With Easter just around the corner, I'm getting a head start on some holiday recipes. The Easter bunny (or rabbit) is a symbol of the holiday in many countries, so I felt inspired to make something in that same spirit. I went with a layered cottage cheese dough — it's absolutely delicious! Since Easter tables are usually filled with sweet breads and cottage cheese desserts, I thought it would be fun to fill our bunnies with a savory filling instead. I used ground pork, but feel free to use whatever ground meat you like. The bunnies turned out incredibly tasty — my kid was especially excited about them, and my husband and I loved them too. At the end of the day, these bunnies are really just savory cottage cheese pastries with a meat filling, so feel free to make them right now as regular hand pies, or shape them into one big pie as a practice run before Easter!))
Ingredients:
- Dough:
- 200 g flour
- 200 g cottage cheese
- 100 g butter
- 1 egg
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- Filling:
- 250 g ground meat (I used pork)
- 50 g carrots
- 50 g onion
- 50 g cheese
- salt, pepper
- 1-2 tbsp sour cream
- vegetable oil or butter for frying
- Also:
- egg (for brushing)
How to cook easter bunnies
Make the dough. Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a food processor. Add pieces of softened butter and cottage cheese — I just break them apart with my hands and place them on top of the flour. I used 82% butterfat butter and a smooth, paste-like, non-watery cottage cheese with 9% fat content.
Add the egg and pulse once more, then remove the blade and quickly bring the dough together into a ball. You can add a little more flour if needed, but do not knead the dough — otherwise it won't be flaky when baked. Refrigerate for 1–2 hours, or overnight if you prefer.
Make the filling. Heat butter or vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the finely chopped onion and grated carrots and cook until soft and lightly golden.
Add the ground meat and cook, breaking it up thoroughly with a spatula, until fully cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. If you prefer, you can use pre-cooked meat — just grind it through a meat grinder and mix it with the sautéed onion and carrots.
Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely, then stir in the grated cheese and sour cream. Mix well — the filling is ready.
I cut a bunny shape out of paper and used it as a template, tracing around it with a knife — it's not as tricky as it looks. I had enough dough to cut out 12 pieces, which gave me 6 bunnies in total.
Place half of the cutouts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon the filling onto each one.
Brush the edges with egg white using a pastry brush, then place the second cutouts on top and press gently around the edges to seal. From the remaining dough, I cut out small circles for the cheeks. I used raisins for the eyes and nose. Brush with beaten egg yolk and poke three small holes in the body with a toothpick to allow steam to escape. Your bunnies are ready to bake. You can also make one large bunny-shaped pie, or simply a rectangular closed pie.
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