Hellobee

I bake all our family’s bread for a bunch of reasons – it’s quick and easy, delicious, cheap, organic, and has no additives or sugar. But I bake with my children for other reasons.

My minis are five, three and a half, and two years old. They all go to pre-school and in the afternoons, that hour just before dinner can often be difficult. We’re all tired, and I have to get dinner ready and can’t be with the children 100%. If we’re all stuck inside, little conflicts between the children seem to come up one after the other at this time of day, and trying to fix dinner while putting out those little toddler fires leaves us all flustered and out of sorts. I try not to use TV to occupy the children on a daily basis, but it can be hard to find other ways to calm everybody down and get us through to dinner. I’ve found baking to be a good way.

I find that sensory activities are really effective in calming and grounding my children. These types of experiences make them focus and concentrate but in a very relaxed way. For us, water, kinetic sand, play dough and a few others work equally well, but working with bread dough is an especially pleasing sensory experience because the dough feels so alive and responsive. Also, children love to do something that is “for real” and they are so proud when their bread comes out of the oven! That said, I prefer activities that are open-ended so I don’t mind when the kids work with the dough for a while and then move on to another activity without actually putting anything in the oven.

We bake this bread two to three times a week and at least one of the children is often involved. This is how it usually goes down:

Once we’re all through the door, I mix together the water, yeast, honey and salt and leave it to foam for around ten minutes while the children get their jackets and shoes off. Then the kiddos wash their hands and gather to bake, as I quickly mix the flour in and start to knead the dough. I usually divvy up half of the dough among the eager mini bakers, and form a loaf out the remaining half (when I bake without the kids, I just form two loaves, and I freeze one of them once they’re baked).

And then I let the kids do whatever they want. Sometimes they ask for rolling pins and cookie cutters or a butter knife, sometimes they just use their hands. Alec once made bread shaped like all the planets.

Sometimes they’re interested in the end product – realising a shape they have in mind and waiting to see how it turns out once it’s baked, and sometimes they play with the dough for a half hour and then just leave it. On those days I just form a loaf out of it for them. But no matter what they do, this is an activity that keeps them happily busy (for 20-45 minutes), pleasantly chatting with each other, eagerly exploring and being creative. And it lets me get dinner on the table.

One Hour French Bread

• 1.5 cups lukewarm water (I use 1 cup cold tap water and 1/2 cup hot water from the kettle)
• 12 grams active dry yeast (2 packets in the US)¨
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• Approximately 3.5 cups bread flour 

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix in honey and salt. Let the mixture sit in a mixing bowl at room temperature for around 10 minutes until it’s bubbly and foamy all over the surface.
2. Add flour and work it into a dough, adding as much flour as needed, and kneading until the dough comes together and doesn’t stick to your hands or the bowl.
3. Form a loaf (or rolls, or a baguette, or planets) and place them on a baking sheet. I usually make two loaves – one for now and one for the freezer.
4. Warm the oven to 200c/400f.
5. Let the bread rise for 15ish minutes until it’s almost doubled in size.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.