Inspired by my favorite food blogger Dennis Lee at Food is Stupid and his amazing no-knead Gatorade bread and resulting post, I was inspired to try my own ridiculous bread.
I once spent a year making bread every week, and it was almost as good as my year of pie, so I’m not a terrible baker but it’s also been some time since I’ve made bread on any regular basis. Count me among those who did not get into nursing a sourdough starter during the (ongoing) pandemic.
But when the idea of making bread using my favorite childhood cereal of Fruity Pebbles came to me, I couldn’t let it go. I was going to bake it, and I was going to blog about it, dammit*.
Building off of another favorite (a lot of favorites today!) of Gourmet‘s sweet dough recipe and accompanying orange and mint bread, I tried to make this bread as Fruity Pebbles-infused as possible. This of course started with Fruity Pebbles in place of orange zest and in place of mint-infused milk, and then I replaced the Cointreau with Three Olives’ Loopy vodka. Sure, it’s more Froot Loops, but it’s the best I could do. Also, there’s nothing quite like “infusing” warm milk with cereal known for getting mushy in cold milk.
Though I could have been better about shaping my loaves, I was as pleasantly surprised as Dennis was at his own creation at how well my stupid bread turned out. I’ve loved every slice I’ve had so far. I may be biased as a huge Fruity Pebbles fan, but even my sweetie has been enjoying it.
Either way, though, I’ll definitely be making and enjoying this bread again, and not just to enjoy the leftover Loopy vodka.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
- 1 c. + 2 T. whole milk
- 2 c. Fruity Pebbles, divided, plus more for topping
- 1 lb. 2 oz. (~3 ¾ c.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 pkg. (2 ½ t.) active dry yeast
- ½ stick (4 T.) butter, softened, plus more for greasing
- 3 T. sugar
- 2 t. salt
- 3 large eggs, divided
- 4 T. Loopy vodka, divided
Directions
Bring the milk and 1 c. of Fruity Pebbles to a simmer. Let sit for 10 minutes or until the milk cools to 120º to 130ºF.
Meanwhile, stir together the yeast and the flour. Rub in the butter. Add the sugar and salt and stir. When the milk mixture has cooled, add it and 2 eggs to the flour mixture. Fold in, rotating the bowl as you incorporate. The mixture will be stickier than a typical bread dough, and that’s OK.
“Knead” the sticky dough without adding flour by stretching and folding the mixture until it is cohesive and less sticky, about 8 minutes. You’ll notice the mixture either doesn’t stick to the bowl or your hands as much when it’s getting close to well kneaded.
Form the dough into a ball and set in a lightly floured bowl or on a flat surface. Cover with a towel (not terry cloth). Let rise for about 1 hour.
After the first rise, press down on the mixture and form a flat surface. Top the dough with 1 c. Fruity Pebbles and then 3 T. of Loopy vodka. Fold the dough and then knead using the previous stretching and folding method until the alcohol and cereal are well incorporated. Again, form the dough into a ball and set in a lightly floured bowl or on a flat surface. Cover with a towel (not terry cloth). Let rise for about 1 hour.
After the second rise, divide the dough in half and shape into 2 rounds. Place the loaves on a lightly buttered sheet pan. Mix together the last egg and the last 1 T. of Loopy vodka. Brush the mixture on top of the two loaves (reserve the remainder, chilled, for a second coating). Once the egg mixture has dried, cover with the (not terry cloth) towel or with coated Saran wrap. Let rise for about 1 ½ hours.
When ready to bake, heat oven to 425º. Brush the loaves with another coating of egg mixture and top each loaf with a handful of Fruity Pebbles. Place the loaves in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400º.
Bake the mixture for 20 to 30 minutes until the loaves are dark golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 1 hour, and enjoy. Perhaps with some Loopy vodka if you’re feeling, well, loopy.
[*For the five of you who care, I hit a wall about 11 months into the pandemic and had a really hectic and mostly rough 2021, so blogging about food was something I could let go to reduce my stress. Though we still live in tough times, I’m hoping to get back to food blogging again, albeit in a slightly different manner. I’m looking at retooling my site and making some changes in the coming months, but I make no promise as I hesitate to guess what’s in store for the future.]