Let's Bake Bread!: A Family Cookbook to Foster Learning, Curiosity, and Skill Building in Your Kids

by Bonnie Ohara

Overview

Celebrate the joy of baking together with this unique family cookbook.

Written by the bestselling author of Bread Baking for Beginners, who is also a homeschooling mother of three with a keen take on how to teach children useful skills, Let’s Bake Bread! is filled with foolproof recipes that will turn kids into confident bakers and helpers in the kitchen. Start with an easy-to-handle cloud dough, and your youngest will soon be making Snail Rolls and On the Run Energy Buns (all the while improving their fine motor skills). Graduate to adventure dough and kids will learn about eating seasonally while making pizza, focaccia, and flatbreads. Breads like pita, naan, and conchas highlight lessons about cultures around the world. Culminating for kids twelve and up is the holy grail for all home bakers: the simple science of sourdough. What better or more delicious way to spend quality time together?
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781648290572
Publisher:	Artisan
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	617,356
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Bonnie Ohara is a self-taught baker and homeschooling mother to three children. Ohara runs Alchemy Bread, a cottage bakery based in her home in Modesto, California, where she also teaches bread baking classes. She is the author of Bread Baking for Beginners, which was published in 2018. Find her on Instagram @alchemybread.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why Bake Bread with Kids
Tools of the Trade
Core Ingredients: Flour, Yeast, Salt, and Water
How Bread Is Made
 
ENRICHED BREADS FOR BEGINNERS: Recipes to Engage the Senses, for Ages 3 to 7
Baking with Your Senses
Cloud Bread
Herbed Leaves and Snail Rolls
Garlic Herb Butter
Leaf Rubbings
On the Run Energy Buns
Almond Butter
Fluffy French Milk Bread
Raspberry Jam
Sweet Dreams Bunny Bread
            Tea Ceremony
Winter Warming Spices Bread
Hot Chocolate with Homemade Whipped Cream
Paper Snowflakes
Cookie Bread (Conchas/Melonpan)
Springtime Rainbow Bread
            Watercolor Painting
 
SEASONAL BREADS: Recipes to Connect with Nature, for Ages 7 to 10
Keeping a Baker’s Notebook
Anytime Adventure Bread
All-Year Herb Croutons
Spring/Summer Focaccia Mosaic
Garlic and Herb Dipping Oil
Learning About Flowers
Spring Wildflower Seed Twists
Beet and White Bean Dip
Learning About Seeds
Spring Pressed Flower and Herb Crackers
            Pressed Flowers
Summer Ficelles with Cherry Tomatoes
Homemade Mayo
Summer Pizza with Tomatoes and Pesto
Mortar and Pestle Pesto
Summer Bread Salad (Panzanella)
Gabe’s Vinaigrette
Fall Focaccia with Apples, Pecans, and Cheddar
            Apple Exploration
Fall Flatbread with Potato and Brussels Sprouts
Roasted Garlic
Fall Herbs Crackers
Caramelized Onion Dip
Winter Olive and Lemon Focaccia
Gabe’s Lemonade
Citrus and Herb Scavenger Hunt
Winter Squash and Orange Zest Fougasse
Central Valley Dukkah
 
BREADS AROUND THE WORLD: Recipes Exploring History and Culture, for Ages 12 to 14
Timeline: The History of Bread
Crackerbread
Corn and Wheat Tortillas
Herb Sauce
Corn in the Americas
Pita
            Bread in Ancient Egypt and Greece
Naan
Garlic Butter
Lentil Cakes
            Ode to Bread
Apple Cider Barm Bread
Fresh Butter
Middle Age Celtics’ Love for Bread
Rye, Wheat, and Corn Bread
Potato Bread
Staple Ffoods in Ddifferent Ccultures
Brioche
            Let Them Eat Cake!
Wonder Bread
            Make Your Own Breadcrumbs
Whole Grain Sandwich Loaf
            Whole Grain Innovations
 
SOURDOUGH BREADS: Recipes Based In Math and Science, for Ages 12 and Up
Baker’s Percentages and Mathematics
Sourdough Starter
            Put Your Sourdough Starter to Use
Simple Sourdough Tinned Loaf
Intermediate Dutch Oven Sourdough
Oatmeal or Multigrain Sourdough
            Is It Nutritious?
Sprouted Quinoa and Chia Sourdough
Wholegrain Miche
            Create Your Own Baker’s Mar

Editorial Reviews

Bonnie Ohara’s teaching ignited my own love of baking. And with her new book, Let’s Bake Bread!, I’m able to pass along that passion to my kids! Her recipes are filled with creative ways for parents to engage their kids and create lasting memories of time spent together with delicious results.” 
 —Jenna Fischer, actress and podcast host

 “Let’s Bake Bread! shows us how to bake up a community, one family at a time. Bonnie’s foundational skills, thoughtful recipes, and encouraging guidance will inspire you and your kids to turn on the oven.” 
 —Martin Philip, baker and author of Breaking Bread

“Let’s Bake Bread! is stunning, inspiring, and wildly doable. Bonnie’s guidance brings the magic of bread, not only into your kitchen, but into your relationships. You’ll love it.”—Kendra Adachi, New York Times bestselling author of The Lazy Genius Way and The Lazy Genius Kitchen

“Let's Bake Bread! offers more than just delicious bread recipes—it's a playbook for making the most of our time with our kids in the kitchen. Bonnie's insights and advice throughout each recipe nurture learning, patience, and observation through making a simple loaf of bread. As Bonnie says, "Sensory memories stick!" So get in the kitchen with the kiddos, mix some dough, and let's bake bread.”—Maurizio Leo, author of The Perfect Loaf: The Craft and Science of Sourdough Breads, Sweets, and More

“Bonnie is an exceptionally talented baker and mother that makes baking fun, approachable, and comforting. I have been following her journey for years and have admired how dedicated and passionate she is to her children through the lens of bread baking—a skill that she has mastered and cleverly uses as a learning tool to elevate the growth of her family.”
 —Bryan Ford, author of New World Sourdough

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2023

Ohara (Bread Baking for Beginners) is a bakery owner, a teacher of baking classes, and a parent who homeschools. She demonstrates that cooking can be used to teach organizational skills, scientific methods, mathematics, and more. Glossy, colorful pictures accompany chapters divided by age group. Along with the bread recipes are instructions for almond butter, raspberry jam, and hot chocolate. Cultural variations from around the world (Fluffy French Milk Bread) and fun designs (bunny-shaped bread) abound. Each baking step is illustrated by photographs, and there are suggestions about which parts of the process kids can do. Keeping a bread notebook, learning about other cultures, weight and volume, seasonality, and locality are some of the educational experiences this title spotlights. The appendix features websites and a guide for additional reading. VERDICT A winning resource and comprehensive baking guide that parents can use with children of all ages. For families who already love to bake together or for parents who are looking for a hobby to better bond their family.

Library Journal