My sister loves pandas.
Even though there is a panda on the bread, it is delicious and you can't taste the green tea or cocoa. Bring it to a party to enjoy with cheese and wine.
Shannon biting into the face! haha!
Some funny looking faces. See my note at the very bottom of this post to help make your faces a little more round and panda like.
1 (2 1/4 teaspoon) package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
2 Tablespoons raw sugar
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 Tablespoon flax seed meal
3 cups whole wheat flour
To add after the dough is separated into three pieces:
1/4 teaspoons salt 3 1/2 teaspoon raw cacoa powder mixed w/ 1 1/2 tsp hot water, or black food coloring
1 Tablespoon green tea (matcha) powder mixed with 2 teaspoons hot water, or green food coloring
4 Tablespoons quinoa flour or white rice flour with 2-3 Tablespoons hot water (this will make the dough a little whiter for the panda bear's face, but it is not necessary)
Step 1: In a large bowl (or the bucket of a bread machine, programmed for the dough cycle) dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar. As this proofs (let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it is foamy) combine the flour, flaxseed meal, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the coconut oil to yeast after it has proofed and then knead in the flour mixture until the dough is smooth.
Step 2: Divide dough into three pieces, two about equal (make one a little bigger than the other) and the third piece about 1/3 the size of the other two.
Step 3:
Knead the smallest piece of dough with the cacoa powder and water mixture until color is blended through.
Knead the largest ball of dough with the green tea (matcha) powder and water mixture until the color is blended through.
Knead the medium sized dough with the quinoa or white rice flour and 2-3 Tablespoons water.
Put the three balls of dough into three greased bowls, cover them, and place them into a warm place to rise until doubled in size (1 to 2 hours depending on warmth).
1 1/4 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
2 Tablespoons raw sugar
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 Tablespoon flax seed meal
3 cups whole wheat flour
To add after the dough is separated into three pieces:
1/4 teaspoons salt 3 1/2 teaspoon raw cacoa powder mixed w/ 1 1/2 tsp hot water, or black food coloring
1 Tablespoon green tea (matcha) powder mixed with 2 teaspoons hot water, or green food coloring
4 Tablespoons quinoa flour or white rice flour with 2-3 Tablespoons hot water (this will make the dough a little whiter for the panda bear's face, but it is not necessary)
Step 1: In a large bowl (or the bucket of a bread machine, programmed for the dough cycle) dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar. As this proofs (let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it is foamy) combine the flour, flaxseed meal, and salt in a separate bowl. Add the coconut oil to yeast after it has proofed and then knead in the flour mixture until the dough is smooth.
Step 2: Divide dough into three pieces, two about equal (make one a little bigger than the other) and the third piece about 1/3 the size of the other two.
Step 3:
Knead the smallest piece of dough with the cacoa powder and water mixture until color is blended through.
Knead the largest ball of dough with the green tea (matcha) powder and water mixture until the color is blended through.
Knead the medium sized dough with the quinoa or white rice flour and 2-3 Tablespoons water.
Put the three balls of dough into three greased bowls, cover them, and place them into a warm place to rise until doubled in size (1 to 2 hours depending on warmth).
 Notice how the white part is very flat. This resulted in my panda facing being quite rectangular as you can see from the pictures. Try to make it round like the pictures below and your face will come out much cuter. |  You can see my three green tea pieces. 4 cocoa pieces, and 2 white pieces in this picture. |
I got this image from: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/look-panda-bread-91127 Their panda turned out much better than mine. You can use these images as visuals for the following steps.
Step 4: Once dough is risen, on a floured surface, divide white dough in thirds, with one piece being half the size of the other two. Use one of the larger white pieces to form the face. Form it into a log that is the length of the bread pan.
Step 5: Divide the cocoa dough into quarters and use two quarters to form the eyes. Roll them into long, thin logs and lay them on top of the white log. (Shown above).
Step 6: Place the smallest piece of white dough between the eyes to keep them in place. Stretch remaining piece of white dough over the whole bread to lock everything in place.
Step 7: Take the last two quarters of cocoa dough and form the ears by rolling them long and thin like the eyes and lying them on top of the white head.
Step 8: Divide the green dough in two pieces, one twice the size of the other. Take the small piece to fill in the space between the ears. Take the larger piece of green dough and stretch over the whole bread to lock everything in place. (My green didn't fit all the way around, which is why I said to make the green dough slightly larger than the white in step 2 and 3).
Step 9: Place the panda dough in a lightly greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Step 10: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until its golden brown. Remove it from the oven and turn it out of the pan to cool on a rack.
Don't cut it until it is completely cool! I know you will be dying to see how your panda turned out, but you have to wait until it is completely cool otherwise it will crumble.
It was so fun to cut into because each slice had a slightly different expression.
Step 5: Divide the cocoa dough into quarters and use two quarters to form the eyes. Roll them into long, thin logs and lay them on top of the white log. (Shown above).
Step 6: Place the smallest piece of white dough between the eyes to keep them in place. Stretch remaining piece of white dough over the whole bread to lock everything in place.
Step 7: Take the last two quarters of cocoa dough and form the ears by rolling them long and thin like the eyes and lying them on top of the white head.
Step 8: Divide the green dough in two pieces, one twice the size of the other. Take the small piece to fill in the space between the ears. Take the larger piece of green dough and stretch over the whole bread to lock everything in place. (My green didn't fit all the way around, which is why I said to make the green dough slightly larger than the white in step 2 and 3).
Step 9: Place the panda dough in a lightly greased loaf pan, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Step 10: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes, until its golden brown. Remove it from the oven and turn it out of the pan to cool on a rack.
Don't cut it until it is completely cool! I know you will be dying to see how your panda turned out, but you have to wait until it is completely cool otherwise it will crumble.
It was so fun to cut into because each slice had a slightly different expression.
 |  |
Even though it wasn't perfect and I changed the original recipe a lot to make it healthier and vegan, it turned out really cute! haha! Each slice was a little different and the bread itself tasted really good! I know for next time to try to make the white head a little more round and the green dough bigger so that it can cover the entire face. This will help hold the shape so that the panda doesn't have such a square head. However, the imperfections are cute and funny.
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