Making the dough

• Measure out all the ingredients needed for the dough and have them ready.
• Place the milk in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and add about 1 tbsp of the sugar. Whisk to dissolve.
  360 mL full-fat milk
• Sprinkle in the yeast and whisk to dissolve it in the milk. Set it aside for about 10 minutes to activate the yeast. When the milk-yeast mixture forms a foam on top, the yeast is activated.
  7 g active dry yeast or instant yeast
• To the activated yeast, add the sugar, vanilla, bread flour, spices, and salt (any order is fine, but the salt must be added AFTER the flour).
  100 g sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 500 g bread flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp fine sea salt
• Place the bowl in your stand mixer with the kneading hook. Start mixing the dough on speed 3, until the ingredients mix well and come together. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure nothing is sticking to the bowl.
• Knead the dough for a further 5 minutes until the dough starts to look fairly smooth.
• Next, add the butter in 3 - 4 portions, making sure each portion gets mixed in relatively well before adding the next one. Do this at speed 3 or 4 on your kitchenaid mixer, while briefly stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure proper mixing. Adding the butter should only take about a maximum of 2 minutes.
  150 g unsalted butter
• If you try to lift the dough out of the bowl with the dough hook, the hook will tear through the dough at this stage.
• Now knead the dough for a further 10 - 15 minutes on speed 4. Reduce the speed to 2 or 3 for about 1 minute, in 3 - 4 minute intervals. The goal is to knead the dough at a higher speed to encourage proper gluten development. (Since the dough has a high hydration and enrichment level, the dough is loose and can be kneaded at a higher speed.)
• How to tell when the dough has kneaded enough - The dough should go from looking like a rough, thick batter to a smooth, shiny dough. At about 10 minutes of kneading, the dough should no longer be sticking to the sides, and look shiny. When you use the dough hook to lift it out of the bowl, it should come out cleanly with little to no dough left in the bowl. The dough will also stay on the hook without tearing. This shows that the dough has developed enough gluten for good structure.

First proof

• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold in the edges of the dough towards the middle to form a tight ball of dough. Flip the dough over so that the seam side down, and the dough should have a tight surface on top. Now place the dough back in the mixing bowl.
• Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and keep it in a warm place to proof. I like to keep it in my oven with the oven light OR the proof setting on. Let it proof for about 45 - 60 minutes, OR until the dough doubles in size. The time will depend on the ambient temperature.
• Once proofed, turn the proofed dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently press to release excess air. Then shape the dough again to form a tight dough ball.

Overnight slow proof

• Place the shaped dough ball back in the mixing bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the fridge overnight (8 hours) or up to 24 hours. This step helps to develop the gluten further and to enhance the flavor of the dough.

Dividing the dough

• After the dough has chilled overnight, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface the following day.
• Press the dough gently to release any extra gas. Weigh the dough on a weighing scale. The dough should weigh between 1000 - 1100 g.
• Portion a piece of dough that is about 285 -300 g. You should now have two portions of dough. I.e. a small portion that's about 300 g, and another bigger portion about 800 g. Wrap the larger portion of dough in plastic wrap or in a ziploc bag and return to the fridge.
• Portion the small dough into about 16 pieces (about 18 g each). Shape each portion into a baseball bat shape (narrow at one end, wide at the other end). Place each portion on a plate or tray. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until needed. These will be used as the bunny ears.

Making the bunny faces

Roll out the dough

• Place the larger portion of dough on a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a rough rectangle and start to roll it out. Maintain a rectangle shape to make it easier to portion the dough. Make sure to flip the dough over to make it easier to roll out evenly. Lightly flour as you go to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface.
• The final dough should be about 20 - 21 inches long and about 16 inches wide.
• If the dough is shrinking a lot when you roll it out, fold over the dough in half (if needed) and wrap it in plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge. Let the dough rest in the fridge for about 30 - 60 minutes. This will allow the gluten to rest and make it easier to roll it out.

Spread the filling

• Once the dough has been rolled out to a rectangle that is about 21 x 16 inches, spread the filling on the surface of the dough.
• You can choose to use only biscoff spread or chocolate hazelnut spread, or mix both together and spread on top.
  200 g hazelnut chocolate spread / biscoff spread
• Dollop each of the filling on top of the dough and then use an offset spatula to spread the filling in a thin layer all over the surface.

Fold the dough

• Once the filling is spread, fold one third of the dough over itself (along the long edge - see pictures in the post for reference) towards the middle. Next, fold the opposite end over the already folded dough.
• You should end up with a dough that's about 21 inches long, and about 5 inches wide, with three layers of dough, and with filling in between.
• Trim off the edges of the folded rectangle to get straight edges.

Shaping the bunny bun faces

• Next, cut the rectangle into about 16 strips. The strips should be about 1 ¼ inches wide.
• Take 1 strip and place it on a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, make two cuts lengthwise, while leaving one end intact. See pictures in the post for reference. You should end up with a strip of dough that has three long strands that are still connected at one end.
• Braid the three long strands to create a plait. Press the ends together to seal.
• Gently stretch out the plait and roll it up on itself, starting from the end of the plait to the beginning. Pinch the end of the dough to seal the roll.
• Place the braided bun on a parchment paper-lined baking tray. Scrape off any excess filling that might be on your work surface
• Repeat with the remaining dough strips (16 total).
• Once all the bunny buns have been shaped and placed on the tray, cover the tray with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge.

Assembling the bunny buns

• Butter 2 x standard muffin pans (or butter only 16 cavities).
• Take the baseball bat shaped dough portions from the fridge. Cut each portion in half lengthwise. Using slightly floured fingers, shape the dough to look like bunny ears. Rounded and wide at one end, and narrow and small at the other end, and about 2 ½ - 3 inches long. See pictures in the post for reference.
• Place the two ears in the muffin pan. The narrow ends should be at the bottom of the cavity and then go up the sides and the wider ends should be placed outside the muffin pan cavity. Make sure the wide ends are placed in a V shape to look like bunny ears once baked.
• Repeat with the remaining bunny ear portions. Make sure there is minimal overlap of the ears.
• Next, place the shaped braided bunny buns in each cavity, on top of the bunny ears inside the muffin pan cavities.

Final proofing and baking

• Loosely cover each muffin pan and let the buns proof in a warm place until doubled in size.
• When the bunny buns are almost done proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
• Drizzle about 2 tsp / 10 mL of heavy cream over each proofed bun. This helps to make the bunny bread rolls even softer and richer.
  160 ml heavy cream
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown on top.
• When buns have baked, remove from the oven.
• Place the jam or honey in a microwave-safe bowl and heat till the mixture is warm. Use a pastry brush to brush the warm jam / honey on the freshly baked, warm bunny buns.
  Apricot jam or honey to brush on top
• Let the buns cool down slightly and then carefully remove them from the muffin pan and place them on a wire rack to cool down further.
• Serve at room temperature.