๐ Rachel Ryeโs Easy โTry-It!โ Rye Bread
Rye bread may not be the first bread most kids ask for, but thatโs exactly what makes it a great Breaducation adventure! With its slightly earthy flavor and heartier texture, rye gives children an opportunity to explore a new grain while learning a little food science along the way.
And who better to lead the lesson than Rachel Rye, our Breadcrumbz champion of cooperation and inclusion?
Why introduce kids to rye?
Whole rye brings more than a new flavor to the table. Whole-grain baking can add fiber and other nutrients to foods, and whole rye flour retains the grain’s bran and germ. Rye also has relatively little gluten-forming protein, which is why 100% rye loaves can be quite dense. Combining rye with bread or all-purpose flour creates a lighter loaf that’s likely to be more approachable for children.
It’s best to start children with a mild rye loaf, rather than a dark, strongly flavored rye. Light rye recipes combine rye and wheat flour specifically to produce a lighter texture and subtler rye flavor, making this style a good introduction.ย
Let’s give RYE a TRY!
That’s an important part of our Breaducation lesson: different grains behave differently!
For kids who aren’t sure about rye, Rachel’s rule can simply be:
โYou don’t have to love every bite you tryโbut give something new a chance before you decide!โ
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What you need:
- 1 cup whole rye flour
- 2ยฝ cups bread flour, 1ยผ cups warm water
- 2ยผ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons softened butter or olive oil
- 1ยฝ teaspoons salt
You can add 1 teaspoon caraway seeds for adventurous eaters, but I’d leave them optional for a first children’s loaf.
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What you do:
- Mix the warm water, honey, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the rye flour, bread flour, salt, and butter or oil. Stir until a shaggy dough forms. Let it rest for about 15 minutes; this is especially useful with rye because whole-grain flour takes time to absorb liquid.
- Knead with adult supervision for about 6โ8 minutes, until the dough becomes smoother. Rye dough can remain a little sticky, so resist the temptation to keep dumping in flour. Place it in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise until noticeably puffy, roughly 60โ90 minutes.
- Shape into a loaf and place in a greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Let it rise again for about 30โ45 minutes. An adult should bake it at 375ยฐF for approximately 30โ35 minutes, until browned and fully baked. Let it cool before slicing.
Adult supervision is important around the oven, hot pans, and other kitchen equipment.
๐ฌ Turn the recipe into Breaducation!
Don’t just bake the bread…investigate it. That’s what can make this especially valuable for kids.
Before you begin, put a little rye flour next to all-purpose or bread flour. Have your child look, smell, and touch each one. Ask: What’s different? What’s the same?
Then investigate the yeast. Ask your child to predict what will happen to the dough after an hour. Explain that yeast produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, creating gas bubbles that help dough rise.
When the bread is finished, conduct a Rachel Rye Taste Test. Give everyone a small piece and have them describe three things: its smell, texture and taste. There’s no requirement to say it’s delicious! The goal is to develop curiosity about food rather than pressure kids to like something.
And there’s a social lesson hiding inside the baking lesson, too. One child can measure, another can pour, another can stir, and another can watch the timer. Everyone has a job.
That’s Rachel Rye’s specialty:
Different ingredients. Different jobs. One loaf.
It’s a wonderfully concrete way to demonstrate cooperation.
It’s a wonderfully concrete way to demonstrate cooperation.ย
๐พ The Rachel Rye โOne-Bite Adventureโ
Turn tasting the finished bread into a challenge:
LOOK: What do you notice about rye bread?
SMELL: Does it smell different from the bread you normally eat?
TOUCH: Is it soft, chewy, dense, or springy?
TASTE: Take an adventurous bite. What flavors do you notice?
DECIDE: Would you eat it again? What topping might make it even better?
Try serving small slices with familiar kid-friendly toppings such as butter and honey, cream cheese, strawberry preserves, peanut butter, or melted cheese.
The point isn’t to convince every child that rye is their new favorite food. It’s to teach them that trying something unfamiliar can be fun.
โฅRachel Rye’s Breaducation Message
Trying rye bread can become a much bigger lesson than what’s for lunch. Kids get to measure, predict, observe, cooperate, and discover.
And perhaps most importantly, they practice saying:
โI’ve never tried that before…but I’ll give it a chance.โ
That’s a pretty terrific lesson to learn from a loaf of breadโand exactly the kind of curiosity, cooperation and confidence we want Breaducation with the Breadcrumbz to inspire.
