KitchenAid made my day month year when agreed to let me test out this KitchenAid Artisan 5Qt Tilt Head Stand Mixer. The extra fun part was picking out a color! Isn’t this green apple mixer a real beauty? So far I’m loving how much easier it is to bake but also that it is pushing me to be more adventurous in the kitchen.
One area I’ve never tried is baking breads. I like to make the occasional cinnamon rolls but I always cheat and never make them from scratch. For whatever reason I’ve been afraid of yeast. I know it is somewhat touchy to work with and I stayed away for fear of messing it up. I also never thought to attempt to make my own bread because frankly, I always assumed I’d wait to get a bread machine for that. The idea of relentlessly kneading and waiting forever for the dough to rise just seemed like too much work.
I used to think that. That is, until I wanted to test out the dough hook and decided to take the BYOB (Bake Your Own Bread) plunge.
I opted for the Rapid Mix Cool Rise White Bread recipe from the instruction and recipe booklet included with my mixer. I chose this recipe because it specifically states it is a faster and easier recipe for new bread makers. And since I’m a total bread making newbie I went with this more temperature tolerant recipe that adds the yeast to dry ingredients.
To make this bread, simply place 5 1/2 cups flour, 2 T. sugar, 3 1/2 t. salt, 3 packages of active dry yeast and 1/4 c. butter or margarine (softened) in your mixer bowl. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 20 seconds. Gradually add 2 cups very warm water (120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit) and mix about 1-1/2 minutes longer.
To see this in action check out this video I made that includes the entire process of making this bread with the KichenAid Stand Mixer.
Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining 1/2 cup to 1-1/2 cups flour (1/2 cup at a time) and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans side of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on Speed 2 about 2 minutes longer. While this might sound like a long, hard process, remember that the mixer is doing all the work so it is really quite simple.
Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let rest for 20 minutes. (Yes, I know those are penguins and snowflakes on my beloved Press and Seal but cut me some slack. I live in Minnesota where 8 months out of the year this is actually totally fitting!)
After 20 minutes your dough will have risen considerably. Divide the dough in half.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a rectangle, approximately 9×14 inches.
A rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove gas bubbles.
To create the loaf shape, starting at the short end, roll the dough tightly.
Pinch to seal the seam.
Pinch the ends and turn them under.
While they didn’t turn out perfect, they did look like little loaves! I’m sure with practice I will get even better!
Place the dough, seam side down, in greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans. (I had to improvise since I didn’t have two of that size.)
Brush each loaf with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 to 12 hours. When ready to bake, uncover dough carefully. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Puncture any gas bubbles. Bake at 400 degrees 35-40 minutes.
Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.
Mmm…..bread. Doesn’t it look yummy?
Ok, if plain bread doesn’t get you, how about some lightly toasted bread with butter?
No? Then how about a little grape jelly on top? It tasted fabulous with my coffee in the morning.
Still not making you drool? Well if those don’t get you this one certainly will! This french toast turned out divine. Almost sinfully good. Because of the denseness of the bread, it almost seemed like a pastry. Light and fluffy on the inside and certainly more filling than any other french toast I’ve tried!
Now I’m officially on a homemade bread kick. My husband is begging me for a cinnamon raisin bread so I just might make his day soon and surprise him! I’m certainly going to be experimenting with different types of bread and can’t wait to share my experiences with you!
If you have a KitchenAid mixer and haven’t yet attempted to use the dough hook for making homemade bread, I highly suggest you try. It isn’t as complicated or time consuming as it might seem and I really enjoyed a sense of accomplishment at the end! Not to mention how extra good it tasted that night with our walleye.
If you don’t have a KitchenAid mixer what are you waiting for? Splurge and get yourself one or ask for one for your next birthday or Christmas gift. It is currently on sale and has free shipping. How can you resist?
And if that doesn’t sound likely, never fear. Watch for my review and giveaway post this week and learn how you can win one on my blog. Maybe YOU will be the lucky reader who wins this amazing mixer in your choice of color!
Disclosure: I received a sample for the purpose of this review but no other type of compensation was received. This has no bearing on my completely honest review above. The opinions and experiences I’ve shared with these products are my own and yours may differ.
About Emilie
16 Days Left 
12 Days Left 
Last Day! 
6 Days Left 
4 Days Left 
3 Days Left 
LOVE the color you got, and the bread looks awesome! YUM!
Oh my gosh ~ that looks so delicious. We have a mixer too however we haven’t been brave enough to try some bread yet however I think you’ve inspired us. Thanks!
That bread looks delcious and I love the color you picked! I’m dying to get a Kitchenaid mixer!
Looks like you did a great job, Emilie! The French Bread, in particular, looks delicious.
I looked at all the mixers and the KitchenAid Artisan 5Qt Tilt Head Stand Mixer is the best!
Looks yummy! I’m so jealous.
I am salivating over that French toast! Yum! I have always wanted one of those mixers, but since I rarely bake (or even cook, for that matter) I just can’t justify the cost. So I will definitely be looking forward to your giveaway!
Buy one! Trust me, you’ll start baking when you get it. I bought my KA Artisan 5qt (Empire Red) two weekends ago, and this is what I’ve made so far:
- Cool Rise bread recipe
- Peanut Butter cookies (recipe in manual)
- Chocolate cake (recipe in manual) Note: I will NEVER buy a cake mix again!!
- Pie dough (my own recipe)
And I hardly ever used to bake stuff, because I had a hand mixer and it was just too much of a pain. My only peeve with the KA mixer is that it mixes stuff up so fast, the fun ends too soon!
Right now a lot of stores have the mixers on sale. Go for it!
Yum! That looks delish! I love the color of your machine. Mine is just black!
Em, this my absolute favorite post of yours! You know I’m terrified of making homemade bread, especially because of having to work with yeast. I remember my mom using it so many times in the past and would have a bum dish because there was a problem with the yeast about half the time.
Your bread turned out absolutely beautiful!
I would love to bake bread. Your directions and mixer made it look easy enough. Now if only I had a KtchenAid. Your bread looks yummy.
Hey I really loved the video. The texture of the bread is just perfect.I love to bake Cakes.Never tried baking a bread. I have broken 3 hand mixers while baking cakes during my wilton cake course classes.My teacher told me , that its the time to ask my husband to buy me a My KitchenAid Mixer .
I would really really love to have a My KitchenAid Stand Mixer . Your video gave me a confidence that baking a bread is not that difficult as I thought it would be.
Thank you so much for the yummy video of an awesome recipe using a perfect KitchenAid Stand Mixer .
I very much enjoyed watching your video “Making Bread with My KitchenAid Stand Mixer {Review & Recipe} ”
KitchenAid Stand Mixer can make wonders in your kitchen. I think everyone who has one will agree with me.
I would love to have one soon
I can SMELL that bread baking…reminds me of coming home after a LONG walk down our driveway in the cold…to a warm house with fresh baked bread and jam. Sigh…wish I could duplicate my mom’s baking talents!
That bread looks tasty. I have nevr tackled bread making with my mixer. So far we’ve mostly made desserts.
so reminds me of my great grandmas homemade bread
I tried this bread tonight, and I don’t know what I did wrong, but the yeast was still intact after baking, you could see it sitting on the crust!! The loaves were very heavy, did you ever have this problem? I watched your video and I did the same thing….hmm.. Nonetheless I make the Basic White Bread recipe in the kitchen Aid recipe book and it turned out deadly, so I made 2 Cinnamon Loaves and a batch of Cinnamon Buns as well. I will maybe try the Rapid Mix Coo Rise again in the future seeing as you seemed to have luck with it.
wow i want that mixer! you are such a cook!
So. Jealous.
LOL I think this year I’ll be able to buy myself one 
Am waiting for dough to rise, having “christened” my new white, Artisan 5 Quart Mixer. I cut the recipe in half to make one loaf instead of two as I’m cautious about putting a strain on the motor with so much flour (as indicated in one review on Amazon). My dough looks like your photo; however, the texture of the dough so far is grainy, not smooth. Can one divide recipe ingredients successfully? Has anyone tried to do this? If so, what were your results?
Oh my word! I hate making dough and I’ve never thought about using my kitchenaid to aid in this process. Love the idea!
Great recipe. I tried this today after a couple of other attempts and my loaves came out perfectly. I might cut back a little on the salt. Here are a few tips I would add for those who are thinking of doing this:
*instead of letting the dough rise the first time for only 20 minutes, try a whole hour instead and then after punching it down/separating it into two loaves/shaping them, I let it rise again for another hour.
*During the 1st rising period after I took the dough out of the mixer, I put it into a slightly greased bowl, turned it once so that the top part was also slightly greased and covered it. I put it into an oven (NOT turned on) and put a hot bowl of water on the rack below. I saw that tip somewhere else and it works great for helping the dough to rise.
*I would use less salt next time and maybe sub the sugar for honey
Otherwise, this worked out well! I made it on my professional Kitchen Aid Mixer from Costco. Love it.
Yum! I love baking bread and have been baking ours for about a year now. I really want a kitchenaid mixer. I am planning to get one in the next few months and I am so stinking excited!
I have this mixer but have never tried making bread with it. Thank you for the recipe and step-by-step instructions.
Homemade bread is always the best!
I see this got bumped to your front page
I love homemade bread, I don’t make it as often as I’d like but if I had a Kitchenaid I swear I’d be baking every weekend!
wow, i never knew about the dough hook on those mixers. I don’t own one, but i always thought you would need a bread maker to make such good looking bread!
Can we make the bread dough advance? Since ur recipe yield 2 loaves, can I freeze 1? If yes, how to? Please help…
@Priscilla: Yes, you can freeze the bread. After baking immediately remove from pan onto a wire cooling rack. Once completely cooled, slip into a plastic bag and place in your freezer. When needed, remove from freezer, open bag so bread does not get soggy while thawing (I stand mine on end) and allow to thaw. If you need bread in a hurry, place in microwave for a few minutes and you’ll wind up with thawed/warmed bread ~ yum! Also, you can use a serrated knife to slice the frozen bread and either allow it to thaw or put in toaster.
you say to let it sit in the fridge for 2 – 12 hours…what am i looking for between those times???
thanks….
There is a website for KitchenAid Mixer recipes…
go to http://www.gotmixer.com
Recipes with pictures, videos and hints, meals for every occasion using your Stand Mixer.
Good Luck!
I bought a Kitchenaid at a yardsale about 10 years ago, for $55 no less. Best purchase I ever made and since it came with its dough hook and all, I was excited. I never really got to using it until lately though and I stumble across your site. This bread turns out terrific! I add different spices to one side based on what we are having for dinner, ie, some garlic or pizza seasoning on Italian, etc. It’s so flexible. It is a quick break to make, so I can usually make it in the afternoon. The think I do different is that I put it in the loaf pan, let it rise for about 45 minutes then bake. Since it makes two loaves, I’m ahead of the game! Thanks for a really great recipe.
I remember I had one of these. It was great the once or twice i used it, but being a single parent and working two sometimes three jobs I just never had the time, but man I love the smell of baking bread and the taste of homemade bread fresh out of the oven. It’s the absolute best taste out of anything, but the most important thing is doing it with someone. That’s the real best thing for one person to have is to share that time with another person especially if it’s a sibling or your child.
Today was the “big” day I decided to take out my Kitchenaid Mixer and finally try the dough attachment. I’ve had this mixer for years and was always toooo afraid to try and make bread with it. I, too, love the smell of freshly baked bread and it’s definitely a challenge and an accomplishment when you can tackle it yourself. So, thank you for this website…I will follow your suggestions and let you know the results. I’m sooo excited.
hello, thank you for your bread experience. i received a 6qt kitchenaid mixer for valentines day. i could not believe it when all the attachments started to arrive in the mail. i’m retired and it seems spoiled, too. cooking is my hobby. i’ve baked a handful of breads so far and i’m about to bake another one right now. with the mixer it’s so easy and fun. i’ve made sausage, ice cream, pasta, sorbet, bread, bread and more bread. once you get a kitchenaid you don’t know how you lived without one.