Juliet Sear’s animal rolls perfect for little ones!
If you’ve got little ones to entertain this summer and wondering what you can do to keep them busy and fed, well, Juliet Sear has the answer! Her fabulous, fun animal bread rolls are not only super easy and delicious, they also look amazing - making them perfect for kids of all ages.
Animal rolls
Makes 11 bread rolls
Ingredients
100g spinach for frogs, or 100g cooked beetroot (not cooked in vinegar) for pigs
150ml warm milk
500g strong white bread flour
10g fine sea salt
1 sachet of dried yeast or fast action time saver yeast
50g unsalted butter, melted and cooled (or olive oil)
125-150ml warm water
A few black pitted olives, sliced into small thin lines for the eyes and cut into tiny dots for the nose.
Extra milk for the glaze
Sandwich fillings of your choice
Method
1. Add the spinach (or beetroot) and warm milk to a blender and blitz for about 20 seconds, or until completely smooth.
2. Tip the flour and sea salt into a large bowl or stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook and dry whisk through with a fork to distribute the powders. Add the yeast sachet and whisk again.
3. Gradually mix in the coloured milk, melted butter and about a third of the water - all flour absorbancies vary so you may need to add some more of the water, it needs to come together as a shaggy sticky ball to begin with.
4. Mix on a slow speed to start until you have a smooth dough which comes together, then mix on a medium to high speed for about 5-6 minutes or until the dough is springy and shiny.
5. If kneading by hand, bring the wet and dry ingredients together with your hand shaped as a claw and get it all together so you have a shaggy dough. Tip the dough onto a surface (try not to use extra flour unless you really need to, embrace the stickiness it makes for softer bread) and knead for about 10-12 minutes until springy and shiny.
6. Divide into 12 pieces and roll 11 of these into tight balls. Place on baking trays, leaving space in between as they will almost double in size.
7. To make the frogs, use the remaining piece of dough to make the googly eyes, and sit a pair of each on top of the rolls. For the pigs, make little blobs for ears and larger blobs for the noses and use a skewer to mark out two holes on each. Position on the rolls.
8. Cover loosely with a large piece of lightly oiled cling film, and put in a warm place to prove for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size - if using the time saver yeast you might find they rise quicker, it depends on your room temperature.
9. Preheat the oven to 200C, 180C fan, Gas 6.
10. When ready to bake, add details to the rolls - for the frogs, add thin slivers of olives for the eye detail and tiny pieces to make the froggy nostrils. For the pigs, add two tiny eyes above the nose.
11. Bake for 12-15 minutes until risen and lightly golden.
12. Leave to cool completely, and then slice to create the froggy mouth and pack full of fillings of your choice. These will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container or food bag.