For anyone who wants to try this with your toddler:
- 1/2 cup warm water
- a biggish pinch of yeast
- a biggish pinch of salt
- a small splash of oil
- 1 cup of flour (+more for dusting)
Mix ingredients together in order listed, letting your toddler do as much of the measuring/dumping/stirring as she can handle. The dough will probably be sticky at the end; stir in a little more flour if you need to, but you should be able to mix in everything by spoon – no kneading is necessary, though you can let your child squish the dough for a few minutes if they like that sort of thing.
Let raise about 20-30 minutes; set a timer and go play games or turn on a show about the right length of time to keep occupied while the dough sets. While the dough raises, you can grease and flour your loaf pans or line a baking sheet with parchment.
After the show is done or the timer goes “ding,” dust your hands and the dough with extra flour and shape the bread. You can make one loaf or several smaller ones (about the size of dinner rolls). Turn the oven on to 400 degrees, set the loaves on top of the stove to catch the warmth, and raise about 30 minutes, again setting the timer or watching a show about the right length of time.
After the bread has risen, brush it with melted butter or olive oil. Have your child step back and watch while you put the bread in the oven. If your oven has a window, turn the light on so your child can watch the bread bake.
Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until it is golden brown on top. Let it cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!
Note: I did this at the same time as I was baking other bread; I’ve owed Sushi some bread for a while, but I’ve been sickly lately, and the Caterpillar really needed some Mommy interaction, so we did this as a side project while I had the oven going and I was feeling slightly better.
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This sounds like a lot of fun.
Those are adorable photos. Thanks for sharing. 🙂