Panda Bread steps

Making Panda Bread isn’t easy, especially when you’re trying to make a face inside a bread (not something I do every day!). However, the hard work is so worth it when you slice open the sandwich loaf, peek inside and see a fun panda staring back at you. Who doesn’t love that?

To start off right with this bread, I suggest using unbleached all-purpose flour, as opposed to bread flour, because you’ll be working the bread a lot and don’t want the gluten to toughen. Gold Medal’s unbleached all-purpose flour is definitely up to the challenge.
Admittedly, I ran into some roadblocks while making this bread. The biggest one was deciding how to make the green dough. Though matcha, or green tea powder, works well and delivers a unique flavor, it’s also crazy expensive. If you’re not willing to drop some serious change on the stuff, green food coloring will also do the trick.

Another roadblock was, of course, making the panda face. These photos, combined with recipe directions, give step-by-step instructions on how to construct the face. As you can see, mine still didn’t turn out perfectly, but it was pretty darn close! Plus, I think it adds character.

Don’t get me wrong – despite the challenges, this was an incredibly fun, unique bread to make. And the flavor – a light, enriched white sandwich bread – was delightful. Though it was a little weird eating a panda’s face.