Child friendly bread!

[crazybutterflylady]

I've just got into baking my own bread and really enjoy it. I've made a few different kinds but not yet found a recipe for a loaf or rolls that are soft enough for the kids to really enjoy. The crusts are quite tough which I love but they pull it apart and just eat the centre. Any recipes/tips for really soft crusts? (Oxymoron?!)
I've tried brushing with milk or egg wash and doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

For soft crust you need high temperature (counter-intuitive). Then cover with tea-towel when it's cooling. I do Dan Lepard's soft white baps and buttermilk baps quite often. I don't like crusty bread.

I cover with a damp tea towel when they come out of the oven, but saw on bake off that they were putting a bowl/tray of water into the oven when the bread was cooking to keep the crust soft?

That's to keep the crust crispy and thin, from what I've read before, if I remember correctly. That's how they get the crust on baguettes, using a steam-filled oven. Apparently.

UpTo thanks so much for those links. I made the soft baps today and have a couple of questions if you don't mind?
The dough was ridiculously wet and hard to manage. Is that right or have I maybe used too much liquid?
Also the yeast I used was just a regular fast action sachet - I wasn't sure what he meant by 'easy blend' -what do you use?
Thanks a million

Did they turn out OK?

I generally either use the Doves farm quick yeast or the Allinson easy bake yeast that I find in the supermarket. They've always just worked.

Generally wet dough gives better result than dry dough. Dan Lepard's recipes generally worked OK for me, but I guess if it's too wet you could just add enough flour till it's only just a bit wet ... Don't do it in the beginning though - I found that if you rested the dough it will become drier and less sticky. Did you do the quick knead at intervals thing?

Milk wash two or three times, and / or what Chopsypie said. Happy baking!

They were delicious! But took me all afternoon pretty much as the dough was a total soggy mess. There was no way I could knead it to be honest. I just used my scraper and kept sort of moving it around. It was really gloopy!
So now the bread is perfect (though I reckon I'd make 100g baps next time as 150g are too big for the wee ones) but it's a pita to make them! Why is life never simple
I used the allinson yeast too. At least I can rule out that being the issue. I reckon I'll just use slightly less water next time.
I even made a starter today, am dying to make my own sourdough and I've never inherited one.
Thanks for all your tips everyone! Shame there's not a specific bread forum on here, I'd live in it!

crazy I think once you adjusted the amount of water to your liking it will be perfect! They are lovely bread. The buttermilk one is easy too and soft.

You could try the New York Times No-knead bread recipe. Only a tiny bit of yeast and baked in a covered pot so the crust is thin and crispy.

I've done Dan Lepard's sourdough starter from the Handmade Loaf. It's easy. And I find my homemade sourdough is miles better than posh bought ones.

Our everyday bread currently is the 2-day loaf.

But nothing is as soft as the soft-white-baps and the buttermilk-buns.

Yeah I reckon it's because I used supermarket flour which I think absorbs less. I'll try it again and add less water to start with. The 2 stages makes things a bit complex but I guess when you've done it a few times it gets easier.
I have some buttermilk so may try that tomorrow.
Sourdough is my fave - can't wait for my starter to get going.
Thanks again for your help :)

:)