Making Bread With Children
I have been a big fan of introducing all kinds of “home” activities to kids.
I think mostly because I came from a home where my mom delegated big part of this art to others and I hardly ever had my hands on it!
My biggest discovery was the pleasure of making bread from scratch. I never thought it would be that easy.
At first, I started making it by myself as I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out.
After a few weeks of working with bread almost every second day I made two loaves with them.
It was so exciting, there is nothing like making a loaf of bread from scratch and unlike a quick bread, a bread made with yeast is so much more satisfying.
It’s worth every minute. It’s extremely gratifying to mold and knead with your bare hands. It’s a very basic, earth connecting experience!
The suspense is exhilarating, waiting to see if the dough will rise.
Then the best, or almost the best part is the aroma.
There is absolutely nothing that smells better from the oven than fresh baked bread. The smell can linger for days. Nothing says “home” like the fragrance of freshly baked bread.
Of course, biting into a piece of warm bread with butter melting on it, isn’t too bad either.
The following recipe is the one I usually make with my children, we substitute sugar for honey and they love the taste.
In a separate container:
1/2 cup of warm water
1 tsp of honey
2 tbsp of yeast
In a bowl:
1 1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of honey
1/3 of oil
1 tsp of salt
Add with yeast
3 cups of whole spelt
3 cups of light spelt
Knead for 10 minutes and let if rise for approximately 45 minutes.
Separate the loaves, knead a little bit more, prepare a pan with a bit of oil so the bread will not stick, let it sit for 15 minutes and put in the oven
This recipe makes 2 loaves
Bake in a pre-heated oven (350C)
special tip: Add one cup of flour (you will be left with 5 cups of flour) in the bowl before you add the yeast just so the salt does not get in direct contact and does not alter the yeast property.
We also add nuts, dried fruits or seeds at the end, as we do the final kneading.
