Soft and buttery bunny shaped buns. They taste best spread with butter and jam.
Shaping the buns is a little labor-intensive but also fun! Your kids happiness will be rewarding enough, I can assure you. My daugther is crazy over them.
If you don’t care about the shape, you can just form round buns and enjoy fresh buttery rolls for breakfast. But aren’t these
Here you’ll find all my Easter recipes.
Please make sure to read all my notes for this recipe. There are in the body of the post and also in the notes section of the recipe card.
Ingredient substitutions:
- Instead of 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk: you can add 2 small eggs or 2 large eggs + 2 ts of flour.
- Instead of egg wash (egg + milk): you can use heavy cream or just milk to brush the buns.
- You can use instant yeast instead of fresh yeast (more on that below).
How to use instant yeast:
If you’re in Europe it’s best to use fresh yeast but using the dry yeast is also possible (the dough rises a little less). If you’re in the US, I tested this recipe with Fleischmann’s Instant yeast (rapid rise) and it has worked well. Add 7g (1 packet) instant yeast to the bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. The dough needs to double its volume. Milk and butter should be warm (pleasantly warm to your finger), you can warm them up in a small pot.
Yeast conversion: 7 grams instant yeast = 1/4 ounce instant yeast = 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast = 21 grams fresh yeast or 1 1/4 blocks (0.6-ounce size) or about 1/2 block (2-ounce size) fresh yeast
How to store these yeast rolls?
They should be stored in a tightly-sealed container for 1-2 days. On the second day they are less moist, but still very good.
How to prepare the buns to enjoy them for breakfast:
In the evening, prepare the dough and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour (it should rise a little, but not double the volume), then cover the bowl with plastic foil, prick the foil several times and put in the fridge. In the morning, the dough’s volume should be doubled. Proceed as in the recipe, but when shaping the bunnies, knead the dough briefly to warm it up.
How to freeze raw yeast dough:
Freeze the dough after completing its first rise (double in volume). Wrap in plastic foil or place in a tightly sealed container (remember it will rise so prepare a bigger container) and freeze. Thaw in the fridge (eg overnight) and proceed as in the recipe.
Easter bunny rolls – with step by step photos:
Ingredients for the rolls Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, leave the butter to warm up. Mix all the dough ingredients until roughly combined. Knead the dough, leave it to rise. The dough should double its volume Divide the dough into 8 parts. Divide each part into ‘trunk’, ‘head’, ‘tail’ and ‘ears’. Prick a hole with a toothpick to make the ‘eyes’ Place the bunnies on a baking tray, lined with baking paper. Brush the bunnies with a beaten-egg mixture. Sprinkle the tail with pearl or granulated sugar Bake for about 13 minutes until golden.
If you forgot to warm up your butter: You can slowly warm it up with milk, but make sure they’re not too hot! Cold butter won’t incorporate into the dough properly.
Some tips on shaping the buns: generally it’s possible that the buns won’t look exactly like on the photos. I must have made them a couple of times so that they look like this!
I can assure you though, even if the buns don’t look perfect – the kids will be thrilled!
Very important: make sure that the ‘trunks’ are long and thin (they should look like thick cigars). Don’t shape them so they look like the baked buns. This may look a little weird, but it’s ok – as the buns will rise in the oven they will increase mostly their width and not length. Make sure the ears are well attached to the trunk so that they don’t slide to the side. When the dough has doubled its volume – shape the buns immediately and not in a warm place so they don’t rise while you’re shaping them.
Easter bunny rolls
Ingredients
rolls:
- 3.5 tablespoons butter soft, 1.8oz / 50g
- 20 g fresh yeast or 7g instant yeast
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk 4 tablespoons
- 2 1/3 cups flour 290g / 10 oz, spoon and leveled
- pinch of salt
- 3.5 tablespoons sugar 1.4 oz / 40g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk see notes for substitutions
additionally:
- 1 egg + 1 Tbsp milk for brushing the rolls
- pearl or granulated sugar for sprinkling
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Instructions
Make the dough:
- Cut the butter into thin slices, spread on a plate, leave it on the counter to warm up.
- Crumble the yeast into a small cup, pour in warm milk, mix until completely dissolved. The milk should be pleasantly warm to the touch. If you have an instant-read thermometer you can measure its temperature, it should be about 36°C / 100°F. Milk can’t be too cold or too hot (the dough won‘t rise). Cover the cup with a kitchen cloth and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Add all the ingredients for the dough into a large bowl (yeast dissolved in milk, soft butter, flour, salt, sugar, egg and egg yolk). Mix the ingredients with a spoon until roughly combined. Next, knead the dough either by hand or using a stand mixer fitted with a hook dough attachment. The dough must be really well-kneaded, it will take about 7-10 minutes to knead with your stand mixer.
First rise:
- Form the dough into a ball, place in the bowl, cover with plastic foil (prick the foil with a fork 3-4 times). Leave the bowl in a warm place to rise, it will take about 2 hours. It may also be shorter or longer, depending on how warm the room is. The dough should double its volume.
Shape the buns:
- Punch the dough in the middle, then take it out of the bowl and divide into 8 parts (each one should weigh about 65g / 2.3 oz). Divide each ball into a large part (the trunk), a small part (the head) and 3 very small parts (tail and ears). Form the trunks first – it’s important that the dough is smooth, you should form a small thick pancake, then roll it up, creating a thick ‚sausage‘. Tuck the edges under the ‚trunk‘. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Form a ball (‚the head‘), attach it to the trunk, then form the tail and the ears. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Second rise:
- Cover the bunnies with plastic foil and leave to rise for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, set the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4, no fan (when using convection oven lower the temperature by about 25 degrees or follow the manufacturer's instructions).
Bake the bunnies:
- Make the egg wash: beat the egg with milk. Brush the bunnies with beaten-egg mixture. You can sprinkle the tails with pearl sugar or granulated sugar. Prick the dough with a toothpick to make holes for the ‚eyes’. If the toothpick sticks to the dough, dip it in egg wash or water.
- Place the buns in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden. It can take longer or shorter in your oven.
- Transfer the buns on a cooling rack to cool down. Cut them will serrated knife (they're delicate) and only after they cooled down.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Storage: store the rolls in a tightly-sealed container for 1-2 days. They are also good the next day.
- Instead of 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk: you can add 2 small eggs or 2 large eggs + 2 ts of flour.
- Instead of egg wash (egg + milk): you can use heavy cream or just milk to brush the buns.
- Some tips on shaping the buns: generally it’s possible that the buns won’t look exactly like on the photos. I must have made them a couple of times so that they look like this! I can assure you though, even if the buns don’t look perfect – the kids will be thrilled! Very important: make sure that the ‘trunks’ are long and thin (they should look like thick cigars). Don’t shape them so they look like the baked buns. This may look a little weird, but it’s ok – as the buns will rise in the oven they will increase mostly their width and not lenght. Make sure the ears are well attached to the trunk so that they don’t slide to the side. When the dough has doubled its volume – shape the buns immediately and not in a warm place so they don’t rise while you’re shaping them.
- In the evening, prepare the dough and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour (it should rise a little, but not double the volume), then cover the bowl with plastic foil, prick the foil several times and put in the fridge. In the morning, the dough’s volume should be doubled. Proceed How to prepare the buns to enjoy them for breakfast:as in the recipe, but when shaping the bunnies, knead the dough briefly to warm it up.
- If you forgot to warm up your butter: You can slowly warm it up with milk, but make sure they’re not too hot! Cold butter won’t incorporate into the dough properly.
- Yeast conversion: 7 grams instant yeast = 1/4 ounce instant yeast = 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast = 21 grams fresh yeast or 1 1/4 blocks (0.6-ounce size) or about 1/2 block (2-ounce size) fresh yeast
- How to use instant yeast: If you’re in Europe it’s best to use fresh yeast but using the dry yeast is also possible (the dough rises a little less). If you’re in the US, I tested this recipe with Fleischmann’s Instant yeast (rapid rise) and it has worked well. Add 7g (1 packet) instant yeast to the bowl and mix with all the other ingredients. The dough needs to double its volume. Milk and butter should be warm (pleasantly warm to your finger), you can warm them up in a small pot.
- How to freeze raw yeast dough: Freeze the dough after completing its first rise (double in volume). Wrap in plastic foil or place in a tightly sealed container (remember it will rise so prepare a bigger container) and freeze. Thaw in the fridge (eg overnight) and proceed as in the recipe.
- Calories count = 1 bunny roll (1/8 of the recipe). This is only an estimate!
Did you make this recipe? Let me know how you liked it and give it a star rating in the comments below! You can also add a photo of your creation!
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