Bunny Bread #BreadBakers

My niece and I have started baking together on Fridays, this was our first project - whole wheat Bumny Bread! Whole wheat and decorated with food colouring mixed with egg whites.

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It's no secret that I love teaching kids (and adults) how to bake. From learning why we follow a recipe, to reading the ingredients and making sure everything we need is out, to measuring things to the fun part of mixing everything and learning about the science of it all, kids learn so many different things in the kitchen! While I no longer teach formally, I'm lucky enough to have 4 niblings who love getting into the kitchen with me and making all sorts of things!

Tackling bread with kids is both incredibly rewarding and incredibly tricky. My niece (who was 5 at the time) loved helping to knead the dough, shape it and paint it, but waiting the hour for it to rise felt like a century to her. I had plenty of activities for her to do in the meantime - she loves helping to clean up (just like her younger brother, who is the king of cake pops) and we watched plenty of YouTube videos during the wait. When the bread was done, she couldn't wait to take a bite, and considering the finished loaf was almost the size of her head, she got through the ears before we packed it up for her to take home.

Since then, we've baked a plethora of things together, and her younger brother is old enough now to really get into the kitchen so I cannot wait to see what we come up with!

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

What Smells So Good: Bunny Bread
Palatable Pastime: Carrot bread
A Messy Kitchen: Carrot Milk Bread
Magical Ingredients: Carrot stuffed buns
Sneha’s Recipe: Carrot Whole Wheat Bajra Flour flatbread
Ambrosia: Rosemary Dinner Rolls
Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Casatiello Napolitano Italian Easter Bread
Passion Kneaded: Italian Easter Bread
A Day in the Life on the Farm: Hot Cross Buns Muffins
Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Sourdough Osterbrot:German Easter Bread



Bunny Bread 

Makes 2 generously sized bunnies
Adapted from La Jolla Mom
 

2 cups whole wheat bread flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp ground flax seed

2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water

2 tbsp butter, melted 

1 tsp salt



Glaze / Paint
2 egg whites, divided
1 tbsp water, divided
Food colour, if desired


Note: I used a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook to make the base dough, though it is doable by hand


1. In a bowl, mix together the flours, flax, yeast, sugar and warm water until a shaggy mixture forms.  
2. Let sit 1 minute. 
3. Add the butter and salt and mix until a dough forms (you may need to use your hands).
4. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Divide dough into two balls, cover and let rest 10 minutes.
6. Shape dough into a bunny - I rolled out one end of my ball into a thick rope, then sliced it down the middle.
7. Place bunnies on a baking sheet lined with parchment,  cover and let rise 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile heat the oven to 400F.
9. Mix together one egg white and half a tablespoon of water and brush over the risen loaves. 
   
• If painting:
• Divide the egg white and water between as many bowls as there are colours. Add a tiny amount of gel food colouring or 1-2 drops of liquid food colouring and mix.
• Use a clean paintbrush to paint the faces on the bunnies.
10. Bake the loaves for 20 minutes, watching to make sure the ears don't burn (cover those with foil if they brown too much).
11. Cool and enjoy!