Earth Day Crush Rolls

Family Dinner Fun

I love having family sit down dinners several times a week, but with two young kids it’s sometimes a struggle to actually make a quality meal while monitoring all they’re doing, and yet keeping them included and entertained. While struggling to come up with something to do this week, I remembered an old idea my own mother did with me, but with a twist (because everything nowadays has to have a twist!): it needed to be Disney]! What she used to have me do was turtle bread, which is basically several rolls combined together to make a large turtle, while she was doing something else. So, why not take this Finding Nemo style and make several small turtles -err, Crush’s- for the little ones!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 packages(4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast

4 1/4-4 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

Raisins or cranberries

Start by combining the milk, sugar, butter, and salt into a bowl and microwaving for about 3 minutes (or until 120 degrees if you have a baking thermometer).

Microwavable ingredients

Then, combine the yeast and two cups of flower in a mixing bowl. Add in the milk mix and eggs and beat on low setting for two minutes. Add the other cup of flower and continue beating for another 2-3 minutes. Then, mix in as much of the flower that’s left as possible.

Best yeast to use for homemade bread

Begin mixing flour and yeast

Now kneed the bread dough on a lightly floured surface for 3-5 minutes (the dough should be slightly elastic and smooth). Once that is done, place in a bowl and cover with a towel in a warm place for once hour.

Finished post kneeding dough

It is now time for the fun part! After the dough has risen, punch it down, and start dividing into 16 equal pieces. Now take those portions, and divide out the body, head, legs, and tail (shaping how you feel best to make your turtle). Once you have everything shaped, tuck a small part of the legs, tail, and head under the body of the turtle. Then, cover with a damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes (longer if the room is cold).

Little Crush

With scissor detailing

Before baking the Turtles, cut raisins (or cranberries, my own personal choice) in half and pushing them into Crush’s head for eyes. Then, take some scissors and cut into the legs to make them look like webbed flippers, and on the back to look like a shell. Now bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until a light, golden brown.

Top detailing