Mister four’s quote from this cooking experience was “Mom, this is the messiest!” said with a huge amount of joy and wonder. Truly don’t toddlers love playing with dough? Here is the perfect opportunity to get your toddler helping making something the whole family will enjoy.

The ingredients, assembled! Having everything premeasured made it really easy for my kids to help make this. They both love dumping in ingredients.

I love baking bread. I love the smell of the oven as it bakes, and the taste of a homemade slice of bread with fresh melted butter and honey on top. In my mind you can’t beat it! This bread is easy to make and, although not the most beautiful loaves you’ve ever seen, has turned out delicious every time. My husband begs me to bake this!

Getting all mixed together… It gets pretty thick and hard to mix at this point so you can dump it out to start kneading. Make sure you add a little flour below and above to minimize the stickiness.

My hands are so sticky! This was pretty entertaining for the kids!

I should have done better having the kids sprinkle flour on top… the cutting board kept sliding all over the place as they stuck their hands in and tugged… really not the most effective kneading but a fun sticky activity.

The mess we left behind!

One thing I love about this french bread is that it can turn into several easy meals for toddlers. We make french toast out of it in the morning for breakfast, and grilled cheese sandwiches with some tomato soup in the evening for dinner. Eating this bread as grilled cheese is truly the most delicious experience!

Here are the two formed loaves, like I said they are not the most attractive looking things but oh the taste! So delish.

Here is another of my favorite bread recipes that toddlers can help make: My Favorite 100% Whole Wheat Banana Bread

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Easy French Bread

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups very warm water
• 2 Tbsp dry active yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp butter

Instructions

ADULT PREP

1. Pre-measure all ingredients.

TODDLER TASKS

1. Dump water, yeast and sugar into a large bowl.

2. Stir until yeast is dissolved.

3. Stir in salt, oil and flour until mixing becomes too difficult, then knead for 2 minutes on a floured surface.

ADULT TASKS

1. Spray a large bowl with non-stick cooking spray and place dough in the bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let it raise until it doubles in size.

2. Dump dough out onto a floured surface. Cut in half and shape into 2 smooth, bread loaf like shapes.

3. Place dough loaves on a greased cookie sheet and let rise again until doubled (about 25-30 minutes). Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

4. Remove bread from oven and rub butter on top.

Recipe Notes

Recipe Credit to Six Sisters' Stuff: Easy Homemade French Bread