Bunny Buns with Mom's White Frosting

Our church has a kid magazine that MG receives every month called The Friend. In the April 2011 issue there was a recipe for Bunny Buns. MG insisted we make them. They are a lot of fun to make with a child and easy to adapt to egg and nut free. You can follow the original recipe in the link above our our modified version below.

Bunny Buns

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling (or dairy free substitute)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 T. dry egg replacer + 4 T. Warm water (or 2 eggs)

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

5 1/2 cups flour, sifted

1. In a microwave safe cup or bowl, warm 1 cup milk and set aside.

2. In a small bowl pour in 1/4 c. warm water and sprinkle yeast on top. Lightly stir twice and set aside.

3. In another small bowl mix the egg replacer and the 4 T. warm water. Get out as many lumps as possible and set aside.

4. In a large bowl mix the warm milk (or dairy free substitute), sugar, shortening and salt. Let cool then add the egg replacer mixture, yeast mixture, orange juice and orange peel.

5. Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough. Let stand for 10 minutes.

6. Knead dough 5–10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover bowl with a clean towel and put it in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.

7. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long. Roll between hands into rounded snake shapes. Cut one strip into pieces 1/2 inch long, and roll into balls.

8. Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop.

9. Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 12–15 minutes.

Dough read to rise.

Covered Dough. I warmed mine next to the dishwasher to help it rise on a cold day.

Dough doubled and ready to be punched down. A fun job for a child to help with.

MG punching the dough.

The dough rolled out and cut in strips ready to be rolled into 'snakes'.

MG was in charge of making the small balls.

Bunny Buns ready to rise. Make sure to keep them covered while they are rising.

The end product is not only adorable but delicious! See my Mom's White Frosting recipe below.

Mom's White Frosting

1 cup shortening

2/3 cup cold water

1 tsp vanilla
(I added 1 t. orange extract instead of the vanilla for the Bunny Buns recipe.)

2 lb powder sugar

Mix all ingredients. Reserve some frosting in different bowls to make different colors. This recipe is enough to frost 2, 8" cakes or in this case one batch of bunny buns with leftover to spare.