Making Bread Hedgehogs

A super activity for children during Winter - and every other season!

In the January - March 2011 edition of Toddle About for Northamptonshire, Clare Page - Head Teacher at Akeley Wood Junior School and Nursery - shared with us some fantastic ideas for activities we can do with our children during Winter. One of those activities was to bake Hedgehog Bread. We didn't have space to print the recipe in the magazine, so here it is!

Bake Bread Hedgehogs

No matter how old they are, baking is always a treat for our children. Although making ‘Bread Hedgehogs’ needs a little bit of extra work, it is great fun and the delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the school makes it all worth while. For the children, moulding the bread into the shape of a hedgehog and cutting into the dough to make the spikes just adds an extra element of fun. A word of warning though - always ensure you have all of the ingredients to hand before you start!

You will need

225g (1 ½ cups) strong white flour or plain wholemeal flour.
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon sugar
15g (1 level table spoon) soft tub margarine
1 sachet (6g) easy blend dried yeast or fast action easy blend dried yeast
150ml (2/3 cup) warm water – NOT HOT

Recipe

1. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and add the sugar and the salt.
2. Add the margarine and rub into the flour using your finger tips.
3. Add the dried yeast and stir into the flour mix
4. Add all the water at once to the flour mix and stir together using a wooden spoon. (add a little more flour of it gets too sticky)
5. Use your hands as the dough gets tough and when it leaves the sides of the bowl clean, put the dough onto a floured surface.
6. Now the hard work begins! The dough will feel tight and lumpy and you must ‘knead’ it to make it smooth and stretchy. Push your hands into the dough, gather it back into a ball, turn it slightly and then repeat. Do this for about 5 minutes until the dough feels smooth. Form the dough into a ball and make one end pointed like a snout. Use kitchen scissors to snip the rest of the ball to make prickles and also the mouth. Add raisons for the eyes.
7. Cover the shape with oiled cling film to stop it drying out and then put the tray in the airing cupboard.
8. Set the oven to 230C/450F/Gas Mark 8
9. When the loaf shape has about doubled in size (after about 30 minutes) remove the cling film and place the tray in the centre of the oven.
10. Bake the loaf for 20-25 minutes. It should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped underneath
11. Put the loaf on a wire rack to cool and then tuck in!

Clare Page is Head Teacher at Akeley Wood Junior School & Nursery in Wicken, near Deanshanger. For more information on their nursery and school provisions, please call 01908 571 231 or nikki.gowton@akeleywoodschool.co.uk.