have the patience to follow a lot of detailed instructions, it’s not a simple book for bread makers, it has rather complex recipes but it’s also one of the most interesting.
2. Best for Beginners: The No-Fuss Bread Machine Cookbook by Michelle Anderson
The perfect choice for those who want straightforward recipes with very easy-to-follow instructions, it’s also one of cheapest books for bread machines.
3. Best Gluten-Free: The Gluten-Free Bread Machine Cookbook by Jane Bonacci
If you’re looking for gluten free recipes that can be made with the help of a bread maker, this is the book to buy.
4. The Classic: Betty Crocker’s Best Bread Machine Cookbook
A classic cookbook with wonderful photos that really spur you into taking the time to make wonderful recipes, although their number is not that high.
5. For a Specific Niche: Keto Bread Machine Cookbook
The name says it all, it lets you know everything you need to know about this cookbook, plus the price is not bad at all.
6. Elegant Book: The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook by Tiffany Dahle
It contains different recipes, special and beautiful, that’s what makes this book truly stand out. It’s truly beautiful but it has a lower number of recipes and it’s a bit expensive.
8 Best Bread Machine Cookbooks
I must freely admit that the first bread machine recipe book is quite amazing and I’m definitely not the only one who thinks that it’s an awesome choice.
My second choice is probably the cheapest bread machine cookbook on the market. However, the way it’s organized and the recipes featured in it make it an excellent choice for beginners who want delicious loaves without any fuss.
And then there’s also the one featuring only gluten-free recipes, perfect for both beginners and experienced bakers. It’s excellent for those who want delicious gluten-free recipes.
1. The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger
Beth Hensperger has done a phenomenal job in making one of the best bread machine cookbooks. It’s such a great product.
There are 300 recipes. That’s enough to last you for a few years without getting bored.
You don’t have to make all of them but there’s a lot to experiment it.
The recipes are so easy to follow, that’s the aspect that I appreciate most about The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger.
We are told which cycle we should select, which crust type, everything.
You just need to remember this: add the ingredients in the order stated by your machine’s user manual.
Basically, the yeast shouldn’t make contact with the liquids.
Just one more thing: there are also a few gluten-free recipes but not many.
Other than that, it has everything you might be looking for, including a few recipes for jam and chutney. I always forget that these kitchen appliances can make jam, as well. The only thing missing is for them to make butter.
The book contains the following chapters:
- orientation – it talks about bread machines in general and then goes through the settings that come with machines in general, it’s a nice introduction and then it also covers ingredients
- daily breads – white, egg breads, one pound loaves and making pasta dough
- earth’s bounty – whole wheat, whole grain, specialty flour breads (gluten free recipes are included here, like gluten-free cinnamon raisin, GF mock light rye, GF ricotta potato bread, GF buttermilk white loaf, chickpea, rice, and tapioca flour bread, GF almond and dried fruit holiday loaf)
- traditional loaves – country & sourdough loaves
- all kinds of flavors – loaves made with the produce of the garden, orchard, and creamery
- pizzas and other flatbreads
- sweet loaves – chocolate, fruit, and other sweet breads
- express lane bread (no-yeast)
- jams, preserves, and chutney
As you can see from all these chapters, this bread machine cookbook is one of the most complex, more complete. It’s truly a perfect choice for passionate people.
2. The No-Fuss Bread Machine Cookbook by Michelle Anderson
This cookbook for bread makers by Michelle Anderson is probably the cheapest option but it’s still impressive.
It’s also my favorite and top recommendation for beginners and everyone else.
The introduction to this book teaches you everything you need to know about making bread using a bread maker.
The recipes are fantastic and there’s about 150 of them.
No gluten-free recipes are included. Other than that, it’s a wonderful bread machine recipes book for those who want to enjoy tasty loaves without too much effort.
The recipes cover all the basic cycles that come with any appliance and each recipes features the needed ingredients for the 1, 1.5, and 2 pounds sizes.
I think that the 1 pound size is also included because this is a quite recent book. Zojirushi Mini Breadmaker is an excellent example of a machine that only bakes 1 pound loaves.
It’s only been just a few years since it’s been published but it has managed to become a favorite for many bread makers users.
It’s nicely organized and I highly recommend it to beginners who want more from their bread maker.
There’s only thing that we can complain about: even the dry ingredients are measured in cups and most people, myself included, are used to weight measurements instead of volume.
You can convert them and make annotations on the book for the next time.
Chapters
- baking made easy – this is the introduction that covers pretty much the same instructions that a user manual for any machine does, it’s quite helpful
- basic breads with 16 recipes
- spice and herb breads with with 15 recipes
- grain, seed, and nut breads with 16 recipes
- cheese breads with 15 recipes
- fruit breads with 15 recipes
- vegetable breads with 15 recipes
- sourdough breads with 16 recipes
- creative combination breads with 16 recipes
- holiday breads with 16 recipes
- sweet breads with 15 recipes
I did the counting for each chapter really quickly without checking it twice. I’m pretty sure that I’m correct.
That means that there are about 165 recipes in this bread machine cookbook, which is impressive.
3. The Gluten-Free Bread Machine Cookbook by Jane Bonacci
I’m so glad that there’s a bread maker recipe book that features just gluten-free recipes.
The introduction to this book is highly informative.
If you’re a beginner, you will learn everything you need to know from ingredients to techniques.
All the basic tips are rounded up in this book with 175 recipes.
It can also be used by those with machines that don’t have the gluten-free cycle but it sounds a bit complicated.
If that’s the case, it’s best to try recipes from the Internet and see how it goes, there are a lot of good ones online.
The design of the Gluten-Free Bread Machine Cookbook by Jane Bonacci is not the most appealing, there are no pictures at all and it’s all black on white writing.
Who doesn’t like looking at pictures to compare the end result?
Chapters
- introduction
- all about flours and our two master flour blends
- basic sandwich breads
- shaped breads
- rolls and more
- specialty breads
- sourdough
- pizza, focaccia and flatbread
- fruit loaves
- sweet breads
- condiments from the bread machine
- things to make with gluten-free loaves
Under the chapter things to make with gluten-free loaves, you’ll find recipes for crumbs, croutons, stuffing or dressing for poultry or pork, crostini, fresh tomato bruschetta with feta cheese, sandwiches recipes, tortas, panini, ribollita, arancini, Italian meatballs, meatloaf, sausage strata, breakfast eggs in a nest, etc.
I love this last chapter. It’s such a wonderful addition with these savory and a couple of sweet recipes.
The price is a bit higher than the above cookbooks but, all in all, this is an excellent gathering of gluten-free recipes with the best tips there are. And that last chapter is just perfect.
4. Betty Crocker’s Best Bread Machine Cookbook
The number of recipes, over 100 of them, isn’t that impressive for the price.
But they’re all delicious and, the most important thing, they’re easy to make by anyone thanks to the clear nicely detailed instructions.
They’re for the 1.5 and 2 pounds sizes.
And the photos are amazing, they really win you over and make you drool instantly.
5. Keto Bread Machine Cookbook by Jennifer Tate
This one has just been recently published so when talking about the newest bread machine cookbook, this is it: one for those following the Keto diet.
I must admit that I have heard about the Keto diet, who hasn’t, but I don’t follow it.
I’m sure there are quite a few who are interested, even though the paperback price is a bit expensive for my tastes.
Well, thanks to this I found out that the Keto bread is low in gluten, sugar, and carbs. That definitely doesn’t make me become a follower.
There are only 50 recipes for the price. I can say that it’s definitely expensive but, since it’s something different, I wanted to add it to my list of bread machine cookbooks.
6. Rustic European Breads from Your Bread Machine by Linda West Eckhardt
This book promises us that with the help of a bread machine anyone can turn out a perfect sourdough, raisin pumpernickel, focaccia, or any other variety of classic European breads featured in this book.
That sounds absolutely promising and I’m all for it. It’s quite expensive, about the same price as The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. Let’s see if it’s just as impressive.
One thing I must warn you about is that this book focuses on baking in the oven. After letting the dough rise in the machine, you shape it by hand and bake it to perfection in the oven. If that’s your thing, I’m sure you’ll like it.
The author also recommends baking on a pizza stone but you can also use a baking sheet. There’s no mention of baking in a Dutch oven.
Chapters
- introduction – ingredients, instructions
- basic white
- dark breads
- specialty flatbreads
- pizza, focaccia, fougasse, flatbrod (Norwegian flatbread)
- buns, bagels, baguettes, breadsticks, brioche, and rolls
- sweet holiday and dessert breads
It certainly covers pretty much everything and then some. I didn’t stop to count the number of recipes because I would have had to count them page by page but it’s comprehensive.
I absolutely love the inclusion of the buns, bagels, baguettes, breadsticks, brioche, and rolls. The other bread maker cookbooks don’t include some of these.
The introduction is one of the most complex I’ve ever seen but I also think that it’s a bit too much, it’s almost a third of the book.
7. The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German
Besides the introduction, this book dives right into the recipes. Each recipe contains the ingredients for small, medium, and large loaf sizes.
You can easily follow the ingredients needed for the 1, 1 1/2 & 2 lb. loaves since they’re arranged in table mode. I really like this simplicity that can make everyone feel at ease. You don’t have to peruse countless words and difficult instructions.
I like how straightforward it is and how uncomplicated everything is made. Simplicity is what characterizes this book. However, since the recipes are so straightforward, there are countless recipes that are hidden inside.
Once again, I couldn’t count their number because I would have had to do it one by one. It would have taken me forever. I just want to let you know that nothing is missing but there are no gluten-free recipes.
We have recipes for white breads, whole wheat & seed breads, fruit & nut breads, sourdough breads, rolls, pita, and specialty breads.
Many people consider this one to be one of the best bread machine cookbooks of all time. It’s also cheap.
8. The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook by Tiffany Dahle
One of the most recently released bread makers cookbook is this one by Tiffany Dahle.
First of all, it’s beautiful. The pictures are gorgeous. It stands out when we consider that, in general, books for bread machines are completely devoid of any pictures.
I guess that justifies the slightly more expensive price. But it’s still not as expensive as the one written by Beth Hensperger. It’s also considerably smaller in number of pages.
It includes the ingredients for 1 pound and 2 pounds loaves. It’s nicely written with clear instructions and good measurements. The ingredients are both in cups and grams.
I also like it a lot that it has serving suggestions for each recipe. It’s a nice touch for an elegant cookbook. That’s the word that sums up this one: elegant.
Chapters
- introduction
- classic bakery essentials – milk & honey, brown sugar oatmeal, honey whole wheat, etc.
- soup & sandwich partners
- breakfast table treats
- holiday celebrations
- fun with dough
- how does this thing work exactly – tips on absolutely everything, sourdough included
These are all special recipes. If you want something else, I definitely recommend this one. I counter 52 recipes but I might be wrong in my counting.
Do we need cookbooks for bread makers?
There are plenty of recipes for bread machines on the Internet and that’s a wonderful option, one that you should explore but having a bread maker recipes book is pretty awesome.
These are the main reasons for getting a bread maker cookbook:
- the instructions are perfect whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user
- the steps are easy to follow otherwise, what would be the point of choosing to use a bread maker
- wonderful delicious recipes are easy to browse since they’re gathered in a bread machine recipe book that’s at your disposal
- since there are so many recipes there’s no way that you can’t find something to your liking, whatever you’re in the mood for
- they can suit everyone’s tastes
- they’re quite affordable so, you don’t loose too much if you end up buying one and you lose interest in it
- there are gluten-free bread machine cookbooks, as well, because the recipe book that comes with bread makers that have the gluten-free setting have 2 or 3 recipes for this setting, which is nowhere near enough
I love cookbooks. I absolutely love bread machine cookbooks but if you’re not interested in experimenting with your bread maker the you probably won’t need one.
