Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Bread

Let the Christmas treats begin!

I figure it is close enough to the holiday seasons to start posting some Christmas treats. I made this guy for a bake sale and just fell in love with him. 

Isn't he cute?

And, believe it or not...not that difficult to make. You can use your favorite bread recipe, store bought, or use our recipe listed here. It is my go to recipe that is so quick and easy to make. 

Our recipe should yield about 8 - 9 buns. 

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Bread

Ingredients

Bread

5 - 5 1/2 cups flour

3 Tbsp sugar

2 envelopes Rapid Rise Yeast (4 1/2 tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup water

1/3 cup butter, cubed

Decorations

cream cheese (only about 1 Tbsp)

black beans

cherry or plum tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and baking soda. 

Heat buttermilk, water, and butter until very warm (~120). Butter does not need to melt completely. Mixture will appear curdled. 

Stir the warm milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 2 minutes. 

Cover and let rest on floured surface for approx 15 minutes. 

After dough has rested.....

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. It takes 2 pieces to make each reindeer. 

Shape one piece of dough into a "bell" shape. (Basically a triangle with rounded corners.) This piece will be the head.

Take the other piece of dough and cut it roughly in half. 

Cut one half into half again and roll each half into logs. These will be the antlers. 

Take the other half and cut off 2 tiny pieces. These will be the ears. (See photo below for clarification.) You may have a little bit of dough leftover. 

To make the ears simply roll each little piece into a ball. Squish the ball flat with your thumb. Make a cut halfway up the circle, being careful not to go completely cut the circle in two. Pinch the ends together to form an ear shape. (See photo below for clarification.)

To make the antlers simply cut each log with an angled cut at the 1/3 rd and 2/3 rd mark, being careful not to cut all the way through the log. Pinch the cuts into points and angle them away from the main branch. 

Place the antlers and the ears onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them far enough apart that the antlers don't touch each other.  Then place the bell shaped head dough on top of the antlers and ears. Make sure the positions are correct. (See below photo for clarifications)

Repeat with remaining dough. 

You can even make a large reindeer if you prefer....

Bake at 374 until golden brown, about 20 - 30 minutes (depending on size).

Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for at least 15 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and let completely cool on wire rack.

Use a tiny amount of cream cheese to adhere the black beans and tomato to your reindeer for eyes and a nose.

Adorable, right?

I think for the bigger bread I need to use a bigger cherry tomato. All I had was plum tomatoes so they were pretty tiny. Still got a lot of "aaawwww"s at the bake sale though.

I also think, for next time, I will stuff the buns with pizza sauce and cheese so they are a lunch on their own. 

I am pretty sure it would make the kids happy to see these little guys on the Christmas dinner table. 

For tons more tasty and crafty links, be sure to visit -- Feeding Big, Memories By The Mile,  

Chef In Training, Table For Seven, Anyonita Nibbles, Carole's Chatter, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons