bread recipes Archives - My Crumby World

🍞 Rachel Rye’s Easy “Try-It!” Rye Bread

mycrumbyworld — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 19:31:50 +0000

Rye bread may not be the first bread most kids ask for, but that’s 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.

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:

“You don’t have to love every bite you try—but give something new a chance before you decide!”

What you need:

1 cup whole rye flour
2½ cups bread flour, 1¼ cups warm water
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons softened butter or olive oil
1½ teaspoons salt

You can add 1 teaspoon caraway seeds for adventurous eaters, but I’d leave them optional for a first children’s loaf.

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 6–8 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 60–90 minutes.
Shape into a loaf and place in a greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Let it rise again for about 30–45 minutes. An adult should bake it at 375°F for approximately 30–35 minutes, until browned and fully baked. Let it cool before slicing.

Adult supervision is important around the oven, hot pans, and other kitchen equipment.

🔬 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.

🌾 The Rachel Rye “One-Bite Adventure”

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.

♥Rachel 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:

“I’ve never tried that before…but I’ll give it a chance.”

That’s a pretty terrific lesson to learn from a loaf of bread—and exactly the kind of curiosity, cooperation and confidence we want Breaducation with the Breadcrumbz to inspire.

The post 🍞 Rachel Rye’s Easy “Try-It!” Rye Bread appeared first on My Crumby World.

Simple Cinnamon Swirl Friendship Bread Recipe

mycrumbyworld — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 20:24:03 +0000

This is a quick and easy recipe for a tasty treat that makes a great breakfast bread. If you are looking for a great recipe to make to share with a friend… this one should be at the top of your list!

What you need:

1 1/3 cups of white sugar divided
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

Next, gather all of your ingredients together.

Then, mix 1/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

Next, get a large bowl and combine flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. You will want to combine the egg, milk, and oil in a separate bowl; then, add to the flour mixture, and stir until just moistened.

Take 1/2 of your batter and pour it into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the reserved cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat with the remaining batter and cinnamon-sugar mixture. To get the “marble” look in the bread, use a knife to draw a curvy line through your batter.

Bake it for 45-50 minutes in the oven. You will know when it is done when you are able to poke the center with a toothpick, and it comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan completely before removing it to slice it. For best results, let it sit overnight wrapped in aluminum foil before slicing individual pieces.

Enjoy with a friend or with your family!! Thanks to allrecipes for this tasty treat!

The post Simple Cinnamon Swirl Friendship Bread Recipe appeared first on My Crumby World.

Sourdough Discard Pumpkin Bread Recipe

mycrumbyworld — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:53:15 +0000

Ingredients

½ cup (approx. 110 g) sourdough discard (100% hydration)
1 cup (≈ 240 g) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
¼ cup melted butter or neutral oil
½ cup brown sugar (packed)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger)
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 °F (≈ 175 °C). Grease and line a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sourdough discard, pumpkin puree, melted butter/oil, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir until just combined — don’t over-mix.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for ~10-15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Why this works & what the discard brings

Using sourdough discard in this type of pumpkin bread adds depth of flavor, a subtle tang, and great moisture and texture — many recipes using discard specifically note “extra moist” results.
It’s also a wonderful way to reduce waste in the kitchen by putting your discard to good use.

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