Chapter 4

The Bread Bakery

It’s not hard to make yummy yeast breads from scratch - here’s how!

Easy-Peasy Bread Dough

Garlic Bread Sticks

Makes 4–6 servings

On spaghetti night, serve up these garlicky bread sticks and watch them disappear fast!

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 400°F (200°C).

Here’s What You Need

Here's What You Do

  1. 1. Carefully cut a baguette in half the long way, and then cut each half into 1-inch slices. Ask a grown-up for help if you need it.
  2. 2. Place the butter in a small bowl and melt it in a microwave. Add the crushed garlic clove and stir. Brush each slice of bread with the garlic butter, and then place it butter side up on an ungreased baking sheet.
  3. 3. For cheesy garlic bread, sprinkle with the Parmesan.

    Bake for 2 to 5 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Watch very closely so it doesn’t burn!

Kitchen Creativity

Fun with French Bread

Turn a loaf of French bread from your local bakery into fun food!

Silly Slippers. Cut off the ends of small baguettes to make slippers as shown. Serve at a sleepover party for breakfast!

Slithering Snake. Make your favorite sandwich on a loaf of French bread. Then cut it into 2-inch slices. Arrange the mini sandwiches on a platter in a snake shape. Add olive eyes and a green pepper tongue to the snake’s face.

Pull-Apart Pizza. Arrange slices of French bread into a pizza shape on a cookie sheet. Top with pizza sauce, pepperoni slices, and shredded mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C), or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Easy-Peasy Bread Dough

Makes 2 loaves

Craving a slice of fresh bread? This basic recipe bakes up two delicious loaves that you can use to make toast for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. Or check out the variations on the following pages, and make a braided loaf, cinnamon rolls, or bread art. Each of the variations calls for using half of the dough made here, so you can try at least two with one batch of dough.

Here’s What You Need

Here's What You Do

  1. 1. To make any kind of yeast bread, you need to “proof” the yeast, to make sure it’s active so the dough will rise. To do this, add the yeast and sugar to the warm water, and whisk until dissolved.
  2. 2. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until tiny bubbles appear on the surface. Whisk in the salt, and then add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition.
  3. 3. Switch to mixing with your (clean!) hands until you can form the dough into a sticky ball.
  4. 4. Dust your hands and countertop with flour. Place the dough on the counter, and knead until it is smooth and elastic. (See the kneading tips at right.) This can take up to 10 minutes.
  5. 5. Grease a clean bowl with the olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
  6. 6. Punch the dough down (this is the fun part!). Knead it again for just a few minutes to remove air bubbles. Now your dough is ready to shape into any of the loaves starting here.

How to Knead

  1. 1. Push the dough down and away from you with the heels of your hands.
  2. 2. Fold the dough in half.
  3. 3. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 until the dough is smooth and stretchy. This can take up to 10 minutes, so be patient!

Bake for a Good Cause

Want to learn to bake bread from scratch while giving back to your community? Sign up for King Arthur Flour’s Bake for Good: Kids Learn/Bake/Share program. A baking teacher from King Arthur Flour, a company based in Vermont, will visit your school to teach you and your friends about bread baking.

Afterward, you take the ingredients home to bake two loaves: one to eat and one to share with a family in need. Learn more at kingarthurflour.com/bakeforgood/kids.

Simple Sandwich Loaf

Makes 1 or 2 loaves

Here’s What You Need

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Here's What You Do

  1. 1. If you’re making two loaves from a full batch of dough, cut the dough in half.
  2. 2. Flatten each piece into a rectangle, and then fold each rectangle into thirds.
  3. 3. Turn the ends under, and place the dough, seam side down, in a greased loaf pan.
  4. 4. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for about 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
  5. 5. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer the loaf to a wire rack. Cool the loaf before eating or storing it.