Those Bagettes look yummy and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe. My DIL swears by her KA too. I ordered a machine and it should come today! But it was very inexpensive with mostly great reviews. What I like about it is that it matches the kitchen, and doesn't take up a lot of room. Link below. The biggest complaint is it's hard to read the panel because of the yellow background, but I keep my kitchen glasses sitting on the counter at all times. :) Natal, if you're reading this...the machine gives me three choices of crust color. Wouldn't that effect the texture of the bread if I chose a light or dark color? Also, I was looking at the bread mixes on King Arthurs, they have one that is a sugar/cinnamon bread. I read the reviews and no one mentioned adding raisins to it. I love me some raisin bread! Is it okay to add raisins to a mix like that? Here is a link that might be useful: Bread Machine

Use 25% less yeast and keep the other ingredients the same. I wonder if your Red Star Yeast is an instant or fast-acting yeast instead of active dry. -Grainlady

When it comes to bread recipes (machine or manual), the flour measurements are just a good guess (and sometimes they're not even "good"). Gluten amounts in flour will vary from bag to bag and brand to brand; and gluten is a main determinate for proper hydration. If your flour is stored in the bag in a humid kitchen, then there will be more moisture in the flour than someone who stores flour in an air-tight container in the dry environment of the freezer/refrigerator - as a secondary source for some hydration. If you change the type of flour called for in the recipe - from all-purpose to high-gluten bread flour (or vise versa) - or you substitute part of the high-gluten flour for a low-gluten flour (rye, spelt, kamut, barley, oat, etc.) - you'll also need to alter the hydration. As others shared, you MUST check and adjust the hydration as needed. Start checking it about 5 minutes into the mixing/kneading. You want the dough to be formed into a soft, sticky ball. A solid ball is going to be too dry. When you touch the dough ball with your finger, a tiny bit should stick to your finger. A dry or stiff dough ball will result in dry bread just like making bread by hand. You can also switch from sugar to honey and you may find you have a crumb that is more moist. I'm another who never bakes in the Zo - it's just my main tool for mixing and kneading. I won't even let the dough rise in the machine - I'd rather control that in a dough rising bucket. Sometimes I want a long slow cool rise, which you can never get in a bread machine. I use freshly-milled flour, so allowing a timed rise in the bread machine tends to over-proof the dough. Freshly-milled flour doesn't have the extensibility commercial white flour has. Bread machines were designed to use commercial flour in them, and I never use commercial flour. I also bake breads to temperature - checked with an instant read thermometer. -Grainlady

Here are the recipes I made today. They come in Sampler Loaf, Regular Loaf and Large Loaf. I made large loaves. Country White Bread Large loaf 1 1/3c water 1 1/2t salt 1 1/2T sugar (I used 1 T of blackberry Raw honey) 1/2c barley or oat flour (I used oat this time.) 3 1/2 c bread flour 2t yeast To mix in mixer Heat the water until warm, between 105F-115F; pour into warmed bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes, until the yeast begins to bubble. Add the salt, sugar, barley flour, and half the bread flour. Beat with paddle until smooth. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Slowly add the remaining flour, and beat until soft dough forms. Knead the dough in the mixer with the hook, on medium to high speed, adding flour as necessary, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. ~I then shaped into 9 large burger size rolls and let rise on cornmeal dusted baking sheets until the size I wanted. Baked at 350F until golden brown. However the instructions contiune: To Shape and bake in the oven Lightly grease a baking sheet, or cover with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or lightly oiled surface. Punch the dough down and shape into a round loaf, dusting in on all sides with flour. Place the loaf, with the smooth side up, onto the baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 375F. Using a sharp knife or razon slash a 3" circle on the very top of the loaf. Bake 30-35 minutes, until the loaf is golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean and dry. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack. Light Wheat Brioche Large Loaf 4 large eggs plus water to equal 1 1/3c 2 t salt 2 T sugar 1 c whole wheat 3 c bread flour 3/4c butter, softened 1 1/2 t yeast To mix in mixer Warm the eggs under hot tap water, and crack into measuring cup. Heat the water to 105-115F, and add it to the eggs. Pour the mixture into the warmed mixing bowl, and add the yeast. Let stand 5 minutes, until yeast begins to bubble. Add the salt, sugar, whole wheat, and half the bread flour. Beat well. Cover, and let stand 15 minutes. Slowly add the remaining flour, and beat until soft dough forms.~change to dough hook~ Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the dough. Knead the dough in the mixer with the hook, on medium to high speed, adding flour as necessary, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and springy but still soft to the touch. Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour. To shape and bake in the oven: Lightly grease a fluted brioche pan, a 9" round cake pan or 9x5 loaf pan. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured or oiled surface. For traditional brioche shape, punch the dough down and pinch off one-quarter of the dough. Shape the remaining dough into a round loaf. Place the loaf, smooth side up, in the brioche or cake pan. Make an indentation in the center of the loaf. Form the pinched-off portion into a teardrop shape, and place, pointed side down, into the hole in the loaf. Or press the dough inot the loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled about 1- 1 1/2 hours. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush or spray loaf with water. Bake 45-50 minutes, until wooden skewer inserted through the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the pan and cool on wire rack.