I Baked Turtle Bread

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Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to eat bread. But I'm not known to bake it. I bake cookies and mini cakes, but not bread. Until now! I found a few recipes for turtle bread on the Internet and tried the one that I thought looked the best.

I shaped the dough and let it rise...


...then cut out a criss-cross 'shell' and popped it in the oven.

This is a fun recipe to make with kids. You can have them help you shape the turtle's body parts and then assemble them. It feeds quite a lot too. My bread came out to be 9" (23 cm) from head to tail and 3" (7½ cm) high.

Turtle Bread
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
½ cup warm water
1/3 cup warm milk
1 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 egg
2 raisins

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (105°F to 115°F). Stir in sugar, salt, warm milk, melted butter and 1½ cups of the flour. Stir in the egg. Stir in the remaining cup of flour.

Lightly flour a large cutting board, or your clean kitchen counter, and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it's smooth and springs back when you poke it. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Shape a 2½" piece of dough into a ball for the turtle’s head. Shape 4 walnut-sized pieces of dough into balls for the feet. Shape a half-walnut-sized piece of dough into a tail. Shape the remaining dough into a big ball for the turtle's body. Place all 7 pieces onto the baking sheet, forming the turtle's shape. Attach the head, feet and tail by placing one end of each under edge of body to secure. Use your pinky finger to poke little holes into the turtle's head and press raisins in for the eyes. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 400°F. Using a serrated knife, make a ¼"-deep circular cut around the top edge of the body. Make criss-cross cuts in the center to look like a turtle's shell. Bake for about 20 to 25, or until golden brown. Serves 4 to 6.

©2006 Yuzu Eats