Western pond turtle inspired matcha rolls: Bake with Us(FWS)

Wow your friends and family with making them these turtle-y adorable matcha bread rolls shaped like western pond turtles! 🐢🍞The western pond turtle is California’s only native freshwater turtle! They’re actually made up of two distinct species, the northwestern pond turtle and southwestern pond turtle. Learn about the projects that are bringing this species one step closer to recovery. Watch the audio described version.Learn how to make other wildlife inspired treats.

Ingredients:

For the rolls:

• 3 tbsp. bread flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 270g bread flour
• 100g granulated sugar
• 12g matcha
• 4g non-fat dry milk powder
• 70g whole milk, room temp.
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg, room temp.
• 28g unsalted butter, melted
• 4g salt

For the chocolate shells:

• 90g white chocolate, finely chopped
• black sesame seeds (for the eyes)
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup white or brown rice flour (not sweet rice flour)
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the water, milk & flour until no lumps remain. Heat mixture over medium low heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken & streaks from your whisk will appear, this usually takes about 3-5 minutes Remove from the heat & transfer the mixture from the saucepan to a clean bowl - let cool to room temperature.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, matcha, instant yeast, salt & milk powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, egg & the cooled milk/flour/water mixture from step 1. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients & with the dough hook, knead blend for a few minutes until just combined.
3. Add the melted butter & knead the dough for about 7-10 more minutes. It will feel elastic & slightly sticky. Knead the dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover & place in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
4. After dough is done rising, weigh your dough & divide it into 8 equally sized pieces. Reserve 2 of the pieces for the heads & feet of the turtles. Flatten each piece of dough into about a 4-5" circle & add 15g of chopped white chocolate to the flattened dough, pressing the chocolate into the dough. Fold the dough up & around the white chocolate, pressing the dough together to ensure it is well sealed. Flip over the dough so the sealed side is facing down - repeat with the other 5 pieces of dough & the turtle bodies are done.
5. Place the turtle bodies on a parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 2" in between each turtle. Take 1 of the reserved balls of dough & divide it into 6 equally sized pieces. Roll each piece into a sphere & gently pinch one end of the sphere, slip the pinched end under the turtle body & press the body down at their meeting point, repeat until all of the bodies have heads. Take the other reserved ball of dough & divide it into 6 equally sized pieces (mine weighed about 12g each) & then divide each of these pieces into 4 small pieces leaving you with 4 small balls of dough per turtle for the feet (24 total small pieces). Shape each of the 4 small balls of dough into an oval, pinching one end of each oval. Slip the pinched ends under the turtle body placing them where the turtle's feet need to be. Once all turtles have heads & feet, make the eyes by taking 2 black sesame seeds & place them onto each head, gently pressing them into the dough with a toothpick. Cover the completed turtle rolls with plastic wrap & put in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes.
6. While the turtles are rising, make the shell coating. In a small bowl whisk together the shell ingredients until smooth. Cover with plastic & leave to rise while the turtles are rising. When turtles are done rising, pre-heat oven to 350F. Stir the shell topping until smooth & then coat the top of each turtle body with the shell topping, spreading it evenly with a spoon until all of the topping is used up. Sprinkle the shell coating with sugar & then bake the rolls for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from oven & place turtles on a rack to cool for about 10-15 minutes. Enjoy turtles while still warm from the oven - this is when they are at their best - otherwise, store in an airtight container & re-heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

Recipe by FOOD52.