Vanilla Sugar Bunny Cookies - Knipp-Osterhäschen

These adorable Vanilla Sugar Bunny Cookies will hop off the plate faster than you can bake them. And they happen to make a great Easter activity for kids or an extra special Easter gift for friends and family.

Why not celebrate the Easter holiday with a special Sunday lunch, lots of chocolate eggs, and seasonal  springtime baking. If possible, enjoy time with your family over the long weekend and nibble away on some of these cute bunny cookies.

Vanilla Sugar Bunny Cookies - Knipp-Osterhäschen
(Author: The Kitchen Lioness)

Ingredients for the Cookies

• 300g (2 1/2 cups) AP (plain) flour (Weizenmehl) OR use white spelt flour (Dinkelmehl)
• 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
• 175g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 200g (1 cup) fine baking (caster) sugar (feinster Zucker)
• 16g pure vanilla sugar (Bourbon Vanille Zucker)
• 1 egg (L), free range or organic
• grated zest of an organic lemon

For decoration (optional)

• eggwash (one egg yolk mixed with a bit of water)
• some mini chocolate buttons OR raisins for the eyes
• glacé cherries for the noses 
• pearl sugar* (Hagelzucker)

NOTE: *Pearl sugar is a type of specialty sugar that is often used in baking in Scandinavia and other countries in Northern Europe. Despite the name, this sugar is not completely round like pearls. It is compacted, which is why it does not melt easily during baking. Mixing pearl sugar into baked goods will give them extra sweetness and crunch. Sprinkling it over the top of a bread or pastry will do the same, and will also give your baked good a nice finishing look. If you live outside of Europe, you can find it at some specialty cooking stores, or at German or Scandinavian import stores, and, of course, you can also find it online. Please note that the Belgian pearl sugar variety used for baking the famous Liège waffles, is similar but more coarse-grained.

Preparation of the Cookies

1. Sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. 
3. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and the vanilla sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Add the egg and lemon zest and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed, about 1 minute. Add the remaining flour and continue beating until all of the flour has been absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
7. When you are ready to bake the cookies, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperaturte for 10 to 30 minutes. 
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough, one disk at a time.
9. Preheat your oven to 175° Celsius (350° Fahrenheit).
10. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment paper.
11. Cut out bunnies, using your favorite Easter bunny or easter themed cookie cutter. 
12. Using a small offset spatula, transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2.5 cm (1 inch) apart.
13. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies.
14. Repeat with the second dough disk.
15. Brush the cookies with some eggwash, sprinkle with pearl sugar, and decorate with glacé cherry slices (nose) - if you prefer to use raisins for the eyes, place them on the cookies before baking.
16. Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.
17. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes - while the cookies are still warm, place the mini chocolate buttons on the bunnies faces (eyes) - that way the heat will melt them slightly so that the eyes will adhere nicely to the finished cookies - then transfer the cookies to the racks and let cool completely.
18. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

These cute buttery vanilla sugar cookies are easy to make and take very little time. And they do make the perfect Easter treat for all.

I would like to take this opportunity and wish all of my friends, followers, readers, and their families a very Happy Easter! Frohe Ostern! Buona Pasqua! Bonnes Pâques! Vrolijk Pasen!