Hip-hop hooray, bunnies on the way! Bake up these adorable vanilla cupcakes decorated with peanut butter cookies, candy and vanilla frosting.
Directions
- Spoon 3 tablespoons of the vanilla frosting into a freezer weight freezer bag, press out the excess air and seal the bag. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting bright green with the green and yellow food colouring. Spoon half of the green frosting into 2 freezer weight freezer bags press out the excess air and seal the bags.
- For the ears, cut 6 of the peanut butter cookies in half lengthwise with a serrated knife. Trim a ¼" from the bottom of one short end of each cut cookie (this will be the side that goes against the head cookie). For the heads, cut 6 cookies in half crosswise to make the heads using a serrated knife. For the bodies, make angled cuts with a serrated knife on one short end to the remaining 12 cookies.
- Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Arrange the cookies into 12 bunny shapes on the waxed paper.
- Spoon about ¼ cup of the candy melts into a freezer bag. Microwave the melts, massaging the bag every 5 seconds, until smooth. Seal the bag. Snip a small corner from the bag and pipe some of the melted candy where the cookies meet. Press together and refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
- Melt the remaining candy melts with any excess melted candy from the bag and the shortening in the microwave, stirring frequently until smooth, about 1 minute. Dip the set cookies, ear end down, into the melted candy and use a spoon to coat on both sides. Allow the excess to drip bag into the bowl. Make a small slit in the top of the cupcakes. Insert the tapered end of the bunny cookie, pressing into the cupcake to secure. Snip a small corner from the bags with the green and vanilla frosting. To make the grass, pipe the green frosting in a squeeze, stop and pull motion covering the top of the cupcake. Add the nonpareil candy as the tail and a few jelly beans in the green grass frosting. Pipe a small dot of vanilla frosting on either side of the head. Add a mini chip, flat side out, to make the eye. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.