Honey Bunnies Sweet Rolls Recipes

HONEY BUNNIES (ROLLS)

Steps:

• In large bowl, combine 1/2 cups flour, undis-solved yeast, and salt.
• Heat evaporated milk, water, honey, and butter until warm (105° to 115°F).
• Gradually add to dry ingredients; beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Add eggs and 1/2 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed.
• With spoon, stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Might need a little extra.
• Place in greased bowl. Grease top; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.
• Remove dough from refrigerator; punch down. Remove to floured surface. Divide dough into 15 equal pieces. Roll each to 20-inch rope. Divide each rope into 1 (12-inch), 1 (5-inch), and 3 (1-inch) strips.
• Coil 12-inch strip to make body; coil 5-inch strip to make head. Attach head to body; pinch to seal. Shape remaining 3 strips into ears and tail and attach to body and head.
• Place on 2 large greased baking sheets. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 20 to 40 minutes.
• Bake at 375°F for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from sheets to wire racks. Brush with Honey Glaze while warm. Insert raisins for eyes. If desired, brush again with glaze before serving.
• Honey Glaze: Combine 1/4 cup honey and 1/8 cup butter in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally.

HONEY-GLAZED BUNNY ROLLS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, heat milk with honey, stirring, over low heat just until lukewarm and remove pan from heat. Stir in yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add butter and yolks, whisking until combined well.
• Transfer milk mixture to bowl of a standing electric mixer (or to a large bowl, if kneading by hand). Add flour and salt gradually to milk mixture, stirring until incorporated. With dough hook, knead dough until smooth, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, dough may be kneaded by hand on a lightly floured surface until smooth, 10 to 15 minutes.)
• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled large bowl and turn to coat with oil. Let dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in refrigerator overnight, or until doubled in bulk. (Alternatively, dough may be allowed to rise in a warm place about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.)
• Grease 2 baking sheets. Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Form each piece into an egg shape and transfer pieces to prepared baking sheets. Form a bunny tail on each piece by holding scissors, points down, perpendicular to baking sheet and making a 1/2-inch-long snip at base of wide end. Form 2 bunny ears on each piece by making a narrow 2-inch-long snip on each side, starting near wide end and cutting toward narrow end. Form eyes on each piece by making 2 holes in narrow end with a wooden pick and pressing a currant half firmly into each hole with pick.
• Brush half of warm glaze on rolls and let rise, covered loosely with plastic wrap, in a warm place 45 minutes or less, or until doubled, in bulk (rising will take longer if dough is cold).
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Heat remaining glaze over low heat just until warm and brush rolls. Bake rolls in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets in oven halfway through baking, 20 minutes, or until golden, and transfer to racks to cool.
• Serve rolls warm or at room temperature.
• In a small saucepan, heat glaze ingredients over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted. Remove pan from heat and keep glaze warm, covered.

GRAMMA'S OLD-FASHIONED CINNAMON SWEET ROLLS

Steps:

• In a liquid measuring cup, heat milk/water to "wrist-warm" (do NOT boil; just warm).
• Add yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar (you'll use the rest in the next step). Stir the yeast and sugar; let this "work" for about 5 or 10 minutes. You should have some bubbly, frothy stuff in the cup when you return. (If not--your yeast is no good, dump it out and get better yeast.).
• Pour yeast-milk into mixing bowl, and add remaining sugar, butter, eggs, salt and 1 cup of the flour. Using beater, mix this mess for about a minute.
• Switch to the paddle (flat beater) or a dough hook, and add remaining flour one cup-at-a-time. The dough will form a ball, and feel slightly sticky. You may not need the entire 5 1/2 cups (depends on humidity, too).
• Fill medium glass bowl with hottest tap water. If your oven can be adjusted to 100 degrees, set it to 100 degrees. Also, if your oven has a light, turn it on; place the hot water on the bottom of the oven. Close the door.
• Grease a large, glass bowl. Remove dough from mixing bowl to a floured table/counter-top; knead for 1 minute; form into a ball and place in greased bowl, turning to get grease on all sides. Cover bowl loosely with a sheet of plastic wrap.
• Turn off 100 degree oven, place bowl of dough into oven; close the door. Set the timer for 1 hour.
• Clean up the mess BUT leave floured counter-top AS IS.
• At the end of one hour the dough should've risen to about double the size. If not, let it go for another 15 minutes (set the timer--it's easy to forget---out of sight, out of mind!).
• Gather filling ingredients: 1/4 cup of melted butter; cinnamon; brown sugar; raisins and/or chopped nuts (optional).
• Punch down the down; remove from bowl; with a large butcher knife, cut dough into two equal parts. Set one aside (cover with plastic wrap).
• Grease two 13x9-inch pans with BUTTER (no substitutes are allowed -- this is GRAMMA's recipe). :-) humor me, okay?.
• On floured counter-top, lay dough and with a rolling pin, shape & roll into large rectangle, oh about 8 x 16 inches or a bit larger, keep thickness consistent throughout.
• Pour HALF of the melted butter over this, and spread with a pastry brush, right out to the edges. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon (like 1-2 tablespoons), then a handful of brown sugar, spreading it evenly with fingers; right to the edges!
• Sprinkle some raisins and chopped nuts -- if using. Keep these closer to the long side closest to you.
• HERE's THE HARD PART: Starting at the side closest to you, LOOSELY roll away from you. Loosely is the KEY word. Tuck in any runaway raisins or nuts.
• Use that big knife to divide the roll in half in the middle. Then cut each half into SIX equal portions, for a total of 12 rolls.
• Starting in the middle of the roll (nicest shaped rolls) and working to the sloppy outside roll piecs, set them along the outside edges of the buttered pan, spacing evenly in the pan. Put the two end rolls in the very center of the pan. Set the cut side DOWN (so the top looks flat-ish). Set this pan on the stove for now.
• Repeat with remaining dough; vary the ingredients -- if you skipped raisins or nuts, maybe add some to this pan of rolls.
• Check if the water in the oven is still warm, if not dump out and start with fresh hot water. Put plastic wrap on both pans (re-use the other piece), and pop in the warm oven. Set the timer for 45 minutes. Go do something productive---clean the counter-top before all that stuff gets hard! :-D.
• When the rolls have risen to the top of the pan (or a smidgen over), remove them from the oven, preheat oven to 350. When it's warm bake them for 20 minutes; tops will be golden brown.
• Cool on a rack; then frost with a cream cheese/butter cream frosting (slather it on thick like Gramma does for the grandkids!).
• You have JUST entered the Pearly Gates!