Bunny Buns

Want to have a little fun with your Easter brunch or dinner.  Try these bunny buns I made yesterday.  They were really quite easy and not that much extra work.  They will be a real conversation piece over your meal.  Serve them with a great jam, jelly or honey butter.

2 tsp. active dry yeast plus 1 tsp sugar

¼ cup warm water

1 cup milk

1 tbs. melted butter

¼ cup sugar

 3 ½  cups flour plus a little extra for dusting

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

Add yeast and 1 tsp. sugar to the warm water (not over 110 degrees F). Set aside.

Place milk in microwave for 45 seconds. Add butter to milk and stir in until butter is completely melted. Check the temperature of the milk; it should be lukewarm, if not then allow it to cool until it is lukewarm.  If it is too hot, it will kill the yeast.

Once the yeast has doubled in volume, add the yeast mixture to the milk and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and about 1 ½ cups flour and mix until it reaches the consistency of a muffin batter. Let rest for 10 minutes.  This is allowing the yeast to do it’s job.

Add the egg and salt to the mixture. Beat well. Add 2 cups of remaining flour until the flour forms a soft dough ball.

Knead dough in mixer with dough hook until smooth and satiny.  You can knead by hand if you do not have a mixer.  Make sure you knead for about 10 minutes if you do by hand.

Leaving it in the mixer bowl, cover and let rise in a warm area until it has doubled in size (about 2 hours).  I put on top of my stove and turned my oven on.  Don’t put it over the vent of your stove though or it may begin to bake.  Put on the front of the stove and cover with a dish cloth.  I let it rise for 2 hours using this method.  It may take longer to double if you do not have a warm place to place it.

Once it has doubled in size, punch down the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Press out and roll the dough on a lightly floured surface. Shape into a long rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half and then cut each half into 6 pieces making 12 rolls.  Pull the dough into round biscuit shapes and place on greased baking sheets or Siltpat.  Save a little of the dough for the tail and put a small tail the size of a raspberry on each round biscuit.  Let the biscuits rise until it has doubled (about 1 hour or more).  Make sure you sit the buns far apart on a cookie sheet so they do not touch once they have risen.  Put a dish cloth on top of them while rising.

Before baking take a tooth pick or skewer and poke holes for eyes.  Using a kitchen scissors cut ears.  Cut from the back of the body to the head and ears will pop up. 

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. 

Practice and make some bunny buns before Easter so they are perfect for Easter.  Have fun.  Mine weren't too bad for the first attempt.  You can microwave them just before serving so they are warm. 

Have a great day, be happy and may God bless you and yours.