What is the one thing that should not be missing on your Easter table? Right, Easter eggs and Easter bunnies, of course! Many people have them made out of chocolate – the range of products you can get in supermarkets is almost endless here ;) I am perhaps a bit old-fashioned, but I actually like to bake my Easter bunnies and Easter eggs. Simple and Fluffy Easter Bunnies (with Quark-Oil-Dough) like these here are ready in no time and extremely delicious. No need to get the chocolate ones from the store ;P
Easter is the time for baking in our house – probably more than we do around Christmas. Every year we have to have at least one Sweet Braided Loaf or some Easter Bread, maybe an Easter Lamb Cake or an Advocaat Bundt Cake – the list is always long for the things you want/need to bake. If you are organizing a bigger Easter brunch with family or friends this can be a lot of work. In a case like that I always like to prepare these simple Easter Bunnies here. They are a blessing ;) Really easy to prepare and everybody likes them. That’s a win in my books!
There are actually a lot of recipes out there for this type of dough aka. quark-oil-dough. It’s very common in Germany and other European countries – not so much in the rest of the world. Mostly because »quark« is something that is hard to find if you are outside of Europe… well even inside of Europe not all countries use quark as much as we do here in Germany ;P
Anyway. The origin of my recipe here is actually a recipe I used at school when I was a kid. We learned how to cook and bake and this was one of the recipes we got from our teacher. It was a bit different back then, and we used it for something else – we baked little men for St. Martin’s Day and for St. Nick’s with the dough. It’s a very versatile dough and perfect if you want to create shapes like animals or people, faces etc. Furthermore, it’s also very delicious – I think that should be mentioned as well ;P
The dough can be made sugar-free if you like – all you got to do is replace the sugar in the recipe with a substitute like xylitol. It’s easy. If you have problems with your blood sugar levels – like me – this is a nice option. Unfortunately, the sugar that’s being used to coat the bunnies… not really replaceable. If you used a substitute here as well the bunnies would not turn out nice – at least in my opinion. I hate the taste and sensation of sugar substitutes that directly hit the tongue. Added to a dough or something like that – no problem. A glaze or coating with it… ugh ;P But you can skip the sugar-coating if you need to/want to. No problem. Use some melted sugar-free chocolate, for example to draw eyes, a mouth and whiskers onto the bunny faces. Looks just as cute… if not better ;P
These Easter Bunnies here are best served fresh. Not directly from the oven but almost ;) The longer they lie around the drier they become. It helps if you store them in an airtight container or freezer bag. You can actually freeze them as well – but that’s something you should do as soon as they are cooled down… not after half a day on the kitchen counter ;P
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(8-9 bunnies)
For the dough:
7 oz. (200g) low-fat quark (curd)
1/4 cup (50g) sugar (or xylitol)
1/4 cup (60ml) sunflower oil
1/4 cup (60ml) milk (or plant-based milk)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 pinch of cardamom
1 pinch of salt
1 egg yolk, whisked
some milk (or plant-based milk)
For the decoration:
2-3 tbsp. butter, melted
2.8-3.5 oz. (80-100g) sugar
2-3 tbsp. vanilla sugar
1-2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
(8-9 Hasen)
Für den Teig:
200g Magerquark
50g Zucker (oder Xylit)
60ml Sonnenblumenöl
60ml Milch (oder Pflanzendrink)
1 Ei (L)
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
400g Mehl (Type 405)
4 TL Backpulver
1 TL Zitronenschalenabrieb
1 Prise Kardamom
1 Prise Salz
1 Eigelb (M), verquirlt
etwas Milch (oder Pflanzendrink)
Für die Dekoration:
2-3 EL geschmolzene Butter
80-100g Zucker
2-3 EL Vanillezucker
1-2 EL Puderzucker
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
2. For the dough, mix the quark (curd) with sugar (or xylitol), oil, milk (or plant-based milk), egg and vanilla extract in a large bowl until well combined. Mix the flour with the baking powder, lemon zest, cardamom, and salt, then add to the large bowl and mix/knead until smooth. Knead the dough a little more on a lightly floured surface, then roll out to a thickness of about 0.6 inches and cut out 8 or 9 circles with a round cookie cutter (Ø 2.8 inches). Place the circles on the prepared baking sheet with enough space in between them. Collect the remaining dough and roll out again for the bunny ears. Use the cookie cutter again and cut off smaller pieces of dough with it, then use the same cookie cutter and cut out those pieces again to cut off the corners and to create an oval shape with pointy tips – the bunny ears ;) Flatten one side of the ears and tuck that under the dough circles on the baking sheet. Shape dough scraps into small balls about the size of a pea and press them onto the dough circles to create noses/snouts. Mix the egg yolk with a little bit of milk (or plant-based milk) and brush the bunnies with it. Bake in the preheated oven for about 13-14 minutes.
3. While the bunnies are baking, you can already melt the butter and mix the sugar with vanilla sugar, and confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl – keep both ready. Brush the baked and still hot bunnies with the melted butter and roll them in the sugar mixture or (better) sprinkle them with it. Place them on a cooling rack and let them dry and cool down. The Easter bunnies are best when still a bit warm! They can also be frozen.
1. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Ein Blech mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen.
2. Für den Teig den Quark mit Zucker, Öl, Milch, Ei und Vanille Extrakt in einer großen Schüssel gut verrühren. Mehl mit Backpulver, Zitronenabrieb, Kardamom und Salz vermischen, dann zur großen Schüssel dazugeben und alles zu einem glatten Teig verkneten. Den Teig auf einer leicht bemehlten Fläche noch einmal ein wenig durchkneten, dann etwa 1,5cm dick ausrollen und mit einem runden (Ø 7cm) Ausstecher etwa 8-9 Kreise ausstechen. Mit genügend Abstand auf das vorbereitete Blech setzen. Den verbliebenen Teig erneut ausrollen und die Hasenohren mit demselben Ausstecher ausstechen – dazu einfach mit dem Ausstecher einen kleinen Bereich des Teiges aus/abstechen und durch erneutes Aus- bzw. Abstechen der Enden ein Oval mit zwei Spitzen formen – die Hasenohren. Eine Seite der Ohren flach drücken und unter die Teigkreise auf dem Backblech setzen. Aus Teigresten etwa erbsengroße Kugeln formen und als Nase/Schnute auf die Teigkreise drücken. Das Eigelb mit ein wenig Milch (oder Pflanzendrink) verquirlen und die Hasen damit bestreichen. Im vorgeheizten Ofen für etwa 13-14 Minuten backen.
3. Während die Hasen backen, kann man schon einmal die Butter schmelzen und den Zucker mit Vanillezucker und Puderzucker in einer flachen Schüssel vermengen – beides bereitstellen. Die fertigen und noch heißen Osterhasen mit der flüssigen Butter bestreichen und im Zucker wenden bzw. damit bestreuen. Zum Trocknen und Abkühlen auf ein Kuchengitter setzen. Die Osterhasen schmecken noch leicht warm am besten! Die Hasen lassen sich aber auch gut einfrieren.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Fluffy Easter Bunnies (with Quark-Oil-Dough)
- Prep Time: 00:20
- Cook Time: 00:14
- Total Time: 00:40
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Bread
- Cuisine: Germany
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Cute Easter Bunnies made with an easy fluffy dough you can use for many other bakes as well – Quark(curd)-oil-dough.
Ingredients
For the dough:
7 oz. (200g) low-fat quark (curd)
1/4 cup (50g) sugar (or xylitol)
1/4 cup (60ml) sunflower oil
1/4 cup (60ml) milk (or plant-based milk)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 pinch of cardamom
1 pinch of salt
1 egg yolk, whisked
some milk (or plant-based milk)
For the decoration:
2–3 tbsp. butter, melted
2.8–3.5 oz. (80-100g) sugar
2–3 tbsp. vanilla sugar
1–2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
2. For the dough, mix the quark (curd) with sugar (or xylitol), oil, milk (or plant-based milk), egg and vanilla extract in a large bowl until well combined. Mix the flour with the baking powder, lemon zest, cardamom, and salt, then add to the large bowl and mix/knead until smooth. Knead the dough a little more on a lightly floured surface, then roll out to a thickness of about 0.6 inches and cut out 8 or 9 circles with a round cookie cutter (Ø 2.8 inches). Place the circles on the prepared baking sheet with enough space in between them. Collect the remaining dough and roll out again for the bunny ears. Use the cookie cutter again and cut off smaller pieces of dough with it, then use the same cookie cutter and cut out those pieces again to cut off the corners and to create an oval shape with pointy tips – the bunny ears ;) Flatten one side of the ears and tuck that under the dough circles on the baking sheet. Shape dough scraps into small balls about the size of a pea and press them onto the dough circles to create noses/snouts. Mix the egg yolk with a little bit of milk (or plant-based milk) and brush the bunnies with it. Bake in the preheated oven for about 13-14 minutes.
3. While the bunnies are baking, you can already melt the butter and mix the sugar with vanilla sugar, and confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl – keep both ready. Brush the baked and still hot bunnies with the melted butter and roll them in the sugar mixture or (better) sprinkle them with it. Place them on a cooling rack and let them dry and cool down. The Easter bunnies are best when still a bit warm! They can also be frozen.
Notes
Let’s get baking!
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I love my job, but in between I love to bake and try new things in the kitchen. A lot of my friends and colleagues encourage me to bake - for a very simple reason: they get the leftovers - and it seems they like it most of the time ;) 
