These Easter bunny rolls are so soft, fluffy, slightly chewy and couldn’t be cuter. They have an amazing flavor and sure are a crowd-pleaser.
Another cute and easy Easter recipe I want to share here. The bunny rolls are soft, slightly chewy and fun to make and simply perfect for the Easter celebration.
How to make soft Easter bunny rolls
1. Combine bread flour, corn starch, yeast, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the milk, egg, and condensed milk
2. Start kneading at the lowest speed until a rough dough forms. Increase speed to 2 and knead for 5 minutes until a smoother dough forms.
3. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl and reposition the dough if necessary. You may need to do this several times
4. Add the softened butter and knead on the lowest speed again. It will turn into a slippery mess. Continue kneading at speed 2 until the butter starts to get absorbed and not as slippery anymore
5. Increase the speed to 4 and continue kneading for another 5-6 minutes or until you reach the windowpane. You can slowly stretch the dough into a thin membrane without breaking it. The dough is done kneading
6. Lightly oil the bowl and put the dough in, cover and let it proof at a warm place until it doubles in size. This may take 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature where you are
7. When you poke your finger into the dough, the indentation stays and the dough has really puffed up doubling its original size, it’s done proofing
8. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer the dough onto a work surface and punch out all the gas to deflate the dough. Divide into 10 equal pieces and round them up into balls. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes before shaping to relax the gluten
9. Work with one dough at a time and keep the rest covered. Divide the dough into one larger ball (for the body), medium size ball (for the head) and then the smaller size (for the tail)
10. Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of flour, not too much. You don’t want to dry out the dough. Work with the largest ball and roll it into a long rope and then coil it to form the body and the little feet/hand and place this directly on top of the baking sheet, allowing some room for the head
11. Now get the medium size dough and roll it into a long rope and then twist the rope to form the head and bunny ears and position it near the body
12. For the tail, simply roll it into a round ball and attach it near the body at the bottom side. Continue with the rest of the dough
13. Give each bunny some room, around 2 inches away from each other. Mist them with some water and then cover with a clean tea towel and let them proof until they double in size again, may take another hour or longer, depending on the temperature. When you gently push on the dough it bounces back slowly and the size has doubled too
14. 10 minutes towards the end of the proofing time, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. Position the oven racks, 3rd from the top and 3rd from the bottom. Combine egg yolk with water to make the egg wash Brush each bunny with some egg wash. Attach one raisin to make the bunny’s eye. Gently push it in a bit to attach
15. Put each tray on the positioned racks and bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan front to back, top to bottom halfway through baking so they bake evenly
16. Remove from the oven and if you choose to, brush with melted butter immediately when they are still warm. Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. They can be served warm or at room temperature
17. Once the bread has cooled down completely, you can also attach one Cadbury mini egg to the center of the body. I dug a little hole to fit in the mini egg. This is totally optional, to resemble the Italian Easter bread baked with whole eggs. My kids kinda digging this idea
How to store Easter bunny rolls
1. Let them cool down completely on a cooling rack
2. I like to wrap them in a cling wrap and then put them in a zipper bag, push all the air out and seal
3. They can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days if it’s not humid where you are
4. I suggest putting the Cadbury mini egg on the day you want to serve the rolls because the color may bleed a bit if you keep it with the rolls for a longer time
Did you make this soft Easter bunny rolls recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Soft Fluffy Easter Bunny Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 350 gr bread flour
- 20 gr cornstarch
- 1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 25 gr sugar
- 40 gr condensed milk
- 50 gr egg about 1 large egg
- 160 ml cold milk or more as needed
- 40 gr butter softened, unsalted. You can use coconut oil too
Egg wash:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp water
For decorations:
- 12 plump raisins
- 12 Cadbury mini eggs
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Combine bread flour, corn starch, yeast, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the milk, egg, and condensed milk. Start kneading at the lowest speed until a rough dough forms. Increase speed to 2 and knead for 5 minutes until a smoother dough forms. Add the softened butter and knead on the lowest speed again. It will turn into a slippery mess. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl and reposition the dough if necessary. You may need to do this several times.
- Continue kneading at speed 2 until the butter starts to get absorbed and not as slippery anymore. Increase the speed to 4 and continue kneading for another 5-6 minutes or until you reach the windowpane. You can slowly stretch the dough into a thin membrane without breaking it. The dough is done kneading
Proof the dough:
- Lightly oil the bowl and put the dough in, cover and let it proof at a warm place until it doubles in size. This may take 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature where you are. When you poke your finger into the dough, the indentation stays and the dough has really puffed up doubling its original size, it's done proofing
Shaping:
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Transfer the dough onto a work surface and punch out all the gas to deflate the dough. Divide into 10 equal pieces and round them up into balls. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes before shaping to relax the gluten
- Work with one dough at a time and keep the rest covered. Divide the dough into one larger ball (for the body), medium size ball (for the head) and then the smaller size (for the tail)
- Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of flour, not too much. You don't want to dry out the dough. Work with the largest ball and roll it into a long rope and then coil it to form the body and the little feet/hand (refer to photo above for visual) and place this directly on top of the baking sheet, allowing some room for the head. Now get the medium size dough and roll it into a long rope and then twist the rope to form the head and bunny ears and position it near the body. For the tail, simply roll it into a round ball and attach it near the body at the bottom side. Continue with the rest of the dough.
Second proofing:
- Give each bunny some room, around 2 inches away from each other. Mist them with some water and then cover with a clean tea towel and let them proof until they double in size again, may take another hour or longer, depending on the temperature
- When you gently push on the dough it bounces back slowly and the size has doubled too
Baking:
- 10 minutes towards the end of the proofing time, preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for a conventional oven. Position the oven racks, 3rd from the top and 3rd from the bottom
- Combine egg yolk with water to make the egg wash Brush each bunny with some egg wash. Attach one raisin to make the bunny's eye. Gently push it in a bit to attach. Put each tray on the positioned racks and bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan front to back, top to bottom halfway through baking so they bake evenly
Cooling:
- Remove from the oven and if you choose to, brush with melted butter immediately when they are still warm. Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. They can be served warm or at room temperature
- Once the bread has cooled down completely, you can also attach one Cadbury mini egg to the center of the body. I dug a little hole to fit in the mini egg. This is totally optional, to resemble the Italian Easter bread baked with whole eggs. My kids kinda digging this idea
