Sweet bunny cookies with floral headbands and a new You Tube tutorial

 

Similar Bunny Cookie available here on Amazon

I'm making bunny cookies for Easter and just couldn't find a cutter I truly loved in any of the stores around here. What is going on in the world? All I could find is little mini cutters with matching embossers like they sell on temu or shein for  a couple of dollars.....and I just felt they had no character and definitely did not match the cookies I had in mind.

So I decided to go back to basics and hand cut the cookies. I hand drew a design I wanted, copied it onto some clean card stock and used it as a template for a couple of test cookies. Then I remembered my brother has a 3D printer and I sent him a photo asking if there was any way we could make a cookie cutter.

True story, a few hours later he was at my door with a cookie cutter that he had made downloading the picture I sent. Have I mentioned in the past he is a top tier brother that can be relied on to enable my cookie or cake craziness at the drop of a hat? Some of you might remember when he helped me mount a unicorn head cake to a mirror on a wall (HERE).

Anyway it is dangerous information to know that he can whip me up any cookie shape I need in next to no time. There are actually no cookie limits now!

So with my newly created cookie cutter I have been working on a theme for this years Easter cookies and have come up with a few designs that I like.The kids favourite is this sweet bunny with floral headband for which I've also made a matching floral egg. 

I've popped up a YouTube video of me making the cookie so you can follow along and make your own. Basic written instructions plus my sugar cookie roll out dough are below.

I hope you find them as cute and delicious as we do.

Happy Baking

xx

Linda

Bunny with floral headband instructions 

Ingredients

12 Bunny Cookies (see below for recipe)

white fondant

How much fondant will I need. This is a tricky one as everyone rolls out their fondant different thicknesses and lots of cookie cutters look the same but are different sizes. I find this best way is to roll out one fondant cookie shape then weigh the fondant and multiply it by the number of cookies you are making, then add a little bit excess. Remember fondant dries out quickly so always keep it wrapped in plastic wrap and in an airtight container.

Royal icing mix (around 1 cup powder)

food colour (pink and leaf green)

black edible marker 

pink edible paint (can use food colour diluted with a little rose spirits)

pink edible dusting powder

Equipment

Bunny cookie cutter (similar one available on Amazon here)

small daisy plunger flower cutter approx 13mm (1/2 inch)

small 5 petal plunger flower cutter approx 8mm (1/3 inch)

mini 5 petal plunger flower cutter approx 6mm (1/4 inch)

small plastic rolling pin

foam pad 

assorted brushes 

piping tips (round 1 or 2) x 2 small leaf tip 349 (or similar)

Piping bags and couplers X 3

Here is a link to amazon with some cutters and fondant tools like the ones used in the video

https://amzn.to/3E79Fly

Step1 - Bake your bunny cookies for these instructions we make 12 bunny cookies

See below for recipe

Step 2 - Make floral decorations

I like to make my floral decorations before hand. For this design you will need 1 small daisy, 1 small 5 petal flower and 1 mini 5 petal flower. If you don't have these exact sizes you can make a similar design with other plunger cutters.

For 12 bunny cookies you will need 12 pink small daisy's, 12 pink small 5 petal flowers, 12 pink mini 5 petal flowers and 24 white mini 5 petal flowers.

Colour a small amount of fondant pink. I used over the top pink gel food colour. Dust your bench with cornflower/cornstarch and roll the fondant out with a plastic mini rolling pin until a couple of mm thick (1/8 inch). Press out the flower shapes and place onto a foam pad.

Using fondant tools (Dresden/veiner and ball tools), shape the flowers. Press small indents into each of the daisy's petals, and using the ball tool gently press each of the 5 petals on each flower. Using the below picture as a guide for each bunny make 3 flowers. Set aside in a pain palette to dry overnight.

Step 3 - cover the cookies with white fondant (or what ever colour you like)

Once the cookies are cool, cover them with white fondant. To do this dust you work bench with cornflour/ cornstarch and roll the fondant out until a few mm (1/4 inch) thick. Using your bunny cookie cutter press out the bunny shape. Lightly brush the cookie with water using a clean brush and adhere there fondant to the cookie by lightly pressing down with the rolling pin. Gently roll the fondant out to the edges of the cookie if needed. You are aiming for a smooth even finish.

Allow the fondant to dry out a little then store in an airtight container in a single layer overnight.

Next day

Step 4 - Mix up royal icing

Following instructions mix up royal icing. You are just making accents and 1/3 of a cup of each colour is enough. The pink and white should be a consistency they pipe a Nice rounded dot. The green will need to be a stiff peak consistency if you want the leaves to hold a nice shape. I put the icing into plastic wrap and then slide them into my disposable piping bags, that I have already cut off the tip and popped a coupler into. When I am ready to use I snip off the tip of the plastic wrap and screw on the tip I am using with the coupler.

Step 5 - Add the floral decorations and royal icing accents

Using the white royal icing, adhere the flowers around the base of the bunnies ears. Pipe a white dot into the small pink mini flower. I add a few dots around the flowers for a little visual interest.

Using the pink royal icing, pipe a bunny nose and pipe pink dot in the centre into the 2 flowers with white centres.

Using the green royal icing pipe on leave accents as per the picture.

Step 6 - Paint on the ears

Using edible paint, paint on the bunny ears. If you like you can use pink royal icing to pipe ear centres.

Step 7 - Draw on eyes

Using the edible marker draw a small semi circle with lashes for the eyes. If the fondant has not set a little be very carful as the marker will press down and leave an indent.

Step 8 - Add a rosy cheek

Using edible dust on a dry brush, dust a small circle on the cheek. Using a seperate clean brush dust off any excess.

Step 9 - Share and enjoy your cookie greatness

Linda's Best Ever Roll Out Sugar Cookie Recipe

460 grams plain flour (16 1/4 oz all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
230 grams unsalted butter (8 1/8oz)room temperature
220 grams caster sugar (7 3/4 oz superfine sugar)# 
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
#use regular white sugar if you do not have caster/ superfine sugar

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to medium low, add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in the sifted flour mixture until combined. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Line a few baking trays with parchment/ baking paper.

Dust workbench with plain flour and using a large rolling pin roll out the dough until around 1/2 cm (1/4") in thickness. If the dough is to hard you may need to work/knead it a bit until you can roll it out.

Cut out cookies shapes and place the cookies on the prepared trays. (Knead and reroll dough as necessary, if it becomes to soft you can pop it back in the fridge.)

Pop the cut cookie dough trays into the fridge to chill again for around 30 minutes until firm (or in the freezer for 10 minutes).

Preheat oven to 160 C (320 F) and cook the cookies until they just start to turn golden, around 15 minutes (less or more depending on cookie size).

Cool on trays for 5 minutes and then carefully lift onto a wire rack to cool completely prior to decorating.

- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 1 week.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Gateway Muffins - Super easy mix banana muffins

 

You will not believe how easy these muffins are. No special equipment or fancy ingredients for the basic mixture and you can pop in any type of add in you like. I first published them on the blog here back in 2014 as raspberry and there is no way to keep track of how often I've made them. The recipe is still almost too good to believe.

If your household is anything like mine, the kids will be eating bananas by the truckload and then all of a sudden stop. It used to drive me crazy but now I don't mind at all, I just make muffins. Also no big deal if you don't have time to cook right now, just peel the banana, wrap them in cling film and pop them into the freezer. When you're ready to cook pull them out defrost and use them, the mushier the better in this case.

Plus they are a gateway muffin to healthy eating and home cooking. They are not actually a health food, but if you have someone who eats too much processed packet foods, chances are you can win them over with these muffins and actually get a bit of hidden fruit into their diet. I sometimes made them with wholemeal (wholewheat) flour and they still taste great.

I made a YouTube video here which is only just over 4 minutes long from start to finish which shows just how fast and easily you can whip up a batch of home made deliciousness.

This is consistently one of the go to recipes I have used over the years. You can have them plain banana or add in chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, pretty much anything at all.

If there is one recipe on the blog I recommend everyone have up their sleeve, it's this one, trust me you won't regret it.

Happy Baking

Linda 

XX

Super Easy Mix Banana Muffins

makes 9 muffins. I often make a mix of different muffins by mixing all the ingredients up to the add in stage, scooping the batter into the muffin tins and then adding different add ins so I end up with a mixed variety of muffins. ie 3 blueberry, 3 chocolate and 3 white chocolate and raspberry.

3 very ripe bananas
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup oil (I used olive oil)

Optional add ins: 

3/4 cup raspberry (fresh or frozen) and 1/4 cup white chocolate;

 or 1/2 cup chocolate chips; 

or 3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 160C (325F) and line a regular muffin tin with baking papers (you will only need to line 9 of the 12 holes)

In a large bowl using a fork, mash the bananas well. 

Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Add all remaining ingredients except the optional add in's and mix until just combined.

Divide mixture evenly between the 9 paper cases filling up to the top of each cupcake paper. 

**Add in extra 'add-ins' at this stage. You can make all one flavour or make a mixture. Some ideas are chocolate chip; raspberry/white choc chip; blueberry. Just push the ingredients into the mixture.

Bake until the top is golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean (around 30 minutes).

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Easy Pistachio Basque Cheesecake Recipe

I just celebrated my birthday, and with the kids pretty much grown up, finding a night we can all be together to have dinner in between their casual jobs, school, uni and other commitments is a bit tricky. 

I was sitting down Friday night working out what day we should organise my dinner and realised that if we didn't do it that Sunday it would be a month again before we would all be together so that's how this cheesecake came to be.

My Chocolate basque cheesecake recipe (click here for link) is one of my go to easy favourites. If you make it in the morning it can actually be served that night. I decided I didn't want the lead up to my birthday to be spent rushing to put together a layer cake and I had already been thinking of changing up my cheesecake recipe to use some of the pistachio cream I had in my fridge and luckily for us it worked out perfectly.

Basque cheesecake is crazy easy to make, my recipe has 5 ingredients plus a pinch of salt and it's just about making sure everything is room temperature and mixed well at a low speed. Even lining the tin is easy just scrunch up baking paper and press it into the tin. It's the ultimate lazy dessert.

I did add an extra step by decorating around the edge with more pistachio cream and chopped pistachios. Just to make it a bit more birthday-ee. But you can totally miss that out and it will be gorgeously burnt and delicious.

I still want to make myself an actual proper layered birthday cake,  it will have to wait at least a month but that will give me enough time to come up with some fun ideas. 

Happy Baking

xx

Linda

Pistachio Basque Cheesecake - makes a 6" cheesecake which will make 6-8 snack serves. Store in fridge for up to 3 days. Can be frozen wrapped individually in plastic wrap and thawed in the fridge.

450g (16oz) cream cheese at room temperature

300g (10 1/2 oz) pistachio cream

3 eggs room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

225g (8oz) thickened cream (dollop cream) (heavy cream)

good pinch salt

Optional decoration extra pistachio cream around 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts

Line a 6 inch wide by 3 inch high, round baking tin with baking paper. To do this crumple up the paper in your hands and then place over the baking tin and press down I used a spoon to press a line around the bottom rim and then turn the edges over the top rim.

Place cooking rack into middle of oven and preheat to 220 C Fan forced (430F).

Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature so the mixture will be silky smooth. Place into mixer bowl and mix at low speed until smooth and creamy. You do not want any lumps at this stage and also we are not trying to incorporate extra air or volume. The room temperature ingredients and slow mixing are key steps.

Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time and vanilla and mix until well. Continue to scrap down the sides of the bowl until the mixture is completely combined and smooth.

Warm the pistachio cream in the microwave for about 30 seconds until it is fluid but not hot and fold in with a spatula, there should be no lumps and no streaks when you are finished.

Add the thickened cream and salt and mix well.

Pour mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 mins, increase temperature to 230C (450F) and cook for a further 5 mins. 

Turn oven off and allow to cool in oven with door ajar for 15mins. 

Put cheesecake into fridge for at lease 4 hours or overnight.

Prior to serving remove from tin and allow to sit at room temperature for 20 mins. If your cheesecake is stuck and you can't get it to release, it's just some of the fats set hard. Run a plastic spatula around the edge between the paper and tin and if it still won't come out pop the base into hot water for a second being careful not to splash the cake and it should easily slide out.

**Optional extra decorating step -after cheesecake is cooled in fridge, immediately on removal from fridge while still chilled.

Remove cheesecake from baking paper and spread a thin layer of pistachio cream around the sides of the cheesecake with an offset spatula or knife.

Place the chopped pistachios on a plate.

Holding the cake by the flat sides roll the pistachio cream covered edges in the chopped pistachios. They will stick to the the pistachio cream. 

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes. Affiliated links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own,