Easter baking part 3: bunny cookies and brownie bites

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This is the last Easter post for this year, I promise ;D But I made festive cookies last Sunday, and although I have to admit they were not my best looking cookies, they were still yummy and cute!

I tried a new dough recipe this time, originally found on Baking Illustrated and also seen on Brown eyed baker.
Compared to a standard cutout cookie dough, this one has more butter which makes it softer and yummier but also harder to work with. I floured and re-rolled quite a bit which made some of the cookies expand more than the others when baking, but then again, fluffy bunnies are cuter.

The recipe also calls for more vanilla extract which gives the cookies an awesome flavor. So this dough may not be suited for every occasion but if you want your cookies to be really good as well as really pretty, I definitely recommend it.

Anyway, here are my cookies before baking:

I originally wanted those cute profile fluffy bunnies or maybe a running one, but I could only find imported Wilton ones and they were too expensive for a once in a year use. So I got these bunnies in their eggs which were kinda skinny but still left way more room for decorating.

I made the dough, cut out the cookies and pop them in the freezer on Tuesday before Easter. Then the power went out and they had to live in my aunt’s house for a while, but they survived :)

Here you can see that the bottom cookies are overbaked. You definitely don’t want that to happen. Overbaking cookies is almost as bad as overbaking brownies… These were still pretty good since the dough is so soft, but still.

Here’s the first stage decoration. I’m sure you’re seen a lot of tutorials on how to decorate cookies like a pro, such as this one or some of these or pretty much everything here. Those methods are great and I’ve done the outlining and flooding a couple times (well, at least once for sure), but truth is, I ditch the outlining most of the times. I just give my icing an in between consistency, so that it stays on the cookies in a clear shape, but is thin enough for filling (as seen here for instance). The downside of this method would be that you get more icing on the cookie (well at least I consider that a downside), and because of that it takes longer to dry too.

You can see that the icing is pretty thick

So after that, I let the cookies dry uncovered overnight, and I added the details on the following morning (mkay maybe more like afternoon). I applied more icing on the ears and sprinkled it with sanding sugar. And then I used edible markers to give the bunnies some faces and outline the eggs.

Now, if you thought that was way too much work, I also made some brownie bites. They’re easy breezy.

Just make your favorite brownie (I used a mix cause I’m cool like that), be sure not to overbake it. Then use a small cookie cutter to make lots of bunnies! If the brownie is too tall you can press it down a bit or even roll it with a rolling pin. I squished it just a little to match my cutter.

Dust with sifted powdered sugar and you’re ready to go.

They multiply fast, but don’t worry. They’ll disappear fast too

Soft and chewy sugar cookies

Recipe from Baking Illustrated and seen on Brown eyed baker
Yield: 2 dozen cookies

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 ounces softened butter
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 large egg
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Cream the butter, the granulated sugar, and the brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.
3. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. Flour the counter, the dough and a rolling pin and roll the dough out to ¼-inch thickness. Dip a cookie cutter in flour and cut out your cookies, placing them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Refrigerate the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
6. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until edges are barely colored.
7. Let cool thoroughly and decorate!

Royal icing

Recipe from Brown eyed baker

4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water

Mix all ingredients on low speed for 7-10 minutes or until the icing loses its shine. Add more water or powdered sugar to reach the desired consistency. You can also add flavoring or coloring (or a few drops of lemon juice to make it whiter).


One thought on “Easter baking part 3: bunny cookies and brownie bites

  1. Pingback: Easter Bunny Crafts - CKD reset theme

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