Chinese New Year has come extremely early this year as it is on Sunday 22nd January, normally, it is around February time. So, it is the year of the Rabbit and I was looking for some bakes with a rabbit theme. I came across this blog and thought it was an easy recipe to follow.
My rabbits look like little mice as they didn’t look as plumped, still cute though! It took more time to shape the bunnies and ears and decorating than to make the actual mixture itself! All the ingredients can be found at home in your store cupboard so the only thing you might need to buy is some red food coloring gel to make the pink dough. Also, I didn’t use chocolate for the eyes as I have got some edible ink pens to draw the faces.
Ingredients – 360g Plain Flour, 150g Caster Sugar, 227g soft butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp of salt, and red/pink food coloring gel. Edible ink pens or writing icing pens.
Method: Cream the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract to make the mixture smooth in your mixer. Add the salt to the plain flour and then add this to your mixture. Turn the dough out and knead gently until it is smooth. If the dough is too sticky or soft, put it in the fridge for 15 minutes so that it is easier to handle. Take 1 tablespoon of the dough and add a few drops of the red gel to make the mixture pink. These are for the ears.
I used a tablespoon of the dough per rabbit and shaped it like a pear and then with the pink dough, I rolled it into a string to make the tiny ears. It is quite fiddly trying to stick the ears on the rabbit. When you have made the rabbits, put them in your fridge for about 15 minutes and preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 – 180c, and bake for 15 minutes. Let it cool and then afterward you can decorate the face with edible pens/icing pens and enjoy! 🙂
Happy Chinese New Year to all my family and friends!! Wishing you all good health and happiness for 2023!!!
Aunty G's Kitchen 