April flew by without bread, whoops! We will aim for two loaves this month to make up for it!
So, I was feeling a little nostalgic when we were planning this loaf of bread, and I went to an old recipe that I remember making about 7 years ago with my stepdaughter (she went through a bread baking kick). I thought it was the first loaf we made together, but looking at the date on Soulemama’s post, I know there were loaves before that!
My nostalgic memory is of a delicious perfect loaf of bread. Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened, but I imagine in was our fault and not the recipe’s. And really, I’m the only one that even noticed the overly dough texture despite the extra long baking time, and super strong honey taste — the family inhaled it!
WHO bread goes acoustic from Soulemama
1 1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter @ room temperature
1 tsp salt
3 cups of flour (2 cups unbleached white, 1 cup whole wheat pastry)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoons brown sugar (I was out, so I did a tablespoon of white sugar and a little less than a teaspoon of molasses)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 package active dry yeast
Pour 1 1/4c. warm water (about 110 degrees F), honey, sugar, and yeast into a bowl. Whisk until well combined and mixture is frothy. Set aside to proof while you mix the other ingredients.
In a separate large bowl stir together, flour, butter, salt, rolled oats, and cinnamon.
Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined. This was a great hand mixing activity.
Place dough into a lightly oiled bread pan. Cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm spot to rise for about an hour.
Punch down dough and let rise a second time for 45 minutes, covered with a damp towel.
Imogen decided to impale it with chopsticks after she punched it down, I might suggest skipping that step.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove towel from top of dough and place pan in the center of your oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes. We baked ours 35+ minutes, and it still seemed doughy.
Conclusion – Not my favorite, by a long shot. But I do think it was something on our end. Even if the bread wasn’t that great, we’re not doing this to become master bakers. The experience was fantastic. Imogen loves the process of measuring, mixing, squishing and eating.
If you read this post by Aubrey at Montessori Mischief, she talks about what to do when your child is no longer interested in pouring. As she says, we have to remember that we present these lessons in isolation for practice, so that the child can do the same skills in actual, real situations. Cooking is one of those actual, real situations. The child has the opportunity to pour, measure, scoop, spoon, mix and spill/clean. It is a little practical life smorgasbord!
What do you love to cook with your child?
