Celebrate Baking Together at Home This Winter
The best memories are made from scratch, and there’s no better time to warm up during cold winter days than baking bread in the kitchen together. Cindy Falk, Kansas Wheat nutrition educator, recently shared her go-to bread recipe with the Home Baking Association as their Baker’s Spotlight for January, which also happens to be National Wheat Bread Month.
As the co-director of the National Festival of Breads, Cindy has tested hundreds of entries in the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center’s test kitchen, helping pick out the best of the best. But, there’s one recipe that she’s used again and again to serve her own family and to promote Kansas wheat flour to the world — a Pão Dôce or Portuguese Sweet Bread.
Cindy has been making this recipe since she started working with the Kansas Wheat Commission in 1988. Together with the Home Baking Association and the Wheat Foods Council, Cindy and a team of Kansas Wheat spokespersons have promoted the recipe throughout the United States and internationally at baking and restaurant shows.
“I love baking this dough because it is very versatile,” Cindy said. “You can make one dough but shape it into two completely different shapes. As pictured, shape one half into a long three-strand braid and the other half can include dried currants and be shaped into a round snail shape. Because it is a rich dough, it keeps well, staying moist for more than a day.”
Check out Cindy’s signature recipe for Pão Dôce or Portuguese Sweet Bread and her tips on how to best make this traditional bread at https://www.homebaking.org/whats-your-signature-bread/.
Want to test out one of the National Festival of Breads’ top recipes in your own kitchen? Find the winning recipes for savory rolls, sweet rolls, traditional breads, creative bread shapes and more at https://nationalfestivalofbreads.com/.
Looking for more ways to share the joy of baking with others? February is Baking for Family Fun Month. From having younger children pour ingredients in the mixer to teaching older children how to properly measure ingredients and crack eggs, there are ways for everyone to help in the kitchen — even if it gets a little messier!
Baking can also be a great time to practice math as well as talk with children about nutrition. Have younger children help count ingredients. For example, ask children to count the number of cups as they pour them in. Talking about fractions while measuring can help older children visually understand how fractions work.
No matter the task, getting the entire family involved in the kitchen instills a love for baking and helps teach them fundamental life skills. Plus, these tasty memories allow families to reconnect during a long and stressful winter season. Check out more ideas on how to make memories together as a family throughout the year at https://eatwheat.org/learn/cooking-kids-kitchen/.
###
Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat