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Honey white bread is a fluffy, lightly sweet sandwich bread that’s easy to make in a bread machine at home.

I’m particularly fond of our homemade honey wheat bread that I make in the oven, but whole wheat’s not for everyone.  Sometimes you want a light sandwich bread, and the added sweetness of just a bit of honey goes perfectly with packed lunches.

This honey white bread is perfect for ham and swiss, and absolutely wonderful for a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  (My kids particularly love it with peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches too!)

Honey is naturally hydrophilic, which means it keeps the bread moist for longer than the average sandwich bread.

What I love?  It’s easy to make in the bread machine with just minutes of effort.

When my little ones grab up the last piece of bread for their breakfast toast, I can pull out the bread maker and have a fresh loaf on the counter in time for lunch.

All it takes is just a few minutes of effort to measure the ingredients into the pan.

I’ve adapted this recipe for bread machine honey wheat bread from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, which is my absolute favorite bread machine recipe book (and I have quite a few). 

While I don’t often have to change their recipes, this one was too dry as it was written and just wouldn’t knead right.  I’ve increased the amount of water and milk used, and now it comes out just right.

(I’m baking this as a 2-pound loaf in my Zojirushi Supreme Bread Machine, which makes beautiful horizontal loaves in a pan that uses two paddles for more efficient mixing.  I’ve worked with many different machines over the years, and this one’s my favorite.  I’ve also included instructions for a 1 1/2-pound loaf if you’re working with a smaller machine or a machine that bakes vertically since they don’t work as well with full-sized loaves.  To make an extra small 1-pound loaf, just divide the 2-pound quantities in half.)

Ingredients for Bread Machine Honey White Bread

I’ve included amounts for both a 1 1/2-pound loaf and a 2-pound loaf, as those are the most common bread machine sizes.  If you have a 1-pound machine, just cut the 2-pound quantities in half.

For the flour, you can use either all-purpose white or white bread flour, and both will work well.  I tend to use King Arthur Flour All Purpose because that’s what I have on hand in bulk. 

If you use bread flour, you may need to add a tablespoon of extra water at the beginning, just watch the dough as it starts to knead and make sure it’s coming together nicely.  Bread flour tends to help a bread rise better, and creates a firmer crumb that will hold up better to cutting (without falling apart).  This recipe works well with all purposes and cuts just fine without falling apart, but bread flour would come out a bit fluffier because it’s higher gluten and would help hold the air pockets as it rises.

I make this recipe with SAF instant yeast, as it works well in both bread machine recipes and oven-baked goods. 

If you’re using specialty bread machine yeast, you’ll need to use a bit more (as described below). 

If all you have is active yeast, that is used a bit differently.  Active yeast is added to the water (instead of on top of the flour) as it needs to rehydrate for about 10 minutes before it works.  To use active yeast, add it to the water, stir, and wait 10 minutes, then proceed with the recipe (knowing that you’ve already put the yeast in the water, so it doesn’t need to go on top of the flour). 

Don’t use the delay timer with active yeast, but you can delay baking with instant yeast and bread machine yeast if placed on top of the flour.

Two Pound Loaf Ingredients

For a 2-pound loaf of Honey White Bread, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) water
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) canola oil (or butter)
• 3 Tbsp. (45 ml) honey

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 3 3/4 cups (450 g) flour
• 1 1/2 tsp (8 g) salt
• 2 1/2 tsp (7 g) SAF Instant Yeast (or 3 tsp. Bread Machine Yeast)

One and a Half Pound Loaf Ingredients

For a 1 1/2-pound loaf of Honey White Bread, you’ll need the following:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 2/3 cup (160 ml) water
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. (22 ml) canola oil (or butter)
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) honey

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 2 3/4 cups (330 g) flour
• 1 tsp (6 g) salt
• 2 tsp (6 g) SAF Instant Yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp. Bread Machine Yeast)

Making Bread Machine Honey White Bread

To make this simple honey white bread in the bread machine, you will follow the same basic bread machine instructions that you use for any yeasted loaf.

Start by placing all the wet ingredients first in the bottom of the pan. You then make an “island” on top of the wet ingredients with the flour, and then make a well in the flour to hold the other dry ingredients (in this case, salt and yeast). 

That keeps everything dry until it’s time to start the machine, and allows you to do the time delay cycle if you’d like.  (Even if you’re not doing a time delay, adding the dry on top of the wet helps the paddles evenly incorporate the flour without lumps).

Turn on the machine and select the “Basic White” cycle (or whatever the basic cycle is called on your machine).  Press start, and the machine should do the rest.

It can be helpful to watch during the first few minutes of kneading to ensure that the dough is neither too wet or too dry to knead properly.  I haven’t had that problem with this bread, but sometimes flour measurements aren’t as accurate as they should be and you end up with a dough that’s a bit dry and won’t come together.  If that happens, add a tablespoon or so of water and watch until the dough forms. 

All flour brands are a bit different, and the varying amount of gluten in different brands can impact the finished product.  I’m using King Arthur All Purpose Flour, which tends to work the best for me.  It has plenty of gluten for bread, but still works well in all manner of other recipes.

The machine should take the bread through the knead, rise, and bake cycles on its own.

When the bread has finished baking, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool completely before cutting for best results.  (I know, you want to tear right into it while it’s hot, but if you plan to use it for sandwiches rather than just eating the whole thing right then and there with butter (no judgment, it’s good), then you should let it cool.

Yield: Makes a 2 Pound Loaf (and 1 1/2 lb amounts in notes)

Bread Machine Honey White Bread

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This easy bread machine honey white bread is perfect for sandwiches!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours 55 minutes

Total Time 4 hours

Ingredients

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) water
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) canola oil (or butter)
• 3 Tbsp. (45 ml) honey

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 3 3/4 cups (450 g) flour
• 1 1/2 tsp (8 g) salt
• 2 1/2 tsp (7 g) SAF Instant Yeast (or 3 tsp. Bread Machine Yeast)

Instructions

1. Prepare your bread maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Place wet ingredients in the bottom of the pan.
3. Add dry ingredients on top of wet, making a small well in the flour to add the salt and yeast.
4. Bake using the "basic" or "normal" bread cycle. (If your bread maker allows you to choose crust darkness, I'd suggest "light" as the honey in the bread causes the crust to darken more than some bread, and a "light" setting will give you a medium crust.)
5. Remove from the bread machine when complete, and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting for best results.

Notes

One and a Half Pound Loaf Ingredients

For a 1 1/2 pound loaf of Honey White Bread, you'll need the following:

Liquid Ingredients (add first)

• 2/3 cup (160 ml) water
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. (22 ml) canola oil (or butter)
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml) honey

Dry Ingredients (on top of wet)

• 2 3/4 cups (330 g) flour
• 1 tsp (6 g) salt
• 2 tsp (6 g) SAF Instant Yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp. Bread Machine Yeast)

Bread Machine Recipes

This one’s become a staple in our house, alongside our other bread machine recipes, like these:

• Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread ~ Great for when you want a hearty meal, and perfect for dipping into winter soups.
• Bread Machine White Bread ~ Similar to this recipe, but without honey, so it’s quite versatile.
• Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread ~ This one makes truly excellent breakfast toast with just a little butter.
• Bread Machine Challah ~ Perfect for french toast!

In the summertime, we’re also particularly fond of quick breads made without yeast in the bread machine.  Bread machine zucchini bread is the perfect way to use up a bumper crop of zucchini, without spending a lot of time in the kitchen on a beautiful summer’s day.  Similarly, bread machine banana bread makes an oven baked right in your machine.