Turtle Bread

A delicious and fun to make loaf of cheesy spinach bread that also looks like a turtle!

Make sure you have the following ingredients and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2 Pounds Premade Bread Dough, thawed if frozen
1/2 Cup Shredded Spinach, thawed if frozen
1/2 Cup plus 1 Tablespoon Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheese, Cheddar or Mexican blend
1/4 Cup Flour
2 Walnut Pieces

Most shredded spinach comes frozen. If yours did, it is very important that you squeeze the spinach in between your palms over a sink to drain out the excess water. Continue to do this until only a few drops of water come out of the spinach when you squeeze it, then set the spinach aside.

Lightly flour a large flat surface. Take out 1 pound of the dough and place it on your work surface.

Mix the spinach with the dough and 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese. Knead the dough and continue folding it over into itself until the spinach and cheese are evenly distributed. Then shape the dough into an oval dome and set it aside.

Mix together the remaining 1 pound of dough with the shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Knead the dough, folding it over onto itself, until the cheese has been evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Tear off pieces of the cheesy dough and create 4 turtle legs about 2 inches wide and 4 inches long, 1 turtle head that is about 3 inches wide, 3 inches tall, and 5 inches long, and a turtle tail that is about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. You should still have a good amount of the cheesy dough left. Flatten the remaining dough into an oval that is roughly the same area as the spinach shell.

Lightly flour a large baking pan. Place the flat oval of cheesy dough in the center of the pan, and then arrange the limbs, head, and tail on the oval so that about 1 inch of them rests on top of the cheesy oval while the rest lays out on the baking sheet. Place the large dome of spinach dough on top of the oval of cheesy dough and the turtle parts that were resting on the dough. The turtle parts should now look like they are coming out of the shell, rather than just resting on the baking sheet unattached to the shell.

Now take the 2 walnut pieces and place them on the turtle's head so that it has little walnut eyeballs. Then sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese over the shell of the turtle.

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until the dough is golden brown on the outside and baked all the way through. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.