Turtle Bread

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
1 package quick-acting active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 egg
2 raisins

1. Mix 1 1/2 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

2. Heat water, milk, and margarine to 125 degrees to 130 degrees; stir into yeast mixture. Stir in egg. Stir in enough of remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle.

3. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

4. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Shape a 2 inch ball for the head. Shape 4 walnut sized balls for feet. Shape 1 walnut sized piece of dough for the tail. Shape remaining dough into a ball for body; place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Attach head, feet and tail by placing 1 end of each under edge of body to secure. Press raisins into head for eyes. cover and let rise 20 minutes.

5. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Make crisscross cuts in body, 1/4 inch deep, to look like a turtle's shell. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 1 turtle bread.

Maple Cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup soft light brown sugar
7/8 cup self-rising flour
2 medium eggs
6 tablespoons maple syrup

Buttercream Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until they are light and fluffy. Sift in the flour.

2. Beat the eggs in a cup. Add them to the bowl, with the maple syrup. Stir until everything is well mixed.

3. Put a paper case in each hole in the muffin tray. Use a small spoon to divide the mixture between the paper cases. Bake for 12-15 minutes until risen and firm.

4, Leave in the tray for a few minutes. Lift each one onto a wire rack to cool. Make the buttercream frosting.

5. Beat the butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together in a bowl until smooth. Spread some over each cake, when it is cool.

Quite the Bakers

Last week's baking theme was a HUGE success! I posted pictures from Monday and Tuesday's adventures of making Elephant Ears and Cookies. On Thursday and Friday we made Maple Cupcakes and Turtle Bread. The Maple Cupcakes are interesting. They tasted like french toast! The children LOVED the bread turtles so much that they didn't want to eat them! Here are some pictures from cupcakes and bread making!

 Yes, we added sprinkles to our maple cupcakes! =)

 Yum!!

 Mixing while posing!

 Add the milk

 And knead the dough!

They loved this part!

They kept wanting to pet the turtle!

The Turtle Bread (it was cuter in person)

 They got to try banana bread as well (but we ran out of time for them to make it)!

Sugar Cookies!!

The baking continued on Tuesday with sugar cookies and butter cream frosting! I have to say that is the 1st time I have made frosting from scratch (and it was quite easy)! The children enjoyed every step of the process (which took us some time to do a double batch while also keeping our regularly scheduled daily activities). The result was yummy!

Elephant Ears Recipe

1/4 cup of margarine or butter
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of milk
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Sugar

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Grease a cookie sheet with shortening.
3. Heat margarine until melted; set aside. Stir flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in milk and 3 tablespoons of the melted margarine until dough forms.
4. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour; turn dough onto surface. Knead 10 times. Roll dough with a rolling pin or pat with hands into a rectangle, 9x5 inches. Brush with remaining melted margarine, using a pastry brush; sprinkle with mixture of 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon.
5. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at narrow end. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut into 4 equal pieces with sharp knife. Place cut sides up on cookie sheet; pat each into a 6-inch circle. Sprinkle with more sugar.
6. Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet with a spatula. Let cool on wire rack.
Makes 4 elephant ears.

Bakers in the Making!

This week's theme is BAKING! The children have enjoyed baking with us before but this week they get to help bake a new recipe every day!!! Today we made Elephant Ears which turned out delicious. They didn't look quite as nice as the picture, but they were made with a lot of excitement! The children helped put the ingredients into the bowl, stir everything up, and kneed the dough. They also helped eat the finished product of course! Besides learning about how to bake, I also gave them a lesson on hygiene and keeping our hands clean before (and while) we bake! We will see if they remember that step tomorrow!!



We LOVE Thanksgiving!!

Last Wednesday we fixed a Thanksgiving meal for lunch and the children LOVED it! Stuffing was new for most of them, but everyone tried it.