These adorable bunny hot cross buns are soft yet hearty. They are loaded with flavor from spice-infused milk and sweet dried fruit, and perfect for celebrating Spring!
The Cutest Easter Bunny Buns
Hey there, and "Hoppy" Easter! At the beginning of every Spring, my Dad bakes the best hot cross buns filled with spices, citrus, and nuts. To elevate these classic bread buns, I decorated them with adorable fondant bunnies and carrots! I mean, just look at them! I'm melting with cuteness overload!! And for another rustic rabbit-shaped bake, try my Dutch oven bunny bread next.
I also took inspiration for these buns from Celebrate with Kim-Joy. I fell in love with Kim-Joy's whimsical baking style when she was on Great British Bake Off. My favorite part is that the cross on each bun isn't made from icing, but just a simple mix of water and flour, to avoid too much sweet flavor.
From cinnamon and cardamom to orange zest and ginger, these buns are packed with flavor. They are soft and chewy, but also quite filling! And for more delicious Easter bread recipes, try my braided German Easter bread and my fluffy German raisin buns.
My Fondant Tips
- If your hands or if the room temperature are hot, the fondant can become stringy and very sticky when it gets too warm.
- Fondant can dry out and become hard and brittle, so be sure to keep your fondant in an air tight container when you're not working with it.
- To prevent colors from bleeding, make all the pieces needed in one color, then wash your hands and your work surface before working with fondant of another color.
- To get the fondant pieces to stick together, use a few drops of of water. It's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby when assembling each shape.
How to Decorate with Fondant
The fondant bunnies were the most fun but also the most time-consuming part of making these bunny hot cross buns.
Fondant Bunnies
Each fondant bunny is made from six pieces. Two long ears, a small squished sphere for the head and a larger squished sphere for the body, along with two small oval arms.
Fondant Carrots
The fondant carrots are made from two shapes - one green piece for the carrot top and one orange piece for the carrot body. I used the back of a pairing knife to gently impress lines onto the carrot bodies.
Fondant Leaves
The green fondant leaves are made of one piece of fondant, shaped into a leaf. Then I used the back of a pairing knife to impress veins onto each leaf.
Bunny Hot Cross Buns
Ingredients
Hot Cross Bun Dough
- ¾ cup milk
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
- 3 cardamom pods, broken open
- 1 star anise
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 5 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- zest 1 orange OR 1 lemon
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup water
- 3 large eggs, divided
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup mixed dried fruit (like raisins, cranberries, and/or candied citron)
Cross for the Buns
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup water
Bunnies and Carrots
- fondant
- orange and green food coloring
Instructions
Mix the Dough
- In a small saucepan, add the milk, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, cardamom pods and star anise. Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, then remove from the heat and let sit for 20 minutes to infuse the milk with the spices. Strain the whole spices from the milk and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, remaining ground spices, citrus zest, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Add the water to the infused milk. Whisk in 2 eggs. Add the milk and egg mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough either with a dough hook in a stand mixer for 8 minutes or by hand in the bowl for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Add the softened butter to the dough and continue to knead until the butter is incorporated. The dough will be pretty wet at this point - that's okay!
- Cover the bowl with plastic cling wrap and set in a warm place (like the oven with the light on) to rise until the dough doubles in size, between 1½ - 3 hours.
Shape the Dough Buns
- Lightly grease a 10-inch by 10-inch (or something similar) baking dish.
- Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a generously floured work surface. Roughly roll out the dough and scatter the dried fruit. Roll the dough up like a log, then knead it for another minute, until the fruit is well distributed.
- Divide the dough into 16 equal portions and shape them into dough balls. Place the dough balls evenly spaced out in the greased baking dish, and cover with plastic cling wrap. Let proof at room temperature until doubled in size, between 1 to 2 hours.
Shape the Fondant Bunnies, Carrots and Leaves
- Use a small handful of fondant at a time, and keep the rest in an airtight container to prevent it from drying and hardening. Use un-dyed (white) fondant to shape the bunny pieces.Dye a handful of fondant orange by kneading orange food dye into the fondant. Then shape it into small cones for the carrots. Dye a handful of fondant green by kneading green food dye into the fondant. Then shape it into the carrot tops and leaves. Use a tiny bit of water to secure each piece together. See blog post above for further tips to shape and assemble the bunnies, carrots and leaves.
Cross and Bake the Buns
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush it on the buns.
- To make the dough for the crosses, whisk the all-purpose flour and water together in a small bowl. Transfer it into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off. Pipe into a small cross on each bun.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the buns are golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely before topping with your fondant shapes. If you add the fondant onto hot or warm buns, the fondant will melt into a gooey mess. Enjoy!
Notes
- The dough is super wet when it's left to rise for the first time. This is totally normal! Don't add more flour, just let it rise in the mixing bowl.
- The dough is extremely soft and airy when the dried fruit it mixed into it. You'll punch out a lot of air while mixing in the dried fruit, but don't worry. It'll rise again after it's shaped and left in the baking dish to rise the second time.
Yum-number1 says
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Humbly Homemade says
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Azilde Elizabeth says
These look delicious and the bunnies are so cute! Have a great Easter ðŸ£!
strawberryandcream says
Thank you! Happy Easter!! Are you and your family doing anything special today? 😊
Azilde Elizabeth says
Yes! Just finishing up the day. So tired 😆 had a get together at my In laws. How about you?
Humbly Homemade says
We kept Easter low key this year since my parents were out of town. We didn't get to dye any eggs, but hopefully we'll do that again next year!
Azilde Elizabeth says
Every year is different!