This recipe for adorable cottontail rabbit cookies is almost too cute to eat. The classic sugar cookies are soft, chewy, and buttery with a hint of vanilla. This bunny-shaped treat is the best Easter cookie recipe. The tasty frosted cookies are decorated with coconut or sprinkles to complete the fluffy Easter bunny look. The pastel toppings make them a pretty festive Spring dessert. You have to agree that these are just delightful and vibrant.
The darling mini marshmallow bunny tail is a simple and sweet way to make these cookies look like a cute little cottontail rabbit. Brightly colored sugar and coconut add a pop of color to make these rabbit cut-out cookies perfect for Easter. They are also great for any bunny-themed event like birthdays, baby showers, and other parties. You can decorate them yourself or make it a fun activity with guests.
You can use this recipe to make just about any shaped cookie for holidays and parties. This sugar cookie can be used for more than just bunny Easter cookies. You can make this cookie recipe, the homemade icing, and all the sugar and coconut toppings for other cookies. Try some of these funny & tasty ideas.
- Butterflies with icing and marshmallow spots and spirals of colors on the wings
- Birds with feathery coconut design
- Rudolph with a red marshmallow nose for Christmas
- Frosty the Snowman cookies with marshmallow buttons for Christmas
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Ingredients
The base of these bunny rabbit Easter cookies is a classic sugar cookie. You will need the ingredients for the cookie base plus all the items for the icing.
I like to use shredded coconut for this recipe instead of coconut flakes. The coconut is a bit finer when it is shredded. I find it not only sticks to the cookie icing better but it looks prettier. It gives the bunny cookie a more fluffy soft appearance.
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Salted butter
- Vanilla
- Baking powder
- Mini marshmallows
- Shredded coconut
- Gel food coloring
- Colored sugar
This recipe uses my EASY COOKIE ICING. In addition to the above ingredients, you will also need powdered sugar, milk, & corn syrup.
Instructions
The important first step for this recipe is to make sure the butter is softened at room temperature. The egg should also be at room temperature. The egg should be on the counter for about 30 minutes before mixing.
I suggest letting the butter sit on the kitchen counter for at least an hour before you begin mixing the cookie dough. If you have a cold home or want to speed up the process, you can cut it into small chunks and place them in the large mixing bowl you will be using.
In the large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter with the sugar. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to combine the two ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl when done mixing.
To the creamed mixture, add the egg and the vanilla. Using the hand mixer, combine all the ingredients for 30 seconds on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure all the wet ingredients are combined evenly.
Once all the wet ingredients are combined it is time to add the dry ingredients. Add the baking powder and 1 cup of flour. Mix on low to medium speed for 30 seconds to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add another cup of flour. Mix again for 30 seconds. Repeat with the final cup of flour.
Hint: The dough will be crumbly. I should resemble large grains of sand as seen below. This is how it should look. It will come together so do not be tempted to add any liquids like milk or water.
Once the dough is done mixing, use your hands to gather about ¼ or ⅓ of the dough together. Your warm hands will help the butter continue to soften and bring the cookie dough together. Roll into a large ball and flatten it on a lightly floured cutting board or your clean counter.
Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough until it is ½" thick. Using the bunny-shaped cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Place each one on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or prepared with cooking spray. Depending on the size of your cookie cutter, 9-12 cookies should fit on a baking sheet.
These cookies do NOT spread. The sides of the cookies will hold up solid and straight as they bake. That is what makes this sugar cookie dough recipe the absolute best for cut-out shapes for any holiday. The bunny rabbit cookies will have the scent of vanilla as they bake and the whole house will smell wonderful.
How Long to Bake & Cool Sugar Cookies
Bake the sugar cookie cut-outs in a preheated 350° oven for 8-10 minutes. Let them rest for 1 minute on the cookie sheet. Then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack using a spatula. The cookies will be set and once cooled will be soft and chewy on the inside.
This is a white sugar cookie. They should not brown on the bottoms or edges. If they do start to darken, they have been cooked too long and may become dry. They should look just like the hot and fresh from the oven sugar cookies in the photo below. Let them cool for 30 minutes before topping them with the homemade icing.
Icing & Decorating Ingredients
Once the cookies are cooled, you can mix up a batch of the icing. The recipe used for these cookies is my EASY COOKIE ICING. It whisks together in minutes. This will be the sweet sticky base for adding all the colorful sweet decorations.
If you wish to add color to the coconut, add some of the shreds to a bowl. Squeeze in a few squeezes of gel food coloring and then mix. For these cookies, I used some yellow food coloring. I also left some coconut natural for a lovely pure white bunny rabbit look.
I also recommend colored sugar. You can buy it at most grocery stores and it is easy to shake and decorate. I am using pink and blue to accompany the yellow and white coconut. This will give me a few bright and fun colors that are ideal for a spring or Easter cookie celebration.
Get creative and use a variety of colors and textures. In the "variations" section below are some more topping ideas.
How to Decorate Cottontail Rabbit Cookies
The fun part of this recipe is decorating the bunny cut-out cookies into the cutest cottontail rabbit designs. Once you have all the ingredients ready and the icing made, it is time to start decorating. You may be using Easter colors like pastel pink and yellow. Or you may have a party with a theme that is using a different color like green or orange, any fun color is great for these rabbit cookies.
Begin by spooning on a bit of the icing and spreading it around the top of a cookie. Do not put on too much. You want a thin layer on the cookie and you do not want it to drip down the sides. You can wipe away any excess.
Next, add a mini marshmallow in the middle of the bottom section of the bunny shape. The icing should hold this in place while you continue decorating.
This is the messy but fun part. I like to hold the cookie over a plate so that all the excess falls and collects there versus on my counter or the other cookies. Once the marshmallow cottontail is in place, now comes the shredded coconut or sugar sprinkles.
Sprinkle the coconut or sugar over the rest of the bunny. Workaround the marshmallow and try and cover as much of the icing as possible. Tap off or gently brush off any excess sugar or coconut.
Place the cookie back on the wire rack. After 30 minutes, the icing will harden and the toppings will remain on the cookie. If you have any with just the icing, you will notice it is firm to the touch and a bit shiny. You can tip the decorated cookies over and everything will stay on!
Variations
This is made with a simple but delightful sugar cookie. You can use another recipe for the cookie base. In fact, cottontail rabbits are actually brown with a whitetail. So making them also with my CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD COOKIES would be amazing. This recipe has a mildly spiced flavor with a chocolatey finish that is to die for.
- Icing - You can also use frosting instead of icing. It will be softer and you will not be able to stack the cookies but it is still yummy.
- Coloring Icing - you can add gel food coloring to the icing recipe if you wish to have some without coconut or sprinkles. The icing sets hard and is shiny so it will be pretty even without some toppings.
- Sprinkles - you can use colored sprinkles along or in place of the coconut or sugar. Nonpareils will work best, they are the small round rainbow sprinkles also found in shakers at the store like the colored sugar.
- Marshmallows - you can use colored mini marshmallows for the bunny tails on these cookies. If you can find the pastel-colored ones that sometimes hit stores in the spring.
Equipment
This cookie recipe requires a few things to ensure it comes outright. Besides the bunny-shaped cookie cutters, you will need the hand mixer, baking sheets, and mixing bowls. The sugar, coconut, and icing ingredients are also important to make this holiday cookie. Here are some of my favorites and recommended items to make this recipe.
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Storage
Thanks to the amazing cookie icing that hardens, these Easter bunny cookies are easy to store. They are stackable and can go into an air-tight container for storing. These iced and decorated sugar cookies can be stored for up to 3 days on the counter.
These cookies also freeze well, before decorating. You can freeze the dough and use it later. You can also bake the cookies and freeze them to frost and enjoy them later. To freeze baked cookies, stack them between sheets of parchment paper in an air-tight container. Store the baked sugar cookies in the freezer for up to 30 days.
To defrost frozen cookies, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight. Once defrosted, you can add the icing and decorate. Enjoy within 2 days for the freshest cookie taste.
Other Holiday Cookie Recipes
If you love baking for the holidays, here are some other wonderful cookie recipes. They are great for any special day like Valentine's Day, Christmas, or Easter.
Cottontail Rabbit Cookies
Equipment
- hand mixer
- bunny cookie cutter
- Baking Sheets
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- mini marshmallows
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- gel food coloring
- colored sugar sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Once your butter and egg is room temperature you can begin mixing the cookie dough
- In the large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter with the sugar. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to combine the two ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl when done mixing.
- To the creamed mixture, add the egg and the vanilla. Using the hand mixer, combine all the ingredients for 30 seconds on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure all the wet ingredients are combined evenly.
- Once all the wet ingredients are combined it is time to add the dry ingredients. Add the baking powder and 1 cup of flour. Mix on low to medium speed for 30 seconds to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add another cup of flour. Mix again for 30 seconds. Repeat with the final cup of flour.
- Do NOT overmix the dough or it will get tough. The dough will be crumbly. I should resemble large grains of sand as seen above.Once the dough is done mixing, use your hands to gather about ¼ or ⅓ of the dough together. Your warm hands will help the butter continue to soften and bring the cookie dough together.
- This dough DOES NOT need to refrigerate. You can begin rolling, cutting, and baking right away.Roll into a large ball and flatten it on a lightly floured cutting board or your clean counter.
- Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough until it is ½" thick. Using the bunny-shaped cookie cutters, cut out shapes. Place each one on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or prepared with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. These cookies do not spread, nor do they brown. They will still be white when done cooking. If they are brown on the edge of the bottom they have been cooked too long - see image above.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for one minute after removing them from the oven. Then use a spatula to move them to a wire rack for cooling.
- Cool the cookies for 30 minutes on a wire rack.
- Make the Easy Cookie Icing. See link above. Add food coloring to coconut if you wish to have pink, yellow, or some other fun Easter color.
Decorating the Cookies
- Begin by spooning on a bit of the icing and spreading it around the top of a cookie. Next, add a mini marshmallow in the middle of the bottom section of the bunny shape.
- I like to hold the cookie over a plate so that all the excess falls and collect there versus on my counter or the other cookies. Once the marshmallow cottontail is in place, now comes the coconut or sugar.Sprinkle on the coconut or sugar over the rest of the bunny. Work around the marshmallow and try and cover as much of the icing as possible Tap off or gently brush off any excess sugar or coconut.
- Place the cookie back on the wire rack. After 30 minutes, the icing will harden and the toppings will remain on the cookie. You can tip them over and everything will stay on!
Notes
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 36 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 116 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 6.1g | 8% |
| Saturated Fat 4g | 20% |
| Cholesterol 18mg | 6% |
| Sodium 39mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrate 14.2g | 5% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.5g | 2% |
| Total Sugars 5.9g | |
| Protein 1.4g | |
| Vitamin D 4mcg | 20% |
| Calcium 16mg | 1% |
| Iron 1mg | 5% |
| Potassium 51mg | 1% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
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