Kids will love making this simple, delicious flatbread recipe from my book, New Favorites for New Cooks: 50 Delicious Recipes for Kids to Make — they can knead it all they want, just like playdough! The longer they knead it, the silkier and smoother the dough becomes. And the result is a puffy, light bread slathered in a tasty buttery spread!
Pair your homemade pan-fried flatbreads with an old-school favorite: The Little Red Hen. In this classic tale, an industrious hen grows, harvests, and mills her own wheat to make bread. Between creating the yummy flatbreads and reading this sweet story,you’ll get the three foundations of food education: new cooking skills, an understanding of where our food comes from, and academic engagement (in this case, literacy). Your kids will be having so much fun creating, tasting, and reading they won’t even know they’re learning.
Cook the Pan-Fried Flatbreads with Spiced Butter with your children, then read The Little Red Hen together. Your little ones will love it and so will you!
PAN-FRIED FLATBREADS WITH SPICED BUTTER
Makes 10 flatbreads
Soft, airy flatbreads are fun to make and even better to eat. There’s a reason so many countries enjoy flatbreads every day — they cook much faster than loaf breads, so they can be whipped up last minute to go along with any meal, and they are made for wrapping, scooping, and sopping up the best, last bits on the plate. With homemade spice butter, they make a great snack all on their own.
Kitchen tools you will need: Measuring cups, measuring spoons, two bowls, small spoon, medium bowl, whisk, wooden spoon, clean kitchen towel, baking sheet, parchment paper, rolling pin, griddle or heavy skillet, spatula, and large plate.
Ingredients
For the Spiced Butter:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika or chile powder
For the Flatbread
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- Coarse salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Preparation
Make the spiced butter:
- Cut the butter into small cubes and set them in a bowl on the counter to soften.
- In a second bowl, combine the salt, turmeric, cumin, and paprika and mix until they are blended. Mix the spices into the softened butter with a small spoon.
Make the flatbread:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 cup all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water, yogurt, and olive oil. Mix in the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon, then, with clean hands, bring the dough together and form it into a ball.
- Dust 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour over a cutting board. Put the dough on the cutting board and knead it for 2 minutes. (Work your bread muscles! Press firmly with the heel of your hand into the dough, pushing it away from you.) If the dough sticks to your hands, lightly dust your hands with flour. When the dough is smooth, put it back in the bowl, cover it with a damp clean kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Break off a golf ball-size piece of the dough and roll it into a ball. On a clean cutting board, use a rolling pin to flatten the ball to about a 1/8-inch thickness — about as thick as a quarter. Rotate the bread a half turn after each roll to keep the shape round. If the dough sticks, dust the rolling pin with a pinch of flour. Repeat with the rest of the dough. As the breads are rolled out, set them onto the prepared baking sheet, side by side.
- Heat an ungreased griddle to 350°F (or a heavy skillet to high). Drop a bead of water in the pan; if the water sizzles and evaporates (disappears), the pan is ready.
- Using a spatula, add the breads two or three at a time and cook until a few brown spots appear and small bubbles of air form in the dough, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a large plate and, once all the breads are fried, turn off the stove.
- Serve the flatbreads warm, with a generous smear of spiced butter and an extra sprinkle of salt.
Note: For gluten-free kids, look for a gluten-free flour mix at your local grocery store.
Learn More About the Books:
New Favorites for New Cooks: 50 Delicious Recipes for Kids to Make
by Carolyn Federman
The Little Red Hen
by Little Golden Books, illustrated by J.P. Miller
FAQs
The moral of this story is that hard work pays off, but laziness has consequences; if we all helped each other, we would all be able to benefit more.
What is the problem in the little red hen? ›
The moral of Little Red Hen is that you need to help in order to share in the reward of the work. But what else is going on in this story? One person, er chicken, begrudgingly keeps on doing work by themselves and berating others for not helping them.
What is the main idea of the Little Red Hen? ›
The moral of the story of Little Red Hen is that “One must work hard to rip overboard and also that one must help others”. The Little Red Hen asks several other animals on the farm to help her collect wheat, harvest it, take it to the mill to be ground and then bake a loaf of bread, but now one helped her.
What is the hen story about bread? ›
The story. A hen living on a farm finds some wheat and decides to make bread with it. She asks the other farmyard animals to help her plant it, but they refuse. The hen then harvests and mills the wheat into flour before baking it into bread; at each stage she again asks the animals for help, but they still refuse.
Why was Little Red Hen sad? ›
Little Red Hen was very sad that her friends didn't want to help, but she knew that her chicks would be able to help again. Together, they were able to knead the dough until it was ready to bake in the oven. When the bread was finished, Horse, Cow, and Pig tried to ask Little Red Hen for some.
Why is the Little Red Hen a fable? ›
It is considered to be a fable. Fables are folk tales that have animals as characters and which teach a lesson. Many also have a moral to the story. The moral of the Little Red Hen is that you must be willing to work today if you want to eat tomorrow.
How does the little red hen story end? ›
Now, it was time to ground the harvested wheat to make flour. So, the little red hen asked all her friends, “Who will help me take the wheat to the mill?” Her lazy friends again replied the same, “Not I!” The little red hen again complied and took the wheat to the mill all by herself.
Who didn't help the little red hen? ›
To summarize for those few of you who don't know this old folk tale: The Little Red Hen does all the household work, while the Goose, Cat, and Dog (in our version) each decline to help out, saying, "Not I," each time she asks.
What does Little Red Hen find one day? ›
One day, the Little Red Hen found some grains of wheat on the ground. “Who will help me plant these grains of wheat?” the Little Red Hen asked. So she planted the grains all by herself.
How do you introduce a Little Red Hen story? ›
Introduction
- Tell students that today we're going to read a story called "The Little Red Hen."
- Ask students if they've heard about this story before. If they have already, tell them to not spoil the story for their friends who haven't heard it yet.
This beautifully illustrated retelling of the traditional tale is a fantastic way to familiarize children with a classic children's story all whilst teaching them the importance of working hard and helping out their friends.
What is the little red hen in italian? ›
The Little Red Hen / La Gallinetta Rossa (Italian)
What is the moral of the story a piece of bread? ›
Answer: The moral of the story "A piece of Bread." is that "If you are quarrelling then it always harms you - it never benefits you.
What is the story of the hen and the grain? ›
This book is about a hen who puts in a lot of work to make bread. Along the way, she asks multiple animals if they will help her. In the end, the hen enjoys the bread with her chicks and without the other animals because they all refused to help.
What is the folklore about bread? ›
The cross on the bun comes from a superstition that marking the bun so would prevent the Devil from getting into the baked goods. In parts of Appalachia, it's important to watch when you slice a loaf of bread for the first time – if you slice through a hole in the bread, it means someone is going to die.
How did the hen enjoy the bread? ›
During all of the stages, none of the other animals help. At the end when the bread is hot out of the oven, she asks, “Who will help me eat the bread?” and all of the animals perk up “I will!”. Clearly this isn't fair, and so the Hen decides to enjoy the bread by herself.
What is the moral story of hen that laid golden eggs? ›
Once a poor farmer was given a hen that laid a golden egg each day, allowing him to sell the eggs and become rich. However, the farmer grew greedy and wanted to be instantly wealthy, so he killed the hen to get all the eggs inside at once. Upon cutting open the hen, he found no eggs and lost his only source of income.
