Basic Bread Machine Recipe

I LOVE homemade bread. Over the last ten years I have been playing around with making my own bread. It always ends up being something I do when I'm working either part time or not at all. Even when I'm home full time, finding time to make bread is hard. Five or so years ago a friend told me I needed a bread machine. I was getting ready to give birth to a baby at the time and making homemade bread had kind of fallen off my to-do list. In the summer of 2020 I was blessed to be given a bread machine by husband. I'm that girl that asks for small appliances as gifts. I set to work researching whole wheat recipes, and I was very disappointed with my results. I mean, I used to make homemade sourdough from scratch with a starter that I grew from a dry packet I bought off a strange website. Making bread in a bread machine should be super easy, not super frustrating and expensive with all the ingredients you're tossing out. I knew I could figure it out if I kept trying, so after much research, trial and error I have made my own recipe. I've googled my recipe to see if someone else has my exact recipe, and I have not found my exact measurements and ingredients. I have made this with sprouted white wheat, whole wheat, and all-purpose flour and each one comes out perfect. I measure the flour with a scale; this ensures it's perfect every time. You can measure with measuring cups, but if you invest $10-$15 at Walmart or Amazon you will rest assured knowing it's exact. When you scoop flour with a measuring cup you are packing flour into your cup. If you sift it first and then spoon it into the cup, you are going to get a better measurement. But let's face it, you're probably in a hurry, or if you're like me, in a hurry and also lazy. This has been tested by myself and my mother, who lives halfway across the country in a different altitude. We both agree that this is amazing homemade bread. It also only takes me about three minutes to prepare, which is a huge selling point for me with a side dish. We eat this with dinner as a side, to make sandwiches, grilled cheese, french toast, and cinnamon toast for breakfast. It's also easy to throw together while you're making a meal to bring someone, and when you're done cooking for them you also have a fresh loaf of hot bread to bring them!