Bee's Bunnies

Growing up, Easter meant bonnets and little white gloves; clipping a big branch of the budding vibernum in our yard and decorating it with miniature Easter ornaments.

Easter meant chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs and a filled-to-the-brim Jelly Bean machine - confections that I was urged to eat over the course of a couple days, but couldn't help but devour before we had even arrived at Mass.

It meant a trip out to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the afternoon; acre wide Easter egg hunts in their yard; hopefully finding the winning black egg with a potato inside; and then sitting down to a dinner of Grandma's ham with raisin sauce, a square of Jello to my left, an iced bunny roll to my right, and a very hungry me in the middle. Dessert would be nut rolls, apricot nut bars, and a big chocolate cross for each of the grand kids. The cross was essential Easter candy - not so much for its symbolism, but for its surface area. It was huge, dense, and made of the sweetest milk chocolate that Sarris could possibly produce.

As a grown up, Easter celebrations have been dispersed and varied; the holiday traditions haven't transferred into adulthood the same way Thanksgiving or Christmas traditions have. In the past decade, I've had lacrosse games on Easter; I've politely prayed and brunched from Pittsburgh, to South Bend, to Chicago; and I've engaged in the ultimate revelry at Tia and Tom's Las Vegas wedding.

But this year, as I watched Peggy and Jan set out Easter decorations, plan the ham menu complete with Jello, asparagus, and potatoes au gratin, stuff Easter eggs for the big hunt, and make sure each person had a little serving of Jelly Beans by their place setting this week, I felt like I was a kid again. And that Easter was finally going to return to the celebration that I remember.

So, I thought I should pitch in, and add a little bit of Barry to the festivities. I penciled in iced bunny rolls and apricot nut bars to the menu. And today, I baked some of my favorite parts of Easter -  Grandma Barry's specialties that take me right back to her kitchen table, and bond me with a couple of my Aunts in Pittsburgh who I'm pretty sure were baking the same things at the same time.

Exhausted from a day of baking, a 20-mile run and just about the busiest, most sober Lent ever, I'm really looking forward to a fabulous, kid-friendly, sweet, and memorable Easter celebration tomorrow.

Lo.

The Bee's Bunnies

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 3/4 tsp allspice
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs  

Orange Icing

• 2 cups sifted powder sugar
• 1 tablespoons orange zest
• 2 tablespoons orange juice 
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

Combine 3 cups of the flour, yeast, and allspice. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, melt butter, stir in milk, sugar, and salt. Heat till just warm. 

Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Stir to combine, add remaining flour bit by bit. Use hands to combine, then knead 3 to 5 minutes. Shape dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. 

Punch dough down. Then divide in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Lightly grease two cookie sheets. 

Roll out half of dough into a 14x10-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 10-inch strips. Roll each strip into a snake shape, about 14 inches long. Form a loop with each roll, leaving extra room at the ends for the ears. Twist and turn over, so you have ears, a head, and open loop. Place on baking sheet. There should be some extra dough. Roll little balls with extra dough and place into open part of loop. Repeat with other half of dough.

After shaping, cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake small bunnies 11 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets; cool on wire racks. Frost while warm with Orange Icing. Makes 12 small bunnies.

Icing

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, orange zest, milk and orange juice. Stir till smooth.