My first attempt to make this Santa bread turned out pretty good! You can follow the instructional photos from Taste of Home (to the left) and then look at how a "real person" does it (my photos) **
I found the same photos and instructions on Taste of Home and DIY Crafts, but adapted their "from-scratch" bread to use frozen bread dough. |
2 loaves of frozen bread dough (Rhodes or Bridgeford), completely thawed & room temperature
2 eggs………………………………………….2 raisins
2 egg yolks……………………………………5-6 drops red food coloring (paste is best)
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Preheat oven to 350°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Be sure your bread is completely thawed and has doubled in size (best to thaw overnight on the counter ~ I put them on parchment paper on a baking sheet, so they wouldn't stick). Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into two portions, one slightly larger than the other. (I found that the tops of the bread had gotten a little crusty since I thawed it overnight. I just turned the dough upside-down when I used it, so the crusty part was on the bottom)
Shape larger portion into elongated triangle with rounded corners for Santa's head & hat. (well, good luck getting it that exact! I went with "close enough" ~ you can pull the top of his hat over later when you put the pom pom on.)
Divide smaller portion in half. Shape & flatten one half into a beard. (I did this on the baking sheet, so I didn't have to move it later.) Using scissors or a pizza cutter, cut into strips to within 1” of top. Position on Santa's face; twist and curl strips if desired. (I will definitely cut them thinner next time ~ maybe 1/2")
Use remaining dough for mustache, nose, hat pom-pom & brim. Shape portion of dough into mustache; flatten and cut ends into small strips with scissors. Place above beard. Place a small ball above mustache for nose. Fold tip of hat over and add another ball for pom-pom. Roll out a narrow piece of dough to create a hat brim; position under hat.
With a scissors, cut two slits for eyes; insert raisins into slits.
In separate small bowls, beat egg each yolk. Add red food coloring to one yolk (you want it RED, so add enough food color. The egg yolk will turn it pink-orange if you don't use enough); carefully brush over hat, nose and cheeks. Brush plain yolk over remaining dough ~ (I started with a small basting brush, but that was still too big and a little messy. Switched to a tiny watercolor brush that I keep to use in the kitchen.) (TIP: When doing the egg wash, do the regular one first and the red one second; this will prevent the color running onto the rest of Santa’s face.)
Cover loosely with foil (lightly spritz it with non-stick spray, so it doesn't stick to the dough.) Bake 15 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-12 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 1 loaf.