HALLOWEEN SPIDER BREAD

Halloween Spider Bread image

Here's a super fun bread you can make for Halloween. The spider legs are creepy and yummy, and can be filled with a little or a lot of cheese. The marinara bowl and spider head can be shared by all or made into a sandwich and a soup bowl the next day.

Provided by Melissa Johnson

Categories Recipes

Time 1h15m

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

430 grams bolted all purpose flour (3 1/3 cups)
260 grams water (1 cup + 1.5 Tbsp)
200 grams sourdough starter (2/3 cup)
21 grams olive oil (1 ½ Tbsp)
15 grams activated charcoal powder (2-3 Tbsp)
11 grams salt (2 tsp)
one beaten egg to brush on the dough before baking
1 cup shredded mozzarella (or multiple cheese sticks)
1 cup marinara sauce
2 cardamom seeds for the spider's eyes (or whatever you have on hand)

Steps:

Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, minus the egg wash, mozzarella, marinara, and spider eyes. If possible, put the activated charcoal in your bowl first and gently cover it with the other ingredients. The charcoal powder poofs and gets airborne very easily. The dough should feel fairly dry, like pizza dough.
Cover and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. Then perform a round of stretching and folding on the dough. You probably won't need any more gluten development but if your dough doesn't feel strong and elastic already, you can do another round of stretching and folding after a 20-30 minute rest.
Let the dough rise until it has expanded by about 75%. This took 8 hours from when I mixed the dough (cool kitchen). At this point you can refrigerate the dough overnight or begin shaping now.
Shaping and Final Proof (See the Photo Gallery below)
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a half baking sheet or an even larger baking sheet.
Scrape the fermented dough out of your bowl onto a lightly oiled work surface.
Press down on the dough to evenly de-gas it. Cut it in half, then cut one of the halves in half (two quarters). Finally, cut one of the quarters into four pieces (eighths). For less spider head and more spider leg length, cut the second half differently: 1/3 for the head and 2/3 for the four leg tubes.
Roll the half into a tight ball for the body. Place it on the parchment paper.
Put cheese in the center of the quarter and wrap it into a ball for the head. Place this 1-2 inches in front of the body, leaving space for the legs.
Press the four small dough pieces flat and line them with cheese. Wrap the dough around the cheese, sealing it on all sides, and then roll the tube longer under your palms. Lay the four tubes across the space between the body and head so that each tube is two legs.
Lay a damp cloth or oiled plastic wrap over the dough for the final proof. My dough proofed for about 1.5 hours as it was slightly chilled from being refrigerated overnight.
Baking and Decorating
Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Brush the surface of your spider with a beaten egg and then load it into the oven.
Bake the spider for about 35 minutes or until the center of the body segment is over 190°F. The legs will crisp up but shouldn't burn.
Let the bread cool for about 30 minutes and then cut out the well in the spider's body for your dip. You can do this by placing the top of the dip cup you've chosen on the spider and tracing with your knife around it. (The spider "guts" are a tasty snack heated up with some extra cheese and marinara.)
Warm up your marinara, place it in the cup, and fit the cup into the spider's body.
Serve and enjoy!