Citrus Bunny Rolls

These bunny rolls were REALLY good, so ignore the ghastly light on this picture. (Dinnertime is always after dark these days, which is not a great time for picture-taking!) The dough is tender and not extremely sweet, and I love cardamom in anything, really. The lime glaze (or you can use orange) was delicious too. And the bunny shapes are really easy to make. Just a snake, twisted twice to make head and ears, and then balls for tails. The children had fun helping shape them. We will definitely make these again for Easter! (or sooner!)

Here is the recipe, slightly adapted as we made it, from a recipe I found here:

Citrus Bunny Rolls

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 c. butter

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom or allspice

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoons grated orange or lime rind

1/4 c. orange juice, or 2 T. water mixed with 2 T. lime juice

4+ cups flour

Heat the milk and butter in a large glass measuring cup or bowl in the microwave on high, for three minutes or so, until the milk is nearly to the boiling point. Then pour it (milk and butter together) into the bowl of your stand mixer (this should cool it off quite a bit) and add the yeast. Wait a minute or two to add the yeast if you're worried about it, but in my experience yeast is a lot more resilient than we give it credit for. :) If you can put your finger in the milk for a couple seconds without burning yourself, the yeast will be fine.

After the yeast is added, add cardamom, sugar, salt, eggs, citrus rind, and citrus juice, and stir well.

Add flour, starting with four cups and adding more as needed to make a soft dough that holds together in a ball, pulls of the sides of the mixer, and is not sticky to the touch.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it a few times, then put it in an oiled bowl, covered with a towel, to rise for about an hour.

After an hour, pinch off balls about 2 inches around and roll them into long snakes. Then twist these snakes into bunny shapes, as shown above. Arrange them onto a greased cookie sheet. Roll a tiny round ball of dough and set on top of each bunny for the tail. Let the bunnies rise on the pan for about 40 minutes, until slightly puffy.

Bake the bunnies at 375 for 11-12 minutes. While they are baking, make the Citrus Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons or orange or lime juice, plus 1 tsp. of either kind of rind (rind is optional)

A little milk, if needed to make the consistency right (it should be thin and quite runny)

As soon as the rolls come out of the oven, drizzle them with citrus glaze and let it run down the sides as it melts.