Kids Baking Bread

Kids are fascinated by the magic in the science of cooking and the mystery in following the recipe instructions. A magic ingredient in baking is yeast, a kind of microbe that eats starch when added to warm, moist bread dough. Yeast gives off carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. Gas is trapped as bubbles in the dough. These gas pockets expand when the bread dough is left overnight, causing the dough to rise. Use whole grain flour which has all the essential parts and naturally occurring nutrients of the entire grain seed. For thousands of years, people ground the grain using a mortar and pestle crushing the hard shells into course flour. Now we have special bread flour to use. Mix the flour, salt, yeast, warm water, and honey with a wooden spoon. Knead the bread dough on a flat surface or bread board. Sprinkle flour on the clean work surface and on your hands. Fold dough toward you. Push down with the heel of your hands. Give a quarter turn and repeat the fold and the push. Add flour to the work surface and your hands when dough starts to stick. Butter the baking pan and push the dough into the pan, cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rest two hours or overnight. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and brush with butter.