Honey Bunny Recipe
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 (1.4 ounce) packages rapid rise yeast
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (yellow part only)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup warm (120 degrees to 125 degrees) Lucerne Milk
- 1 Lucerne Large egg
- 5 Lucerne Eggs, yolks only
- 2/3 cup Lucerne Sweet Cream Butter, softened
- 4 raisins
- Colored sprinkles (optional)
- Ribbon
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine 4-1/2 cups flour and the yeast, sugar, lemon peel, and salt. Stir to blend well. With mixer running on low speed, add the milk, whole egg, and 4 of the egg yolks. Then beat in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until smoothly incorporated. Beat in as much of the remaining 1 cup flour as necessary, a little at a time, to make a pliable dough that is not sticky.
- To knead dough with a dough hook: Knead dough in the mixing bowl, just until dough is smooth and elastic and comes away from bowl sides, about 2 to 3 minutes (do not over knead). To knead by hand: Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until dough is smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, about 4 minutes.
- Return dough to mixing bowl. Let stand, loosely covered, for about 10 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board. Shape into a ball. With a large knife, divide ball in half. Form one half into a rabbit, following the instructions in Shaping Your Bunny, below. Repeat process to shape second bunny with remaining half of dough.
- Once bunnies are shaped on baking sheet, press 2 raisins into each head to make eyes. Lightly cover bunnies with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size, 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on room temperature. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- When dough is doubled, beat together remaining egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl until smooth. With a pastry brush, brush yolk mixture evenly over bunnies. If desired, decorate bunny legs with colored sprinkles. If necessary, press raisin eyes back down into dough.
- Bake breads until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 35 minutes. Let stand on baking sheets 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
