Turtle-Shaped Melon Bread in the Microwave

Name: Turtle-Shaped Melon Bread in the Microwave
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 100 grams Strong bread flour; 100 grams Cake flour; 140 grams Milk; 20 grams Salted butter; 20 grams Sugar; 4 grams Dry yeast; 3 grams Salt; 100 grams ＊Cake flour; 50 grams ＊Butter; 50 grams ＊Sugar; 1 ＊Egg yolk; 3 grams ＊Matcha

cookpad.japan @cookpad_jp

I realizeded that although I've made a lot of different melon bread recipes, I haven't made a traditional turtle one! There's probably a lot of these recipes around but I thought I would upload mine as well anyway.

When it's hot both the cookie and bread dough will tend to get a bit soft. Even though it's annoying, keep the pieces you don't currently need refrigerated so that they keep their shape.
Transfer to a baking tray as soon as you have scored the turtle shells. Make sure there is plenty of space between each turtle. The turtles will most likely fall apart if you try to move them onto the baking tray after assembly so I don't recommend this way. Recipe by Chibato

cookpad.japan @cookpad_jp

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Ingredients

6 servings

100 gramsStrong bread flour
100 gramsCake flour
140 gramsMilk
20 gramsSalted butter
20 gramsSugar
4 gramsDry yeast
3 gramsSalt
100 grams＊Cake flour
50 grams＊Butter
50 grams＊Sugar
1＊Egg yolk
3 grams＊Matcha

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Steps

1

Make the cookie dough using the ingredients marked with ＊. Cream the butter and add the sugar. Blend together and once smooth, add the egg yolks and mix. Mix in the matcha before folding in the flour with a spatula. When the dough isn't powdery anymore, split it into 6 equal pieces and leave to rest for over 30 minutes.
2

Now for the bread dough. Add the milk and butter to a heat-resistant bowl and warm to body temperature in a microwave. When the butter has completely melted, add the sugar and yeast and mix.
3

Add 1/3 of the powder ingredients and mix wiith a whisk until smooth. Add the rest of the powder ingredients and fold in with a spatula.
4

Wrap the dough in cling film and heat in a 200W microwave for 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a dusted work surface and knead until it is no longer sticky. If the dough is still a bit sticky, you can fix this with dusting the dough with more flour. When you can round the dough into a smooth, taut ball, wrap it up and cover with a damp cloth for 15 minutes.
5

Punch out the excess air and separate the dough into 6 equal pieces. Separate each piece so that you have 2/3 for the body and 1/3 for the head, feet and tail. Separate each head, feet and tail section into 1/4 for the head and split the rest into 5 equal pieces to make the 4 legs and a tail. Use your finger to squash down the areas where you will attach the pieces together. (I used cocoa when I took this photo which is why the dough looks darker than yours will).
6

Take the cookie dough from the fridge and roll out each piece into a circle shape between 2 sheets of cling film. Rest each cookie circle on top of the turtle bodies you made out of breasd dough earlier and carve a criss-cross pattern into the cookie dough with a knife. Once you attach the head and feet it will be impossible to move the turtles without breaking them so place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and continue.
7

Fix on the feet, head and tail by applying left over egg white onto the flattened area of each body piece and attaching to the body. (Again, the photo used here features a recipe where I used cocoa which is why it appears dark).
8

These turtles will expand quite a lot so make sure to leave plenty of space between them on the baking tray. Keeping these turtles on the baking tray, microwave them at 200 W for 30 seconds, cover with a damp cloth and leave to proof for 25 minutes. They should become twice as big as their original size. Bake for 25 minutes at 200°C.
9

This time I made 2 pandas, 2 turtles and 2 crocodiles. Each recipe variation requires the same ingredients and amounts so you can mix and match like this.