Bloated Bunny Buns

I want you all to know that you're the only reason I'm not still holed up in bed being lazy and avoiding responsibility. It's a good thing y'all are here. No but really, I'm glad you are. I hope your Good Friday was great. Mine was a Not-So-Good Friday, but hey...I survived. Now I'm ready to take today by the horns and get something good done. 

So let's get on to today's Pinstrosity. Pinterest is great for spreading around fabulous ideas, recipes, and more. But Pinterest is also a big springboard for misleading pins...which often seem to go viral. Like the miscaptioned "Fill a Balloon without Helium!" pin that everyone pinned (but didn't go to the original site to read the directions and see that the gas you create does not make the balloon float as it is just CO2). Or the whole glowing Mt. Dew hoax that went around. This seasons misleading pin? This one:

The Pin

This photo has gone viral...the first I can find that it showed up online was here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=214633055348079 with the photo on the left being from here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juznie/3883718737/. More on this in a minute. 

So many people have pinned this as "Adorable bunny rolls!" or "Must make these cute rabbit rolls for Easter!" or something along those lines. Looking further into things...these aren't actually rolls. As far as I can find the bunnies on the left are a seasonal treat made in cookie molds for the moon festival by Minamoto Kitchoan, a Japanese Wagashi company (there isn't a photo of the bunnies on their site, but people keep linking to them saying this is where they originated). They are a cookie with a grapefruit filling (sounds heavenly to me). 

The photo on the left seems to have come from a facebook account with a link to make similar cookies. So the two photos in the pin didn't come from the same source...they're a mash up. 

But the idea is really cute, for rolls or cookies. Make your dough ball. Cut ears with kitchen shears. Poke eyes in the dough. Bake. What can go wrong there? 

The Pinstrosity

Well...that. That's what can go wrong. Poor Andrea tried making cute little "bunny buns" and ended up with guinea pig rolls instead. She followed the technique right for cutting the ears and making the eye holes, so what went wrong? 

The dough. bread/roll/bun dough rises and expands. She didn't say if she put the buns in the oven right after she cut the ears or if she let them rise again (it could go either way by that photo I'm thinking), but either way the dough continued to rise and expand after the ears were cut and the eyes were shaped. We don't know what kind of dough she used, but we do know she said it was for buns. 

If you want to make bunny rolls or buns, you want to form your dough balls and let the rise to the desired size, then cut the ears and immediately put them in the oven. Don't let the rolls rise again between cutting the ears and baking. You also want to make sure you cut good sized ears so that as the rolls puff while baking the ears aren't completely swallowed into the rising dough. If you have a roll/bun recipe that doesn't puff much while baking, that would be an excellent choice for trying to make bunny buns/rolls. 

We also found a link to a video showing how to shape the bunny cookie/rolls:

I was able to find this recipe off of the facebook posting, but I'm not sure if it's for rolls or a cookie (don't think cookie like a sugar cookie, more like an "old fashioned" cookie):

2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

1 egg

Put the butter, the sour cream and water in a small saucepan and heat, but do not cook. Cool to tepid then add the remaining ingredients. Put in a kneader. If thick add more water.

Let it rise double and cut into 16 equal parts.

Baking tray lined with baking paper and cut the ears with scissors.

Then, the eyes can be put, such as pepper grains.

Bake at 375° for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

She also gives this post as reference for how to help form the right shapes: http://ancikonyha.blogspot.hu/2013/02/citromos-teasuti-lemon-cookies-for-tea.html

So there you have our investigation into the bunny rolls that popped up all over. I know some have had success with these, but some have had trouble. What recipes did you find successful for making these?

I hope all of your final preparations for Easter are going well! Have a most wonderful Easter Sunday tomorrow.