St Michael’s Dragon Bread

A simple bread recipe to make together for Michaelmas. Children can help knead and shape the dough, then decorate their dragon with seeds and dried fruit before baking.

You will need

500g strong white bread flour
7g fast-action yeast
1½ tsp golden caster sugar
1½ tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
300ml warm water
A little olive or sunflower oil
A small handful of dried fruit, seeds or nuts for decorating. We used cranberries and sunflower seeds.

How to make your dragon

Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.

Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles fine crumbs. This is a good job for little hands.

Add the warm water and mix with a cutlery knife until a dough begins to form.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes. If you're using a mixer with a dough hook, knead for about 5 minutes.

Lightly oil the bowl, put the dough back in and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave somewhere warm until it has doubled in size.

Shape your dragon

Gently knead the dough a few times to knock out the air.

Now you can make your dragon.

Keep four small balls of dough for the feet and a larger ball for the head. Shape the remaining dough into the body and tail. You can make your dragon long and winding or curl him up as though he's resting.

For the feet, gently flatten each ball and make two small cuts with scissors to create three toes.

Add the head and have fun with the details. Make nostrils with your fingertips and use scissors or a fork to create scales and texture.

We used cranberries for eyes and sunflower seeds for scales, but you can use whatever you have.

Cover your finished dragon with a tea towel and leave to rise again until doubled in size.

Bake

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6.

Brush the dragon with a little milk or beaten egg to help it turn golden.

Bake on the middle shelf for 25–30 minutes, until golden brown. If you tap the bottom of the bread, it should sound hollow.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Then tear, share and enjoy.

Created especially for us by @apocketofforest