Hopping bunny rolls

When I think about Easter, I often think about those special Saturdays spent preparing for it when I was a kid. You know, all the fun stuff. There was Saturday morning, of course, when the eggs gently clattered in a big pot on the stove, the kitchen table was covered in newspaper or oil cloth, the public radio station was playing - it always does on Saturday mornings - and we were ready to dye. To this day, when I open a bottle of vinegar, I'm reminded of sitting at that table and dropping tiny Paas pellets into mugs and watching them fizz away. I'm sure others have that olfactory association with vinegar.

Easter a.m.

Saturday evening brought my dad's and my annual tradition of watching Easter Parade, one of my favorite musicals that doesn't have much to do with Easter. We often watched it with a take-n-bake pizza for dinner, something we did on many a Saturday. There was also a short span of years, though it's so vivid a memory it may as well have been every year, when after my bath my mom wrapped my damp hair in sponge rollers as we sat front of the TV (watching Lawrence Welk, no doubt). I went to bed imagining myself as Shirley Temple on Easter morning when the rollers came out. If you knew me then, you'd know that was a sweet thought to fall asleep on.

If I wasn't thinking about my hair, I was thinking about my dress. My parents dressed me well. And yes, I can say parents, plural, because while my mom and I often shopped together, my dad found great deals at the T.J. Maxx and was known to bring home a quarter of a new wardrobe for me to try. They both had fun, and while I turned my nose up at some of the outfits, I had fun, too. But Easter dress shopping called for something more fancy. Always a pastel color, or a combination of several. White shoes, patent leather. If I was lucky, kitten heels. Of course, as I got older, this changed a bit in my teens when I opted for obnoxiously tall heels that I bought at Bakers Shoes with my own money. Still, the dress was special and I looked forward to the Easter morning debut.

At some point during that Saturday before Easter (though sometimes it was days earlier), my mom baked the hopping bunny rolls. These have been in my family since the late 1960s when my parents lived in California. They are expected every year alongside the ham, green beans, hard-boiled eggs, potato casserole (with the cornflake topping), and whatever else was brought over by guests on Easter afternoon. They're eaten before church, after church and during the Easter meal. But I could usually sneak one in on Saturday, freshly glazed, before they were placed in an airtight container.

Of course, Mom can't be with us each year to provide the rolls. My nieces and nephews here in town have been asking for them, though. So this year, I had a go at them. My first time.

Behold the Risen Dough. (My new bread bucket works great for this.)

 The dough is speckled with orange zest.

Such voluptuous things. It's difficult to see the bunny shape, but what does it matter.

For fun, when I got to the end of the dough, I made a couple small rolls and a pretzel, just to have a few to sample without committing to an entire bunny. They're great now, but I know that tomorrow, after having sat in a container overnight, they'll get that much yummier.

Hopping Bunnies

adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Bread Cookbook 

1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. milk, scalded
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp. salt
5-5 1/2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. orange juice
2 T. orange zest
sugar glaze (recipe below)

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let soften. While the milk is still warm, dissolve the sugar, shortening and salt in it and stir. Cool till lukewarm and transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Stir in 2 cups of the flour; beat well. Add eggs; mix well. Stir in yeast mixture. Add orange juice and zest and remainder of flour to make a soft dough. (I found this easy to do without my stand mixer.) Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 5-10 minutes.

Place dough in lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface. Cover and let rise till doubled (about 2 hrs.). Punch down. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

To shape: on a lightly floured surface, roll out dough in rectangle 1/2 in. thick. Cut the dough in 1/2 in. strips and roll between hands to make a smooth rope. I did mine in batches since I have a small dough board, about 16 in. long. You can roll the dough as long as you'd like, however big you want the buns to be. Make the head just a little smaller than the body, and lightly pinch their ends to attach to each other. Take dough scraps to fashion ears and a round tail. Or, just shape in whatever way looks bunny-like to you. It's hard to screw up.

Cover the bunnies with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour. You can make this go faster by turning your oven to 'warm' for 5 minutes, turning it off, and then placing the dough inside.

Preheat the oven to 375. If your bunnies are rising in the oven, be sure to take them out, of course. Bake the bunnies for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool on a rack before slathering on the sugar glaze.

Sugar glaze: Stir together 2 c. sifted powdered sugar, 1/4 c. hot water, 1 tsp. butter, and if you like, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, until smooth. Brush/drizzle atop the bunnies.

Store the bunnies in an air-tight container and enjoy for a few days.