Bread Maker Miracles & My Favorite Strawberry Bread

As I discussed in this post, I am kind of a little bit in love with my bread maker. Ok, maybe a tad more than "kind of a little bit"... honestly, it's a perfect little miracle working appliance.

When I was a kid, my mom would make fresh loaves of bread for 'dessert'. We'd eat thick slices warm out of the oven with butter melted over the top. Seriously so good. If you haven't had bread and butter for dessert you're missing out.

Then, for my bridal shower, my mom bought me a bread maker. I don't know if she was trying to be nostalgic, but either way, I can't make a loaf of bread without thinking about the good times we had sitting around the kitchen table with our gooey slices of buttery bread.

By request, here are a couple of recipes that I love making in my bread maker:

Classic Sandwich Bread from King Arthur Flour (I substitute equal parts whole wheat flour for some of the white flour... just a personal preference; I've also used honey instead of sugar and it comes out pretty yummy)
Cinnamon Rolls from Mama Jenn (this one is extra nice because the recipe is specifically written for a bread machine... and YUM are these good!)
Zucchini Bread from Mommy's Martini (you know how I love my zucchini bread!)
Monkey Pull Apart Bread from food.com (this one might be my favorite!)

A great summer bread to make includes fruit - because who doesn't love strawberries or peaches in their breakfast bread?! Here's a recipe that I enjoy that makes 1 loaf of strawberry bread:

1 cup white, all purpose, unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup mashed strawberries (can subsitute blueberries, peeled/chopped peaches, raspberries, etc)
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Conventional oven: Mix together in a large bowl, stirring until just combined. Pour into greased 8-inch pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for an hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Bread maker: Follow your machine's instructions. Most likely it will be to add wet ingredients first, then dry and bake on the 'cake' (or similar) setting.

And finally, here are a couple mixes you can buy at the store that I have had great success with and enjoy:
Honey Whole Wheat
Italian Herb

Try a few recipes out! Make a loaf {or two} for dessert! Go crazy with the monkey bread!
And don't forget to stop back and let me know how much you enjoyed them!

Shared at A Pinch of Joy, Couponing and Cooking, Sweet Little Gals, Mandy's Recipe Box, Mom's Test Kitchen & Flamingo Toes!