Ever since I made matcha chocolate swirl loaf the other day, I’ve been trying to think of new ways to naturally colour bread dough but I’ve had no such luck…so I decided to try to challenge myself another way by making a different design in the bread loaf! I mean I’ve made animal buns before and they’ve turned out absolutely adorably so what could go wrong right? Well….apparently, making panda bread was a little more difficult than that…so here’s how it turned out and I was sure to include my mistakes and how to fix them so you can make it perfect yourself!
Lessons learned and tips for you…
- Be sure to use a LARGE loaf pan next time or the loaf will end up rising over the pan too much and create too much of a “muffin top”
- Make the white layer surrounding the panda eyes a little thicker so that the eyes will end up being a little lower and look more like a face.
- Make sure that the matcha layer that surrounds the entire panda is at least 1 cm thick on ALL sides so it can contain the panda face.
And as you can see below, because the matcha surrounding layer was too thin on that side, it ended up breaking away and separating while it was baking in the oven thereby exposing the panda ears and face. ):
Panda bread recipe
Ingredients:
plain dough
1/2 cup warm milk of choice
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon matcha powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
matcha dough
1/2 cup warm milk of choice
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon matcha powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
chocolate dough
1/4 cup warm milk of choice
3/4 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
pinch of salt
Prepare yourself!
1. Prepare the doughs according to the instructions found in my bread making 101 post. (Combine the yeast, warm milk, coconut oil and sugar in a measuring cup; set aside to foam. In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa/matcha powder and salt. Add yeast mixture to the large bowl and stir until combined. Knead the dough for 8 – 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface and let it rise for 1.5 hours until it doubles in size.)
2. Divide the chocolate dough into four equal pieces and roll them out into logs.
3. Divide the plain dough into two equal halves and set half of it aside. Take 2/3 of the remaining plain dough and roll it into a rectangular log. Then, place two of the chocolate logs on top of the plain dough to form the eyes; making sure that they’re at least 1″ apart.
4. Roll the remaining 1/3 of the plain dough into a log and place it between the eyes.
5. Roll the remaining 1/2 of the white dough out into a rectangle and wrap it around the panda eyes. Pinch the seams together to seal.
6. Place the two remaining chocolate logs above the panda eyes. Then, take 1/4 of the matcha dough and shape it into a long rectangle that fits between the two panda ears.
7. Roll the remaining 3/4 of the matcha dough out into a rectangle and wrap it around the entire panda face. Pinch the seams together to seal.
8. Transfer your panda log into your loaf pan and let it rise for 30 minutes covered in a warm place.
9. Bake at 400F for 25 – 30 minutes until golden.
10. Slice and munch Panda bread!
