Teddy Bear Dinner Rolls

For a fun project, try making teddy bear rolls. The bears in these photographs are approximately 4 1/2 inches tall and 3 1/2 inches wide… just the right size for little hands… but don’t be surprised when the big kids and adults want some too!

Any yeast dough works great for these. Sometimes I use a sweet roll recipe and decorate the bears with bits of raisins for eyes and a ribbon made of icing, but today I used our regular whole wheat bread dough. I mixed the dough in the bread machine and let it rise as usual until it had doubled in volume. Then it was time to shape the little bears.

Start with approximately a 1 3/4 inch ball of dough… this is the bear’s body. Next pinch off enough dough to make approximately a one inch ball… this is the bear’s head. Adjust the size if the balls of dough look too large or too small. Next make six smaller balls of dough… these should be slightly less than a half inch in diameter and will become the bear’s arms, legs, and ears. You can flatten out the arms and legs or leave them rounded. Add an even smaller ball of dough for the nose. Make sure that all the balls of dough are in solid contact with each other. As the dough rises and is baked, the pieces will fuse and the finished bear will actually be quite durable. Let the bears rise for a second time until they have almost doubled, then bake at 375°F until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Rub the bears lightly with butter while they are still hot.

This is a really fun project to do with your children. For younger children, you will probably want to pinch off the appropriately sized pieces of dough yourself and let them roll the balls, but remember that the beauty of these bears is in their differences and that they don’t have to be perfect… children will be thrilled with any bear that THEY make, and all the bears will come out of the oven looking absolutely adorable.

Filed Under Cooking & Baking from Scratch