Santa Claus Bread

To prepare Santa Claus bread, start by dissolving the yeast in lukewarm water 1, while in lukewarm milk add sugar 2 and salt, and stir to combine the ingredients. Take a large bowl and pour in the sifted flour, then add the water with dissolved yeast 3,

then also pour in the milk with sugar and salt 4. Begin kneading, gradually adding the olive oil 5 in a thin stream. Once the oil is incorporated, add the softened butter in small pieces 6 a little at a time, adding more when the previous amount is incorporated.

Knead everything in the bowl, then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Work it vigorously 7 until you get a soft, smooth, and homogeneous dough. Form a ball, place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap 8, and let it rise at room temperature for a couple of hours (or until it doubles in volume) 9.

After the necessary time, take the dough again, divide it into two parts, one about 2 lbs and the other 1 lb. Roll out the larger one 10 into a triangular shape 14 inches in height, with a bottom width of about 2.5 inches and a base of 9 inches, with rounded corners representing Santa Claus's head and hat. Place the dough triangle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush with water 11. Then cut strips about 0.4 inches thick along the base of the triangle 12.

From the remaining dough, take a quarter to use for decoration, while gently rolling out the rest and using a cutter to make 0.4 inch thick strips without cutting them completely 13. Twist the strips around themselves to give movement to the beard and place it about halfway down the triangle, leaving space for the base of the hat and eyes 14. From the remaining dough, make small logs of various lengths that you can combine to create the mustache 15.

Make the nose with a small ball of dough and place the nose and mustache in the center of the beard 16. Then slightly fold the tip to simulate the Christmas hat 17, make a pom-pom and pierce it with scissors 18.

Position the pom-pom 19 and then focus on the base of the hat with the remaining dough, making a small log 20 to slightly flatten 21.

Finish the edge with a serrated cutter 22, brush Santa Claus's forehead with water 23 and place the base of the hat 24.

Create the eyes with two black olives 25 and brush all of Santa Claus bread with beaten egg 26. In the remaining beaten egg, add a few drops of red food coloring until you get the desired color 27.

With a brush, color the hat 28 and the nose 29 red, then bake Santa Claus bread in a preheated static oven at 356°F for 35 minutes (if using a fan oven, at 320°F for about 25-30 minutes). Once cooked, remove it from the oven 30, let it cool slightly, and enjoy it to celebrate Christmas!