Bunny Rolls/Kelli’s Kitchen
I’m a little ticked off right now – a few weeks ago, I saw a picture of the cutest bunny rolls on Facebook with a link to the “original” post. I went to the blog and saw the pictures, quickly read the recipe and determined since I could make them I would pin it and do it closer to Easter. Today was the day. I went back to the original recipe. After reading it well, I realized there MIGHT be something a little fishy but maybe not so I kept going. Now, I knew the way she was describing the process it was not going to work but I thought that since I know very little about making bread I could have been wrong. I made it exactly as listed – I threw out the mess. Then, I went back and prepped the yeast the way I had done it in the past and it worked. While the dough was rising, I read the comments on the post. There were two who had actually used the recipe (having to start over like me) and made the bunnies. One posted that it looked more like a gremlin than a bunny and the response was very vague – and absolutely NO instructions on how it could have been done better. Then, someone asked if something besides sour cream could be used. When the blogger answered, I felt pretty convinced she had never made these rolls. Then I read the very fine print at the bottom of the post that said the pictures came from a particular blog and then even smaller it stated that the blogger had been compensated for posting it and may or may not have actually made it etc…
I clicked on the link to what I thought was the original blog. After translating to English I saw that her bunny rolls actually looked WAY more like mine than the ones credited to her in the first blog. But the recipe was the kicker! It was the same three paragraphs over and over in a different order….at least that’s how it came out in English. I looked at every single picture on her blog and there was no picture like the one I pinned. I went to her FB page. Right there, just a few days ago a woman asked where the picture went because she couldn’t find it on her blog. The FB woman gave her viewer several links to other posts on her blog that were Easter related, but no bunny rolls. BTW, this FB page had over 12,000 fans. Then, I Googled it. I WENT TO SEVEN BLOGS THAT HAD POSTED THAT PICTURE BUT ATTRIBUTED TO ANOTHER BLOG. It has been pinned tens of thousands of times.
Finally……yes, finally I went to another blog that was in yet another language but the picture had been removed in 2012. I never found another clue. So, I don’t know if the original picture is actually real or photo-shopped or just a figment of my imagination. At any rate, I’m not posting it here and I’ve removed it from my Pinterest board as well – and replaced it with my own. Mostly because the rolls, the way I made them, rock! If you have ever been to a Santa Fe Steak House, then you know what these rolls taste like. One of my FB friends told me they looked more like frogs than bunnies so I’m calling mine: Froggie Rolls!
Ingredients:
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg, beaten
Directions:
1. Put the butter & the sour cream in a small saucepan and heat thoroughly until warm, but do not allow boiling. Cool.
2. Put warm water, yeast, and sugar into a bowl and allow to bloom – about 5 minutes.
3. Mix dry ingredients into big glass bowl.
4. Combine all ingredients, including beaten egg, and mix well.
5. Turn out onto lightly floured surface.
6. Knead until all ingredients are combined. If dough is too thick to knead, add small amounts of water until the dough is pliable but not sticky.
7. Cover and allow the dough to rise until double in size. Divide into 16 equal parts (for rolls) or 24 equal parts and shape into oval balls for bunnies.
Bunny Rolls/Kelli’s Kitchen
8. Place balls onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
9. Cut the “bunny” ears with scissor and then poke a skewer into roll where eyes would be (or not).
Bunny Rolls/Kelli’s Kitchen
Bunny Rolls/Kelli’s Kitchen
10. Bake at 375° for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
11. You can either make these bunny rolls or you can just make regular rolls.
Bunny Rolls/Kelli’s Kitchen
They are so moist and wonderful! Mr. Picky Eater loves them and asked me to make more – I probably will make some tomorrow but I may let them rise a little again after I make them into rolls. Here’s a tip for everyone: When you see a cool picture of a recipe that you want to make, go to the original post – but make sure it’s the original! Sometimes it’s just a mythical idea and not real at all. ***However, if I am completely wrong and someone has actually made them AND they look like actual bunnies, please let me know who by sending me a link***
Bunny Rolls/Kelli’s Kitchen
!!!!Oh My Gosh – I just went to my dashboard and I had over 30 spam comments (stopped by askimet thank you) and ALL were in the 2 languages of the blogs I went to………..hmmmmmmmmm………….!!!
Edited Note**** One of the people who read this post has alerted me to a link that will take you to what is apparently the original post (see below) with the picture, albeit darker and hazy. On that blog post it says the bunny “rolls” are actually cookies from a Japanese bakery in Paris. A mold was used – it’s not bread at all!!!*****
You are quite the investigative reporter, Brenda Starr! 🙂 Your little rolls are adorable and I think they look like tiny mice. Without the tails.
That’s what we thought too! Thank you! Yes – investigative reporters and Social Workers have a lot of commonality and before I was a bureaucrat I was a social worker. 🙂
I saw this pin a few times, but I don’t think I actually pinned it. I’ll double check and delete the pin if I did. I wanted to try it, and now I’m sad it didn’t work! At least the rolls are delicious, right? I’ll definitely have to give this recipe a go at some point! I just need to find time, haha.
It mixed up faster than any other bread recipe I have ever had – didn’t even use a mixer. Yes, they tasted great!
I’ll definitely have to try it then! Maybe I’ll make them for Easter 😉
Kelli, I think we were separated at birth. I get in that “investigative” mood sometimes too and get so frustrated when I can’t find the original source for something. I think your rolls are adorable and my first thought was hamsters! But no matter how they look, it’s the taste that counts!
Yes, I thought of Hamsters too my sister – Whatever they look like, it isn’t bunnies. What am I saying, it WASN’T bunnies. Mr. Picky Eater has eaten most of them! I know some may think it a little much but I was really trying to find some kind of tutorial to make those blobs look like bunnies! 🙂
That is frustrating! But your bunnies are adorable!
Thank you!
I vote hamsters!
And your not alone. I tend to be, “Super Sleuth” myself. Actually, going off of memory, this recipe sounds very similar to a KFC biscuit I found online eons ago. I bet they were yummy!
They were and I’m up this morning making some more!
I’m going with hamsters, but super cute and I think we’ll add these to our Easter menu! Thanks for all your hard sleuth-y work 😉
If yours turn out looking more like bunnies, please share and then show us how you did it! 🙂
Well, I’m certainly impressed by your investigative skills and your determination. And I see bunnies so you’re good to serve these at Easter. 🙂 She was compensated for a recipe she never made, huh? Where do I sign up to make money for NOT doing my job? 🙂
I know! Isn’t that amazing? I can’t imagine who paid her – unless it was the link at the end of her “recipe” that took you to the other blog – and that blog appeared to be a Hungarian version hers – maybe they work for the same company but there were no products mentioned however both of their FB pages were just post of an advertisement and then a post of someone elses blog/picture/recipe. But – we go there because the last time I did……:) Thanks for the compliment!
I had seen the picture, too, and thought it was a cute idea. I like your recipe which is different from any rolls I’ve made (and I’ve made a lot) – going to try it.
Lillian
lillianscupboard.wordpress.com
Great! They are really good!
What an unbelievable story ~ I think I even pinned the one you’re talking about ~ Makes me wonder about some food blogs and if they ever even made the recipe 🙂
I think maybe some don’t – how sad.
Adorable! And I saw that original photo/post, too. You’re not imagining things 🙂
Good! Sometimes I wonder about myself!
OH MY! That would have POed me off too. You are like an investigator. I would have given up way before you. BTW your bunnies are very cute and they look sumptuous.
Thank you Liz – happy to see your face!
Yeah, I been laying low lately. 🙂
There have been some real problems with false postings on the blogs and Facebook. If Facebook gets complaints they sometimes make people take things down. You are a great sleuth and this was an excellent post. I’m sure your rolls are great no matter what they look like.
Thank you for the nice compliments Karen! I was reading a FB post from a lady I’ve been following since I got on facebook about 3 years ago. She simply made a statement that she felt if people use her pictures or recipes they should at least say where they got it from. When I saw it, she had posted 8 hours earlier and there were 450 comments – and I swear a good 1/3 of them were (mostly) young women who were berating her for even mentioning it and not one of them thought it was wrong! Isn’t plagiarism still an offense in schools?
It sadly appears that some people think they don’t have to answer to anyone. They can take credit for someone else’s work by not mentioning the original source…be it words, photos, ideas, recipes, etc. It is too bad.
Amen!
What a cute buns…
my lil niece said” i want that hamster buns!” straight away when seing your buns..
LoL
I did a similar post a few days ago (sans recipe and details) — my Rhodes rolls bunnies were awful (but tasted good!)
Thank you for telling me – I feel a little better! And yes, they do taste good – but I won’t be making anymore bunnies unless I get a good tutorial. 🙂 Also, thank you for dropping by and please come back!
I think they look a little bit like mice. But the big question is….How do they taste?
They tasted wonderful! I’m so glad. I will make more for Easter dinner but I will just make regular rolls.
I’m definitely going to try this recipe for rolls. I already have one for bun bunnies, but I’ve only made my rolls into the shape of bunnies. If I can find it, I’ll get it to you. (the instructions — like I said, I’ve never made the dough from that recipe) 🙂
Great! Mom and the kids are coming over for Easter Dinner Sunday so I will need something!
Btw, I’ve never used parchment paper. I think I’ll just grease the pan good and go with them that way. Surely it shouldn’t be a problem!
No, I wouldn’t do that again. Seems like a waste of parchment paper when it really isn’t needed for those.
I think I found the source of the picture you might have been seeking:
http://cuteyummytime.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/japanese-wagashi-cute-bunny-mooncakes-festival-pastries/
I thought I’d noticed mould marks on one bunny somewhere along the way in another set of pictures, and realized these weren’t yeast-raised rolls, but rather a cookie-type, and thought, hmmm, maybe these were Japanese. A little more searching, and found them. I don’t think scissors are involved in the ear creation, but they might have been formed in a mould.
Thank you so much for running this down! I just knew it wasn’t scissors but I’m not kitchen-savvy enough to know what it was! Thanks for the work – I will look right away. Look at that….2009! Also – thank you for dropping by and please come again!
I wish I had seen this earlier, I just made these yesterday and mine also turned out wrong! I actually used a different bread recipe, but the look was the same – not like bunnies at all! I thought that mine actually looked like little cats or Pikachus. I had even tried adding little bunny tails but that didn’t help. I’m so mad at myself for not realizing that it wouldn’t work – I should be able to spot fake pictures like this by now! Oh well, it was a good learning experience! I think yours could actually pass for a perfect mouse if you added a little bread tail.. Maybe you could make them again at Halloween! 🙂
Natalie – first, thank you so much for stopping by and please come again. Second, if you look at the comment – BPaine gave us the link to the original post. What we saw were actually cookies found in a Japanese bakery in Paris in 2009!! Can you believe it? Even though the picture was dark and a bit hazy (cell phone camera probably) they were sitting in the same red tray I have seen all around the Internet. Someone downloaded it to their computer and then “fixed” it. I’m sorry you had such a hard time with the “bunny rolls” too – except – I thought they tasted really good, didn’t you? That’s one plus of the entire experience! 🙂
Ugh .. professionally baked cookies (probably using a mold) would definitely turn out differently than bread! I don’t get why someone would try to trick us all like that, I bet they are having a good laugh at everyone’s deformed bunnies! I actually used a different bread recipe but yes, the shape didn’t affect the taste, so I can still enjoy eating my little Pikachus! 🙂
It could be but you know, the more viewers you have on your blog, the more likely it is that you can make money on those adds. P.S. – I had to look up a Pikachu! 🙂 My daughter would have known right away!
No freaking way! Wow and to find out it was a mold and a cookie in the very end. JEEZ!! It drives me nuts when people don’t do the actual recipe or steal other people’s pictures.
Me too! I’ve had a hard time understanding the value in doing it, but I guess the number of follower a blogger has determines the kind of adds or $$ they make. It always ends up being about money. Thanks for dropping by!!
Thank you SO much for posting this!!! I have an issue with Pinterest…I love looking at the photos but I fear I’m not smart enough to find out instructions to most things. My husband had sent me a picture of the bunny bread rolls (which looked amazingly awesome) but then when I tried to find the recipe it was all an annoying goose chase. I did come across the foreign language site that supposedly was the “original pin” and it had the same beautiful photo but the instructions were for sweet pastries. So, THANK YOU for confirming that it’s not just me!! I am going to use your recipe for Easter since I always make my own rolls and thought they’d be so sweet for dinner. 😉 I’m super happy and thank you for sharing!
I find beauty in imperfection and so – mine looked like mice instead of an unattainable photo, Um………I think we learned that with model photography! The rolls tasted great and so will yours! I don’t worry about how perfect it looks, I post it anyway. There are lots of people (mostly women) who kind of look down their noses at those of us with less than perfect pictures and recipes but all that perfection comes at a price I’m not willing to pay (mostly time and energy) and there will be a backlash about it – for instance these “rolls”, the woman whose blog I saw it on first is a very popular blogger but – you can’t fool all the people all the time! I want to thank you for dropping by and I hope you come again – we sound a lot alike!
I am going to try this… Tomorrow. Can’t wait to see if mine look like a mammal or amphibian!!!! Thanks for the great post!
Thank you for dropping by! I hope that when yours are done, you will show us a picture. I would love to see it!
Original website: http://cuteyummytime.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/
Thank you!
I wanted to make these too, I found out while looking for them that the recipe to make the cute little bunnies was for a lemon cookie or a tart.
Exactly! It is a little like chasing a rainbow. If someone would just tell you it was something else, you would admire it but not frustrate yourself trying to make apple juice out of lemons! 🙂 Thank you for dropping by and please come again!
I was very disappointed that the pictures did not represent the result I would have. That picture is like comparing apples and oranges ..I should have known when something looks to good to be true..it is.
Wow thanks for all the investigate work! I saw these on pinterest but also struggled to find the original source!
Thank you for dropping by! I’m glad I made them because the recipe itself is very good – but the bunnies ….that’s another story!
I made yeast rolls and cut the ears and all. Mine look nothing like bunnies, more like skulls or rocks. Oh well, they still tasted divine!
I’m glad they tasted great! next time I make them – I’m going to leave the scissors where they are. Thanks for dropping by!
Thank you for doing all the work on figuring this one out. I saw pictures posted on pinterest and facebook a few weeks back and tried it with just frozen dinner biscuits. Mine ended up looking like fat cats lol. I’ll never understand what would motivate someone to make up a fake recipe like that!
Generally it gets them lots and lots of followers and with that, they make money. I don’t know if its a lot of money because I don’t make any and don’t try to. But, it is terribly frustrating when something like that goes viral and it’s just a huge lie. I just went on Pinterest and started commenting on all the pins that have both those pictures together on it that they were cookies and the picture on the right had nothing to do with the picture on the left….the bad thing is that I’m sure there will be lots of people who give me grief over it. But – if a manufacturer lied about a car I bought I would do the same. Thanks for dropping by and please come again!
I found this link, and I think this recipe might, just might, make a bunny cookie. I don’t think rolls are possible because of the the puffing that happens with yeast….
http://openmouthinsertcookie.blogspot.com/2011/01/baking-for-chinese-new-year.html
She makes separate ear bits, but whenever I try this I’m going to try snipping ears for a couple of test bunnies to begin with…
-Laura at TenThingsFarm
Thank Laura! I am soooo going to try this! As soon as Easter is over. I’m dying to know if these can be made without a mold. I appreciate you giving me the link!
I was going to make these to take to an Easter dinner tomorrow, thanks for letting us know that they won’t look like bunnies! I want to try your recipe, but I don’t see when to add the egg.
Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention! I updated the recipe – it’s in #4 – Add all ingredients together, including beaten egg, and mix. – I think I was pretty ticked off the day I wrote this post. 🙂 Thank you for dropping by and please come again. Let me know how the rolls turn out, my dough is rising right now!
I hate when that happens! At least they still taste good.
I think they look more like a mouse!
Happy Easter
That’s what I thought too! They tasted so good, I made a bunch more yesterday and didn’t bother trying to make them anything except rolls. Thank you for dropping by and please come again – Happy Easter!
I too was suckered in by the cute little bunnies. I should have known better, no real instructions. End result not even close to the photos. Well my strange little creatures will be thrown to the birds in the morning. Happy Easter to all!
Gosh – maybe you should try some and see how they taste. Mine tasted fantastic and I made a bunch more (without scissors or skewers) yesterday for today’s Easter dinner. I’m so happy you dropped by and hope you’ll come by again, sorry you found me because of those darn bunnies! 🙂
I’m glad that you did this. I have that same circulated “bunny rolls” photo in my “to try” folder on my computer. I hadn’t imagined they’d really come out like the photo! However, up with froggies!
Thank you for dropping by – it was a pretty big adventure tracking all this down and I probably still wouldn’t be finished if my readers hadn’t helped me out! Please come again!
Wow. I thought I might have pinned them but didn’t. I always try to look at the original source before I pin something. It sucks when you take out your time to make something plus the expense of the ingredients and it doesn’t work. I wondered when I saw them how they would keep their shape because they would rise more. Sorry it didn’t work for you but your recipes sounds delicious. I love the sour cream, I haven’t tried that in a roll recipe before. Thanks for sharing on Thursdays Treasures.
As a sculptor I have seen the images of these rolls were they look like little bunnies and knew 2 things just from the pictures…
#1 They are not baked. They are still raw when you see the cute little rolls in PERFECT form they have yet to go in the oven. The “browning” is airbrushed on just like those rainbow cupcakes at the bakery.
#2 The ears are NOT formed the way they are shown in the picture using scissors. They are separate pieces added and blended using water. This is a common practice in clay sculpting for small details.
This would not be hard to do if you have some sculpting under your belt but they would not look that nice after they came out of the oven. They would be a bit more bunny like than some of the devil rolls pictured all over the web but still not as perfect as the RAW dough in the original pictures.
Thanks for the lesson!! Amazing what people will try to pass off as plain cooking, isn’t it?:
I made these as well. My customers told me that they looked like very angry cats! I am so relieved to see that the ones with the nice rounded ears were done in a mold. There is no way that you can use a scissors and get anything but pointy ears. One of the foreign sites had some pictures, and the scissors used looked like a curved manicure scissors. Going to try that this week – but it is still going to have pointy ears! Thanks for the recipe. I will try it this week. Need to perfect this before Easter. 🙂
Just wanted to add one of my blogs, showing my Wednesday baking. The bunnies are there – with very pointy ears.
I used leftover baguette dough, which is not sweet, and used caraway seeds for the eyes. Too much work, won’t do that again!
http://farmersusie.blogspot.com/2014/02/baking-day.html
I call those ‘Fairy Tale Recipes’…lol! Pinterest is full of them! Your rolls are cute, but they look more like hamsters than bunnies…lol! Still very cute though!
Thank you!!
http://www.rhodesbread.com/blog/blog/rhodes-on-pinterest-the-great-bunny-debate
Yep – they know now too! Wish they had used my picture but at least they tell everyone the truth! Thanks for dropping by and please come by again!
Thanks Nancy Drew for your investigation. I have been a baker for years, and yeast breads are a little unpredictible, when it comes to shaping little details. After hours on the web to make these lovely things, I realize it was just an illusion. Happy Easter and GOODBYE pipe dream bunnies!
Thanks for stopping by Rebecca and please come back!
So I realize that this is from a couple years ago but figured I would share anyways. Like you I was on a mission to find out how to make these, very quickly realized that wasn’t as easy at they seemed. Still I was interested in how some have worked with the recipe to try and make it work. The best one I have found so far is http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2015/04/02/easter-bunny-brioche-rolls Not saying that theirs are as perfect as the original cookie pictures, but they are the best bun version I’ve come across.
Thank you Skye – don’t worry, every Easter I got lots and lots of hits on this so many people will see the link – thank you so sharing!!