Easter cinnamon bun(nies)
Why not try these easter-themed bun(nies) and let the little ones decorate with icing and sprinkles. Made with Whitworths Sugar, they are ‘sticky-fingers-lip-licking’ good and are a fun twist on the traditional cinnamon bun bakes that fill the bakeries at this time of year.
1 hr 30 minutes (including proving time)
Serves 12 people
Ingredients
- FOR THE DOUGH
- 500g white strong bread flour
- 7g fast action yeast
- 3 cardamom pods, finely ground, husks discarded
- 50g Whitworths Caster Sugar
- 2 Big N Free eggs
- 200ml full fat milk
- 100g salted butter, softened
- FOR THE CINNAMON BUTTER
- 80g salted butter, softened
- 100g Whitworths Caster Sugar
- 1 heaped tablespoon ground cinnamon
- TO DECORATE
- 3 tablespoons Whitworths Icing Sugar
- Easter sprinkles and/or smarties
Method
- Place the flour, yeast, cardamom, and caster sugar in the bowl of a food mixer with dough hook attachment. Lightly whisk the eggs into the milk and with the food mixer on low speed, pour in the liquid to form a scraggy dough.
- Slowly increase the speed of the food mixer to medium and allow the dough to come together to form a smooth, stretchy dough – this will take about 5 minutes.
- Dice the softened butter into small cubes before slowly adding the butter cube by cube into the dough whilst continuously kneading. Ensure the butter is incorporated into the dough before adding the next. Repeat until all the butter cubes have been added.
- Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and prove the dough for 1 hour or until doubled in size – ensure the dough doesn’t get too warm. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
- When proved, knock back the dough using your hands and roll out the dough on a floured surface to a 30 x 40cm rectangle approximately 0.5cm thick.
- In a bowl, combine the butter ingredients, beating until a smooth, spreadable consistency is achieved. Spread the butter evenly over the rolled-out dough before rolling the dough further, from shorter edge, into a large, spiralled sausage.
- Trim the ends then divide the dough sausage into 12 even swirls and place on two large baking trays lined with greaseproof/baking paper.
- To make the bunny shape, uncoil each swirl by approximately 50%. Using the unrolled end, make an ‘M’ shape with the dough and pinch well in the middle to form two ears (pin with cocktail stick if desired).
- Once all the bunnies are formed, bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. If the bunnies’ ears begin to spread during cooking, simply pinch them together again at the bottom fold halfway through the cooking time.
- Remove the buns from the oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the icing sugar with a little water to create an icing thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle each bunny with a little icing and decorate with either sprinkles or smarties – or even both!
