This recipe makes 6 fairly large rolls, but you can shape them smaller if you’d like to make more. For a more traditional aroma, you can also add a little ground cardamom and mahlab to the dough.
Translation | Amaryllis Tsegou
Ingredients
makes about 6 rolls
- 1 kg tsoureki flour (or strong white flour)
- 2 sachets dry yeast
- 175 g unsalted butter, cubed
- 250 ml milk
- 125 ml mild olive oil
- 150 g sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 250 ml yogurt, at room temperature
- ½ tsp mastic tears, ground with a little sugar
- zest of 2 oranges
- 6 raisins (for decoration)
Method
- For the Easter bunny rolls, first sift the flour into a large bowl. Set aside 1 cup and mix the yeast into the remaining flour.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the olive oil, sugar, eggs, yogurt, ground mastic, orange zest and salt an mix well to combine.
- Check the temperature of the mixture - it should be lukewarm to warm, but not hot.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the prepared mixture. Begin mixing with a spatula, then continue by hand, gradually incorporating some of the reserved flour as needed, until you have a smooth, pliable dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, place it in a warm spot and let the dough rise for about 2 hours.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two parts, one slightly larger than the other.
- Shape the larger portion into a thick rope and cut it into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a rope, then shape into spirals - these will form the bodies of the bunnies. Place them on 2 baking trays lined with parchment paper, leaving plenty of space between them.
- Shape the second portion of dough into a log and divide it into 18 pieces, 6 of them slightly larger. Roll these 6 pieces into balls and attach them to the ends of the spirals to form the heads.
- From the remaining dough, shape 6 small balls and place them roughly in the middle of each spiral as tails. Then form 12 small pieces into “U” shapes and attach them to the heads at a slight angle to create the ears.
- Preheat the oven to 40°C. Attach a raisin to each bunny for the eyes, brush lightly with oil, and place them in the lukewarm oven for 30 minutes to rise.
- After that, increase the oven temperature to 160°C (top and bottom heat) and bake the first tray for about 30 minutes (from the time the oven reaches temperature), until golden brown. Repeat with the second tray.
- Once baked, transfer the rolls to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Wrap them individually in cellophane to keep them soft.
