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Baking Bread with a Toddler

November 21, 2008

As we enter into cooler weather, indoor pursuits beckon, and what could be better than baking with a toddler? I'm all over the "easy" way -- buy some pre-made dough, roll it out, and cookie cutter it to death -- but I've found that this bread recipe is nearly as easy and allows for a lot more fun, to boot. It's derived from a no-knead bread recipe I found in the New York Times (here's the original recipe in case you want to do it like an adult), and I've found it nearly foolproof. The kids can even knead if they want to!

Ingredients

1 toddler
1 tarp
1 diaper (for the potty-trained, consider a swim diaper anyway)
3 c. high-protein flour
(we use 2 c. bread flour and 1 c. whole wheat, which worked really well)
1/4 tsp. instant yeast (seriously, I know it doesn't sound like enough)
1-1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. water
lots of pots, bowls, and spoons of various descriptions

Instructions

Put a tarp or rubber sheet down on the kitchen floor. Wash toddler's hands and take off all of toddler's clothes except a diaper or underthing -- cause otherwise, eeeew. You're gonna eat this stuff. (As you can see, I missed the last part of this step, to great effect.)
Put the flour into into a bowl and whisk in the yeast, then the salt.
Hand the bowl to the baby with something tall, like a stock pot, and something to scoop with, like a measuring cup. Start toddler scooping.
Fill another bowl with the water and hand it to the toddler, too. Get her scooping that, too. Ignore copious amounts of spilled flour and water.
Once most of the material is in the stockpot, hand toddler a wooden spoon and get her stirring.
Once you get a gooey mess in the stockpot, dump contents into a low vessel -- we used a Pyrex loaf pan -- and start toddler kneading. It doesn't matter that this is a no-knead bread -- think of this as mixing Or just "fun."
When your attention span has lapsed, dump the whole thing into a large bowl and cover it with a towel or plastic wrap. Leave it somewhere warmish and enclosed -- we usually use the microwave.
Put the toddler into the bath.
At least a day and a half later -- seriously, let it go at least 12 hours! -- turn the thing out onto a floured board. With floured hands, fold the dough once from the sides, and then from the top and bottom to make a ball-like shape.
Put it, seam side down, into a big pot that can be covered and put into the oven. (We use a big Le Creuset French Oven.) Make sure you take any plastic handles off -- they usually just unscrew.
Bake 30 minutes at 450 degrees, then take the cover off and let it go another 15 or 20 minutes, until it sounds hollow when you thunk it on the top.

I know it sounds incredibly wet, but it turns out that all that water in an enclosed vessel makes a great moist bread with a real bakery crust.

Enjoy!