Make It Homemade: Bread With Zojirushi & Plus, A Giveaway

Whether it’s the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the morning or a warm loaf of sourdough wafting towards me in line at the grocery store, the smell of fresh baked bread is intoxicating. And though making bread more scratch may seem daunting, a bread maker makes it easy, fast and deliciously pain-free.

I recently had the chance to try out the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker. What makes it unique is that unlike most breadmakers which make an odd-shaped, tall, narrow loaf, the Home Bakery Supreme creates traditional-looking loaves of bread – helpful when you are trying to convince picky young eaters (or husbands) and yes, this is just like the bread from the store.

With the Home Bakery Supreme, homemade bread is as easy as adding the ingredients into the pan, selecting the type of bread you are making and pressing start. The bread machine mixes, kneads, rises and bakes the bread. You can even set a timer to ensure that you have freshly baked bread when you wake up in the morning or a hot loaf of bread when you get home from work.

The dual kneading paddles do a thorough job mixing and kneading and an easy-to-use LCD panel makes choosing the type, size and crust color of your homemade bread a cinch. The included recipe book is also easy to read and contains dozens of delicious breads from traditional whole wheat and white breads to more creative concotions like cinnamon-raisin swirl loaf, pumpernickel and Russian Kulich. There are even recipes for gluten-free breads and sourdough starters.

So far I’ve tried the Crusty French Bread (okay, but I prefer my french bread free-form), Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Loaf (only lasted 2 days in our house) and 100% Whole Wheat Bread (eating a piece of this as a type…). I really meant to take pictures of the loaves but none of them lasted long enough for me to remember to grab my camera! Next up on my list is Apple Oat Bread, Honey Wheat Bread and Pizza Dough with Beer.

But! Did you know that this bread maker makes MORE than just bread?

Last weekend I also used the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker to make homemade strawberry jam. So delicious. I’ve been perusing homemade jam blog posts and recipes over the past few months, but it always seemed like a lot of work. With the Home Bakery Supreme, I threw in some mashed strawberries, some sugar and a bit of lemon juice and closed the lid. Less than 2 hours later – voila! – strawberry jam. I’m planning on my second batch this coming weekend.

And although I haven’t tried them yet, the bread machine also includes recipes for making a variety of cakes like pound cake, dutch apple and zucchini bread. Plus there’s even a recipe for meatloaf. Yes, in the bread machine.

At $239, the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme isn’t cheap, but if you make just one loaf a week (and once you taste many of the recipes, you’ll realize that’s a conservative number), the machine will pay for itself in less than a year. Plus, you get to control exactly what goes in (and what stays out) of your bread. Or your jam. Or your meatloaf.

Available at Amazon.com and Cooking.com.

WIN! One lucky Mommies With Style reader will win a Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme Breadmaker of their very own! To enter just leave a comment below with what you’re looking forward to making with your new bread maker. Cinnamon bread? Gluten-free wheat bread? Peach jam? Meatloaf?? One entry per person. Entries must be received by 11:59 pm on Friday, September 3rd. Open to U.S. residents only.