25 Bread Machine Dough Recipes for Baking in the Oven
Learn how to make dough in your bread machine for baking in your oven. The bread maker DOUGH Program is one of the most under-appreciated features and once you see the things you can make with it, you'll be inspired to use it for endless delicious baked goodies.
If you're only using your bread machine to bake loaves, you're missing out on my favorite feature of most bread makers: the DOUGH program!
You can use your bread machine as the ultimate kitchen helper for mixing, kneading, and rising perfect dough that you can shape and bake right in your oven.
You get both the hands-off convenience at prep time and the delicious golden crusts that come from oven baked breads.
As the author of The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, I use my bread maker to make dough for everything from dinner rolls to sweet dough for cinnamon rolls and so much more!
Getting Started
I tested 5 major brands of bread machines while writing my bread machine cookbook and reviewed them in my post The Best Bread Machine for Beginners.
Spoiler Alert: I use my Cuisinart compact bread maker the most often to make dough because the tall narrow shape of the bread pan works perfectly for mixing.
If you're going to make dough for baking in the oven, you'll want to take a quick peek at my list of essential bread baking tools and equipment. They'll make your work go much smoother.
Dinner Rolls and Savory Breads
Let your bread machine do the hard work while you take all the credit for irresistible oven-baked dinner rolls that will make your home smell amazing during a holiday feast.
The best part? Many of these recipes can be prepped in advance and frozen for simple reheating, allowing time for you to make ahead exactly how much you need for the meal.
If you happen to have a copy of my bread maker cookbook, The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, in addition to the options in this post you'll also have access to these easy recipes:
- Buttery Dinner Rolls, page 118
- Garlic Pull-Apart Bread, page 121
- Classic Pretzel Twists, page 128 & the Epic Party Pretzel Platter, page 133
- Tim's Buns (Our favorite sourdough dinner roll), page 137
Bread Machine Focaccia
I've always thought that this easy bread machine focaccia is the perfect recipe for learning how to use your DOUGH program to bake something in the oven because there is no fancy shaping skills required. This easy dinner bread pairs so well with pasta, soup, and salads and will be a confidence booster to encourage you to try even more recipes from this list!
Serve With:
This delicious herbed sheet pan bread should be sliced into hearty squares and is fantastic served with Italian dinners or alongside a cozy bowl of soup or a crispy salad.
Ciabatta
The next step after focaccia would be to experiment with my oven-baked ciabatta that starts with the dough in the bread machine. If you've been intimidated to try full-on sourdough, this is a great first step because it involves prepping an overnight starter the day before. That's how you'll get those stunning big air pockets in each slice.
Serve With:
This is an excellent bread for pasta night but toast it brushed with a bit of olive oil and it makes an excellent dunker for soups.
Brown and Serve Dinner Rolls
When you're ready to try your hand at shaping dinner rolls, these brown and serve dinner rolls are perfect because you can prep them in advance, freeze them, and just brown before serving. They give you all the time you need to try a batch or two and perfect your method.
Serve With:
This is my favorite all-purpose dinner roll, it will pair perfectly with just about any main dish!
Brown Bread Rolls
These gorgeous brown bread rolls are brushed with milk and sprinkled with rolled oats before baking and look fantastic in a bread basket.
Serve With:
I like to serve these with hearty beef stews or soups or any spicy main dish.
Bread Machine Crescent Dinner Rolls
If you've only ever baked the refrigerated crescent dough, you may feel a little intimidated to make it from scratch but I pinky-promise that my bread machine crescent dinner rolls are so much easier than you think.
The dough comes together so easily in the bread maker and the shaping of the buns goes really quickly as long as you have a pizza wheel to cut the triangles.
Serve With:
This is an excellent holiday feast bread basket filler! Serve these with your holiday ham, roasted turkey, or even a deep dish lasagna.
Bread Machine Potato Dinner Rolls
These delicious light and fluffy bread machine potato rolls make a nice big batch of 24 buns for you to prep ahead of a holiday feast.
Using instant mashed potato flakes keeps the recipe so quick and easy!
Serve With:
This is an excellent holiday feast bread basket filler! Serve these with your holiday ham, roasted turkey, or a big vat of Crockpot soup!
Whole Wheat Breadsticks
When you want to experiment with whole wheat, these soft and fluffy whole wheat breadsticks are a perfect pick. Shaping them is easy-peasy, then bake them with a dusting of parmesan cheese for even more flavor!
Serve With:
These are perfect for dunking in hearty soups or saucy pasta dinners.
Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
My easy whole wheat hamburger buns are 5x better than anything you'll buy at the grocery store. I especially love to warm them through and gently toast them before using with fillings.
Serve With:
Classic cheeseburgers, turkey burgers, salmon burgers, or even a roasted pork sandwich.
Sourdough Focaccia
Yes, you can absolutely use sourdough starter in a bread machine! I feed my sourdough starter regularly just so I can bake this easy sourdough focaccia that starts with a simple dough in the bread maker.
Serve With:
The lovely tangy accent of sourdough in this focaccia pairs really well with creamy tomato bisque and bold flavored stews.
Pizza Doughs and Savory Bases
No need to buy balls of pizza dough at the grocery store, you can prep your own right at home and stash them in the fridge for when you need them!
These endlessly versatile options bring so much more flavor to pizza night and can be used to make flatbreads, bread twists, calzones, and so much more.
Want to Save This for Later?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Bread Maker Pizza Dough
This classic bread maker pizza dough is the most versatile dough recipe you can make in your bread machine. You can use it as the base for pizza or calzones, roll it into breadsticks, or shape garlic knots.
Serve With:
This is the classic pizza night recipe. Use it for any of your favorite recipes and toppings!
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
What a more flavorful pizza crust? Try my easy whole wheat pizza dough which gives a subtle nutty flavor and hearty chew to every bite.
Serve With:
I use this dough for my harvest apple pizza but it pears really well with my maple breakfast sausage pizza, veggie-loaded pizzas, or Mediterranean toppings.
Sourdough Discard Pizza Crust
The best part about baking with sourdough starter in a bread machine is that you don't need to rely on the starter to be active, we'll boost it with a little yeast. Get that awesome sourdough tang with my easy sourdough discard pizza crust and you'll be amazed by how delicious the texture is!
Serve With:
Pizzas made with a white sauce base, simple tomato bruschetta pizzas, or anything with roasted veggies and fresh herbs.
Homemade Pizza Buns
You can use the dough listed in my pizza buns recipe card or any of the doughs listed above to make these easy savory swirls! Mix and match your favorite pizza toppings for the fillings, this is such a fun and snackable way to serve pizza.
Homemade Pokey Sticks
My favorite homemade pokey sticks are basically a cheese stick made from pizza dough! I use one half of my dough recipe to make a pizza and the other half to make this as a side dish for pizza night.
Serve With:
You can enjoy these as a side dish with pizza or use both halves of the pizza dough to make 2 and serve them as an appetizer with a big bowl of marinara pizza sauce for dipping.
Sweet Doughs
Whether you want to start your morning with the smell of something sweet baking away in the oven or you want to prep ahead a fun dessert to go with coffee or hot cocoa, these sweet breads are such a great way to make the holiday seasons even more special.
If you happen to have a copy of my bread maker cookbook, The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, in addition to the options in this post you'll also have access to these easy recipes:
- Hot Cross Buns, page 115
- Classic Cinnamon Rolls, page 123
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Swirls, page 138
- Caramel Pecan Breakfast Buns, page 141
Apple Cider Cinnamon Rolls
My easy apple cider cinnamon rolls use real actual apple cider in the bread machine dough and are so easy to roll out. Once you taste that maple glaze on top, there's no going back.
Serve With:
Fall breakfasts paired with egg dishes and maple sausage. These would be an amazing Thanksgiving breakfast idea.
Bread Machine Orange Rolls
These bright and citrusy bread machine orange rolls are a perfect pick for any time of year, they liven up your breakfast menu and pair well with a variety of main dishes.
Serve With:
A big pot of coffee, fresh fruit, and eggs for a delicious breakfast.
Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls
The sweet dough for these easy pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls is a dream to roll and shape. Soft and pillowy, they bake up so nice and fluffy. I used prepared pumpkin butter in the brown sugar filling to really boost the fall flavors.
Serve With:
A pot of tea or your favorite hot coffee, peppered bacon, and a savory quiche.
Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
Prepping ahead a special treat for Christmas breakfast or Valentine's Day? These easy red velvet cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing work for breakfast or dessert!
German Stollen Buns
Filled with candied fruits and dusted with powdered sugar, these easy to shape German stollen buns are such a fun Christmas breakfast treat.
Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread
If a cinnamon roll feels a little daunting, you may like to start out using your DOUGH program to make the sweet dough for this easy cinnamon pull apart bread. You simply slice the dough and pat it into flat discs that get stacked with cinnamon sugar and baked in the oven!
Irish Soda Bread
It's just not St. Patrick's Day around here if I'm not baking a loaf of my favorite Irish soda bread in the oven.
You can prep the dough in the bread maker and then bake it in the oven or you can bake the whole thing in your bread machine. I just prefer that classic round boule shape, so I choose the oven.
I would like to make a peach bread loaf using yeast in my bread dough machine. Not a bread machine that bakes for you. I want to let my dough machine mix and fermentation. Then I take out and knead and bake myself. If it is possible do you have a recipe ? Thank you
Hi Mary,
I love this idea! I don't currently have a recipe for something like this but I'll add it to my notes for next peach season. Would be fun to experiment.
Tiffany