It’s been a really gloomy week… it began with saying goodbye to my mom who is now back on the other side of the country, it ended with losing an hour to day light savings time (kids are off on sleep schedules) and everything in between seemed to go wrong. In other words, its the perfect time for some really happy cheerful bread.
OK, so we actually made this 2 weeks ago when mom was visiting, but I’m tempted to make another loaf right now, I could use a little color on such a rainy cruddy day.
This rainbow bread was very easy to assemble, but its time consuming kneading in all the colors. Lucky for me, mom helped me out with that (thanks mom!).
Roll out the colorful dough balls, then layer them. Using a plain roll of dough to help create an arch. Then top with a flat layer of plain bread dough. Simple!
Something unique for a St. Pattys Day sandwich?
To see my complete collection of bread art, check out my new eBook!
$5 Bread Art – Playing With Dough
ebook with instant download in PDF format
Recipe: Over the Rainbow Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- food coloring of your choice
Instructions
- Stir the warm water and yeast in the bread machine, wait 5 minutes for it to foam. Then add remaining ingredients (except the food coloring). Set on dough setting. (If you don’t have a breadmaker, make this like any other bread.. knead the dough, let rise in warm area.)
- Separate into several dough balls (you choose your colors and how many). Color them by using your mixer with the dough hook attachment and adding a few drops of food coloring until you get the color you like. This takes awhile and you may need to knead it by hand to even it out. Wipe clean the mixer. Add the next dough ball to the mixer and repeat with another color. Make sure to save plain dough for the top of the rainbow and the bottom arch.
- Shape your bread! Use a rolling pin, pizza cutter or chopper if you have it. Place into a greased 9×5″ bread loaf pan. Cover with a towel. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Slice and Enjoy. Store in a ziploc bag to retain freshness or it will get hard over night.
Preparation time: 1 hour(s) 40 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
This is crazy!! Take my money! Now!! :’)
How pretty! Love this bread!
This is so adorable. Especially when feeding younger children
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Thank you K&B, the little ones love it!
Thanks Ambika!
You are too funny Jessica 🙂 So happy you like it.. saw that you pinned it too.. I appreciate it!
So beautiful and cheerful! Such a great way to fight back the gloom!
So unique! This bread makes me smile:) Time to pin!
thanks Brooke, I think so too 🙂
I love pinterest, thanks Sue!
Wow, i love it! Thanks for sharing, i reblogged it:
http://maleikie.blogspot.com/2012/03/diy-rainbrow-bread.html
Thanks Maleikie 🙂
I think this is a great idea. Couldn’t it be done with store-bought roll dough too, for ease say, with young children? Then you pop it in like you always do, and there ya go!
I can’t imagine why not.. but I have never tried making bread art out of store bought dough. If you give it a try let me know how it works for you!
How do you actually dye the dough? Every time I try, it just turns out tie dye and spotty looking. What type of dye do you use?
Shelby, thanks for your feedback and sorry its not working so well for you. Are you using the paddle attachment in your electric mixer? That is the easiest I found, it works so much better than the dough hook attachment, I need to double check the instructions I had. But using the paddle attachment for a good 3-4 minutes always does the trick for me. The dough appears tougher but it will rise again. I use coloring gel, it works nicely for me, but I have read about others using food coloring drops but its more difficult to get an even color. I am going to experiment with different types of food coloring, its my next project actually. Best luck with your bread!
the gel dyes work best. the liquid from the average store does not stand up in the color clarity. the gel colors are worth the purchase. you do not need much and they last a long time.
Thanks DJ, I have a few bread posts coming that will show how the natural food dyes worked out for me. So please check back soon!
THIS IS SO VERY COOL ….THANKS!
Thanks Judy!
Can you use wheat bread dough when doing this?
Yes, but the results will depend on the recipe. If you have a dense wheat bread recipe the loaf will be realluy hard to color and work with. If you have a light and airy recipe it will be easier to work with but the rising might result in a crooked looking rainbow. I have a few recipe suggestions in my book, I also have some documented on my blog in some of the other bread art examples I have (a honey wheat bread recipe).
fooled around trying to make a shamrock in the bread, so far one loaf only had a green rectangle, lol, maybe the other will be different, will let you all know if it works!
Wow! I tried doing this and never blogged about it because it didn’t come out the way I’d hoped, I should look up the photos and post them. I hope the second loaf came out for you, Diana!