12 Days of Christmas (the cooking version!)

You know the song.
Now, sing along, with Santa's favorite reindog!

Ahem!

Are we in tune?

Okay, let's GO!

On the first day of Christmas, my sous chef gave to me ...
a new fridge and a pear brie

On the second day of Christmas, my sous chef gave to me ...
two oven gloves,
and a new fridge and a pear brie

On the third day of Christmas, my sous chef gave to me ...
three French breads,
two oven gloves,
and a new fridge and a pear brie

Aw, don't make me type out the rest. Let's skip to the end!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my sous chef gave to me ...

Twelve tasters yumming
Eleven icers piping
Ten timers beeping
Nine onions mincing
Eight meads for drinking
Seven wines a-mulling
Six pizzas baking
Five bold hot wings
Four lemon curds
Three French breads
Two oven gloves
and a new fridge and a pear brie!

And that means there's enough fridges to store all the leftovers!

Cheers!

Cranberry Jam

Cranberry sauce is fine as a side dish on Thanksgiving, but cranberry JAM is amazing on toast, English muffins, or stirred into yogurt.

Try it on that English muffin with a little smear of cream cheese. Spread it on the bread for a turkey sandwich.

Or how about on quesadilla? Yeah, that's good too! Or as a filling for jam thumbprint cookies.

Cranberry season is fleeting, but I'll bet you can find them on sale now, fresh, and maybe even a better deal frozen.

Speaking of frozen, you might want to toss some in the freezer so you can make this any time. It's so simple and soooo good. You don't even need pectin to make this!

I like mine more tart than sweet, but you can certainly add more sugar, if you like. And you can also experiment with flavors. Or add other fruits, like apples, pears, strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries. Have fun with it!

Cranberry Jam
Makes about 2  1/2 pints

Why yes, that IS a lot of cranberries!

3 pounds cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt.

Put everything in a saucepan. Heat, stirring as needed until the cranberries pop and the mixture boils and becomes thick. It doesn't take a long time, so don't wander away from it. Give it a taste and add more sugar if it's too tart for you. Stir to combine and taste again.

Use a stick blender to blend the mix smooth. Or, transfer to a blender.

Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds and any unblended skins.

Transfer the mixture to containers for storage, and refrigerate. Note that this is NOT a canning recipe - I have no idea if it would be safe. I'm also not sure how long it lasts, since I somehow manage to use it all before it goes bad.

Want more flavor? I like this as-is, but you can certainly add more flavor, like vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon, ginger, cinnamon, chipotle, basil, or pretty much any flavor you think will be compatible.

The Ultimate Cheesecake for Fall with Pumpkin Spice, Maple, and Pecans

So, every once in a while, the nice folks at General Mills Cereal send me a little care package. Recently, the package contained exactly one thing: a box of Pumpkin Spice Cheerios.

I've said many times that Cheerios have been my favorite cereal since I was a kid. Chex are a close second, but if you offered me a bowl and some milk and told me to choose a cereal from every possible option, I'd choose Cheerios every time.

Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, though?

The first thing I thought of when I saw the box was cheesecake. I happen to love pumpkin cheesecake, and I thought the Cheerios would be perfect as a crust. And once I got the idea into my head, I absolutely had to do it.

Of course, pumpkin reminds me of fall, and once I had those ideas in my head, my imagination went a little wild. What could I flavor the cheesecake with?

Hmmmm. 

How about a little maple? And then I started thinking about pecan pie ... I thought about adding pecans to the crust, but then decided to top the cheesecake with a little dulce de leche and chopped pecans.

This cheesecake is like all of fall's desserts wrapped into one tiny little dessert.

And I mean small. Very small. Not quite a single serving, but small enough that it only uses one single 8-ounce package of cream cheese.

This recipe is inspired by the pressure cooker cheesecake in The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book. If you have a pressure cooker - either electric or stovetop - you should get that book. It's amazing!

Tastes Like Fall Cheesecake
With Pumpkin Spice, Maple, and Pecans

1 cup Pumpkin Spice Cheerios (These are seasonal - use another type if you can't get them.)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 8-ounce package cream cheese (not lowfat or fat-free)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg at room temperature
2 tablespoons creme fraiche* (or sour cream)
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
Dulce de leche, for garnish (optional), as needed
Chopped pecans, for garnish (optional) as needed

Set a rack into your electric pressure cooker (I used my Instant Pot) and add 2 cups of water. Have a 6-inch springform pan standing by.

Note: I have what appears to be a 5(ish) inch springform pan, which is pretty unusual. I suggest using a 6-inch springform pan for this recipe, if you have one. Your cheesecake will a little wider and a little less tall than mine, but that's fine. Mine overflowed the pan just a little bit, but you should be fine with a normal 6-inch pan.

Use your food processor fitted with the steel blade to turn the Cheerios into tiny bits and crumbs. If you have a food processor with multiple bowls, use the small bowl so you don't have to wash the bowl after. Add the butter and process until the Cheerio bits are all wet. You can also mix by hand.

Add the crumb mixture to the springform pan. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and a little but up the sides.

Put the cream cheese and sugar in your food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until smooth. Wipe down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well mixed.

With the processor running, add the egg and process until smooth. Next, add the creme fraiche, then the flour. Process for 1 minute.

Add the lemon juice, and vanilla, and maple extract and process again until it's combined. Scrape down the bowl as needed to make sure it's all well-mixed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Don't cover it. I know you want to, but don't.

Fold a double-thickness of foil (about 24 inches long) in half lengthwise. Use this to form a sling that will hold the pan and allow you to lower it into the pressure cooker and to remove it when the cooking is done. Lower the pan into the pressure cooker and crimp the ends of the sling to fit neatly inside the pot.

Note: my metal rack has handles, so I didn't make the sling. I've used a metal sling before, and it's pretty handy.

Lock the lid on the pressure cooker.

In an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker: Cook at high pressure for 20 minutes. When the time is up, turn cooker off so it doesn't switch to the warming setting and let it reduce pressure naturally. After 15 minutes, vent any remaining pressure manually. (I haven't made this in a stovetop pressure cooker, so I don't know the timing for that.)

Unlock the pot and carefully remove the pan.

Let the cheesecake cool until you see that it has stopped deflating. It only takes a few minutes. Dollop small amounts of dulce de leche over the top of the cheesecake. Use as much dulce de leche as you like. I love the stuff, but I didn't want it to overwhelm the cheesecake. Let the dollops sit for a minute or so to warm up and soften, then spread the dulce de leche over the top of the cheesecake. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top of the cheesecake.

Let the cheesecake cool for 1 hour on a rack, then refrigerate it overnight before removing it from the pan to serve. To make it easier to loosen the ring, run a thin knife around the inside edge of the pan before opening the lock..

*Creme fraiche can be expensive, if you buy it. I make my own. Instructions are here to make it in and Instant Pot. Here's how to make it the old-fashioned way.

Thanks to General Mills for sending me fun products to work with! I was not obligated to write about this, or even eat it. But I just had to. Because ... cheesecake!

Bourbon-Lime Fajitas - and a cocktail to match!

The Kentucky Derby is approaching, which means bourbon is the liquor of choice for those who like tradition. Of course, there are also foods that are typical, but I decided to something ... less traditional.

I suppose I could have made a Kentucky Hot Brown ... but I was in the mood for fajitas. And bourbon marinated beef sounded awfully good. I used Four Roses Bourbon, which was provided by this post's sponsor.

The longer you marinate, the more flavor the meat will soak up.

Meanwhile, the cocktail has the same flavors, which makes them the perfect pair. Or, you know, make one or the other.

Ginger beer is getting easier to find these days, so use it if you can find it. It's similar to ginger ale, but with a sharper, more ginger-forward flavor. A more adult soda, perhaps. If you can't find ginger beer, of course you can use your favorite ginger ale.

Bourbon-Lime Fajitas

1 pound skirt steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Four Roses Bourbon
1 tablespoon lime juice
Salt, to taste
2 cups mixed sliced bell peppers and onions
Flour tortillas
Sour cream, yogurt, or crema
Sliced avocado

Combine the steak, olive oil, bourbon, lime juice, and salt in a zip-top bag. Massage the bag a bit to get the meat evenly coated. Let the meat sit at room temperature for an hour, or refrigerate up to 24 hours before cooking.

When you're ready to cook, heat a grill pan or cast iron pan on medium-high heat. Cook the skirt steak until done to your liking. Set aside to rest before slicing.

Meanwhile, cook the peppers and onions - you can cook in the same pan - until done to your liking - they're fine cooked crisp-tender, or until they're cooked through.

Serve the fajita ingredients separately, so people can assemble their own. Or serve the fajitas assembled on flour tortillas with meat, peppers and onions, sliced avocado, and a small dollop of sour cream.

Bourbon, Lime and Ginger Cocktail

1 ounce Four Roses Bourbon
1/2 ounce lime juice
Ginger beer, as needed
Mint sprig, to garnish

Fill a glass or mug with ice. Add the bourbon and lime juice. Fill the glass with ginger beer and garnish with a spring of fresh mint.

Thanks to Four Roses Bourbon for sponsoring this post.

Reuben Cabbage Rolls

For me, one of the best things about St. Patrick's Day is the leftovers. I love a good corned beef sandwich on rye with some grainy mustard. Or better yet, a reuben sandwich.

But when I was a kid, St. Patrick's Day also meant that mom was likely to make her stuffed cabbage rolls, otherwise known as golumbki. It had nothing to do with the holiday and everything to do with the fact that bigger cabbages were available at the stores at that time.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before - but why not combine the two - why not make cabbage rolls that taste like reuben sandwiches?

Once I had the idea stuck in my head, I couldn't get rid of it. I fiddled around with a few different ideas before I settled on one that thought made the most sense.

Like any recipe of this type, you can certainly change amounts and proportions to suit your own taste.

Reuben Cabbage Rolls

3 cups chopped or shredded cooked corned beef
1 pound sauerkraut, drained
8 ounces swiss cheese, grated (divided)
8 large cabbage leaves*
 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
Salt and pepper, to taste.
Rye bread, cut into small croutons and toasted in butter
Thousand Island dressing, for serving

*The easiest way to harvest the cabbage leaves is to steam a whole cabbage. The outer leaves will begin to cook and soften, making them easier to peel off and also makes it easier to make the rolls. Peel off as many leaves as you'll need, then peel off any leaves that are cooked, stopping when you reach a point where the rest of the cabbage is uncooked. Set that aside for other uses.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour. Cook for a minute or two, then add the milk. Bring to a boil and let ti cook for another minute to thicken. Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the cheese in hand fulls, stirring to melt the cheese into the sauce after each addition. Turn the heat off. Taste and add salt and pepper, as desired. Set aside.

Combine the corned beef, sauerkraut, and 4 ounces of swiss cheese in a bowl. Stir to combine.

One at a time, put a scoop of the corned beef mixture onto a cabbage leaf and roll up to make a neat package.

Cut up any additional par-cooked cabbage leaves into a medium dice and place them in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place the finished cabbage rolls on top. Pour the cheese sauce over the top of the cabbage rolls.

Set the slow cooker to high and cook for 2 hours or until the mixture is bubbling, the inside of the rolls are hot.

Serve the cabbage rolls topped with rye croutons, with Thousand Island dressing on the side.

Santa Head Bread

I've been fiddling around with a Santa-head shaped bread for quite a while. I like sculpted loaves. They're fun to make, and part of the fun is how oddly unpredictable they can be.

For example, the bunny bread I made involved a lot of different versions before the bunny looked like a bunny and not a gargoyle.

Santa-head-bread is a totally different story. I've made it a number of times, but I've never had an instance when Santa looked like Satan. He always always always looked like a jolly bearded elf. Sometimes he was a little fatter. Other times he was a little less puffy. Sometimes his nose was bigger or his beard was smaller.

And over time, I've messed around with the details a lot. Different beard decorations, flour dusting, egg washing. And they all looked good. This time, I opted for minimal embellishment, with just some scissors snips to add texture to his beard and the furry band and ball on his hat.

Of course, Santa was made using my favorite yeast from Red Star, the active dry yeast. Red Star Yeast sponsored this post, but it really is the brand I always use. I buy active dry yeast in 2-pound bags and keep most of it in my freezer and a small jar in my refrigerator where it's ready to be used. And yes, I use enough of it that it makes sense for me to buy that much!

If that seems like a lot of yeast, keep in mind that I also sometimes use instant yeast, Platinum yeast, or my home-grown sourdough. Yeah, it's pretty yeasty around here.

If you have your own favorite dough, you can use that to make Santa, but it should be a dough that behaves itself. It should be firm enough so that it doesn't slouch and spread, and it should be tame enough so it doesn't rise too quickly and ruin the design you create. You want it to rise, of course. But you don't want it to rise out of control or you might find Santa's nose rolling down his beard.

Santa Head Bread

1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star Active Dry Yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
3 3/4 cups (14 5/8 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix slowly until the dough comes together, then increase the speed and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Cover the bowl and set aside until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Divide it into 4 roughly equal pieces.

Grab one piece and cut off enough to make a 1-inch ball of dough for Santa's nose. Form the larger portion into a flat oval about 4 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches long. You can just eyeball it, or even make it a circle. Place the large oval in the center of the baking sheet and position the nose in the center of the oval.

Take the second piece of dough and form it into a long triangle to create the hat. The base should be as wide as Santa's face, and it should be long enough to fold the tip over jauntily. Place the hat on Santa's face, just above the nose. This Santa is a little sleepy and the hat covers his eyes.

Take the third piece and form a beard for Santa and add it to the face you've been building.

Take the last piece and divide it into three roughly equal pieces. Form the first piece into a flat band as wide as Santa's head this will be the furry hat band. Place it on the bottom of the hat and just above Santa's nose.

Take the second piece and form it into your preferred moustache shape and place it right below Santa's nose. Adjust it so it looks the way you like it.

Take the third piece and form a ball and add it to the end of Santa's hat.

Cover dough and set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Tip: Use another sheet pan of the same size as a "cover" for the pan holding the dough.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the dough has risen for 30 minutes, uncover it.

If needed, adjust the nose, hat band, moustache as desired.

Take a small, sharp pair of scissors and make snips in the dough of the hatband and hat ball to create texture. The more perpendicular to the surface the scissors are as you snip, the shorter the spikes of dough will be. I made very small spikes on the ball and slightly longer spikes on the band.

A similar technique is used on the beard. But first, I made some snips all the way through the dough around the edges. Then I held the scissors nearly parallel to the dough to make long, thin beard strands.

If you like, you can brush parts of the dough with egg wash to make them shiny, or you can dust parts of the dough with flour.

When you're done decorating, bake Santa at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, until the dough is nicely browned.

Remove the pan from the oven, slide Santa, still on the parchment, onto a rack to cool. When it's cool enough to handle, remove the bread from the parchment and allow it to cool completely.

And, no, it's not too cute to eat. Get out a knife and slice it up!

Thanks to Red Star Yeast for sponsoring this post and particularly for being so willing to answer my questions about yeast!

For more yeasty information, you can follow Red Star on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Google Plus.

Self-Crusting Pumpkin Pie

The latest book to reach my hands from my Cook My Book group was The Los Angeles Times California Cookbook. Originally published in 1981, the book has a nostalgic feel, and the pumpkin pie recipe is no exception.

Based on the "Impossible" pies made famous by Bisquick, this pumpkin pie is a little lighter, creamier, and fluffier than the typical super-dense pumpkin pie.

I have a few cracks and wrinkles on top of the pie, so it wasn't the prettiest thing in the world - but let's face it, once it's sliced, no one will know - particularly if you serve it with whipped cream. And, your pie might be prettier, since I live at high altitude and baking results can be different from what you'd get closer to sea level.

While the recipe claimed that this pie made its own crust, don't be looking for something as thick as a typical crust. But, amazingly, it was enough crust to keep the slices of pie together. While I love flaky pastry crust, I thought this was a nice departure from the usual.

Impossible Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from The Los Angeles Times California Cookbook

1 1/3 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter, softened
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Bisquick
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9" pie pan with baking spray or oil. Or butter the pan.

Combine all of the pie ingredients in a blender an blend until well-mixed and smooth.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted halfway between the edge and center of the pie comes out clean.

Remove the pie from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack until it's room temperature, then refrigerate until fully chilled.

Spiralized Spooky Purple Sweet Potatoes

Soooo ... I got a box of vegetables from my friends at Frieda's Specialty Produce to have some fun with, and the one thing I'd been thinking about when I found out what was coming was the purple sweet potatoes.

They're delicious and so ... purple. 

My first effort didn't work exactly as I planned, but I was determined to spiralize those potatoes and use them for something. Because I thought they'd look crazy fun.

For my second effort, I decided to do something simple, and even more important, I wanted to make sure they wouldn't fall apart. Not everything you spiralize will turn into noodles, people. It's not magic, it's just a different way of cutting.

As a side note, I used the new Kitchenaid spiralizer attachment. Which I did not get for free, so this is not a sponsored post for them. But I have to tell you about it! It's really cool! It works like the hand-crank spiralizer, but you don't have to crank, and it's mostly metal, so it's super-sturdy.

It has two slicing blades - the same thickness, but different-sized cores. And then two spiralize blades for different thicknesses of the cuts. I've only used the smaller one so far. And it also has a peeler attachment, so you could use it to peel things. It worked really well to peel and slice apples all at once.

So anyway, this was super-simple, but fun. The result is tasty. And ... depending on how you serve them, this could be spooky or not. Call them curly shoestring purple sweet potato fries and they're not scary at all. Call them something ... scary ... and they'd fit very appropriately on a Halloween table.

I mean, imagine a nest of these potatoes with a pair of eyes (radish slice for the whites an olive half for the pupil) in the middle. Right? Right? Or arrange the spiraly potato pieces around a meatball to make a spider. Or ... I'm sure you can think of plenty of other things.

Spiralized Spooky Purple Sweet Potatoes

Purple sweet potato(es), as needed
Olive oil, just enough to coat the potatoes
Salt, to taste

Heat the oven to 375 degrees while you prep your potato(es). The oven temperature can be flexible if you've got something else in the oven that requires a precise temperature - like if you're baking a cake or a pie.

Peel and spiralize the potato using whatever spiralizer gadget you have.

Place the spiralized potatoes on a baking sheet in a somewhat even arrangement. You can line the baking sheet with a silicone baking mat for easier cleanup if you like. A few bits of potato might stick, but it's not a dealbreaker if you don't use the mat.

Drizzle olive oil on the potatoes. You need enough to coat them, but you needn't get carried away. Add a sprinkle of salt. Add pepper, too, if you like, or other seasonings.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through, stirring once or twice during the cooking time to rearrange them to make sure they cook evenly. The ones at the edges of the pan will cook faster, or if you've got some super-tight spiral or they're piled on top of each other, they'll take a little longer. It's fine if some bits get a little crisp. I actually like the crisp edges and bits, but watch to make sure they don't completely dry out or they're a little tough on the teeth!

Serve hot or at room temperature.

I loved the purple sweet potatoes cooked this way, but decided to add more color to the plate - I added a kohlrabi and a yellow beet to another batch cooked the same way.

It was an interesting mix and really good!

Rum Citrus Punch - Make some for your next picnic or barbecue!

I love tart flavors. Even as a kid, I was a fiend for pickles and vinegar & oil salad dressings, and pies filled with sour cherries. Sure, I liked sweet, too, but I was more likely to grab a dill pickle to snack on than to go looking for cookies.

I still have that love for tart foods. A quick look in the refrigerator will confirm that we might have a slight pickle problem.

Recently, when I was thinking about making a jug of punch, I ignored the pink-and-sweet-and-fruity versions and settled on a refreshing citrus punch that would work just as well for a barbecue or for a brunch.

This starts out with one of my favorite combos - Captain Morgan Grapefruit Rum mixed with orange-pineapple-banana juice.

I've tried all three of the new Captain Morgan rums - pineapple, grapefruit, and coconut, and I have to admit that I'm particularly enamored with the grapefruit. Which is sort of strange, because I'm not a huge fan of plain old grapefruit. But here's the thing - the rum has the flavor of grapefruit without the bitterness that sometimes comes along for the ride.

And, well, it tastes like rum. So that's a plus.

When I was brainstorming my punch, I knew that rum and juice wasn't quite enough to write about. (But give it a try, if you have a chance!) So I got into the kitchen and mixed up a big old jug of citrus and fruit punch.

Speaking of jugs, an iced tea dispenser jug is perfect for punch, particularly if you're serving outdoors. You can seal the top, so you won't get flying critters nose-diving into a punch bowl, and you can set the thing in a cooler or bucket of ice to keep it chilled when it's not in use.

Even better, many of them have a top handle, which makes it easy to carry, and it dispenses from the bottom, so you don't have to tip a large container to pour.

If you're hosting indoors a pitcher is a good choice for the serving area - you can keep extra punch in the refrigerator to refill the pitcher as needed, so there's no need to dilute the mix with ice.

If you mix the punch in advance, stir it again before you start serving - some of the fruit pulp tends to settle to the bottom.

But note! If your party includes kids or non-drinkers, you might want to be very explicit about labeling the container and keeping it out of reach of the younger ones. Or you can leave the alcohol out of the mix, and let folks add their own to each glass.

Rum Citrus Punch
Makes at least a dozen generous servings

1 12-ounce can frozen orange-pineapple-banana juice concentrate
1 12-ounce can frozen orange-peach-mango juice concentrate
9 cups water (to dilute the concentrate per recipe instructions)
1/4 cup yuzu* juice
1 cup Captain Morgan Grapefruit Rum
Frozen or fresh fruit, to garnish
Bitters, optional (cherry bitters would be nice!)

Combine the frozen concentrates, water, yuzu juice, and rum in a large pitcher, punch bowl, or ice tea dispenser.

Stir until the frozen concentrates are melted and mixed in.

Fill each glass with ice at serving time. Add a dash of bitters (if you're using it), then add the punch.

Garnish with fresh or frozen fruit, as desired. In this case I used peaches. Note that if you use frozen fruit, it will help to keep the drinks chilled without diluting them.

*Yuzu is a Japanese citrus that I'm rather fond of. You can buy the bottled juice online if you can't find it elsewhere. Or substitute lime juice - the flavor isn't the same, but it will give you another flavor that isn't already in the mix.

The nice folks at Captain Morgan sponsored this post.

Bunny Buns

Not quite what I was looking for. But amusing. They look like snails, right?

You know those cute little bunny buns that are all over Pinterest? And then everyone makes them and they look like little rabid demon buns?

Yeah, I decided to make them.

The original recipe is for steamed buns, which is why people who are baking traditional buns tend to have problems with the recipe.

The ears are usually the issue.

I mean, there's not much more to them than an oval ball with bunny ears.

Almost, but not quite.

But of course, bread is elastic and it doesn't always behave the way you want it to. It expands, of course. but smaller parts, like the cut ears, can move or shrink during baking. And then the bunnies look all wrong.

The first few times I made the buns, I had the same sorts of problems.

Then I thought, gee, I'll bet this would work better if I let the buns rise overnight in the refrigerator.

That's part of the premise of my book, Make Ahead Bread - you make the dough and shape it one day, and bake it another day.

Besides being more convenient, bread that has a long, slow rise has more flavor. But the other thing is that it changes the way the dough rises, and it also affects the oven spring.

Hello, bunnies! The final version was a success!

I thought it might be the answer to the bunny-ear issue. And I was correct.

I was much happier with the results when the dough had its chilly rest. It's still not a slam-dunk that every bunny will be 100 percent great - it's still bread, so it's still a little unpredictable. But this method certainly gave me bunnies instead of demon critters.

It takes a little practice to figure out how long to make the ears and how deep to cut them. So if these buns are on your agenda, you might want to practice just a little bit before you make them for a special occasion.

Bunny Buns

Bun-buns! 

1 cup room temperature water
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups (9 ounces) bread flour
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semolina flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Cover the bowl and set aside until the dough is doubled in size, about an hour.

Dust your work surface with flour and sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal or line with parchment paper. Turn out the dough, divide it into 12 pieces, and form each piece into an oval or egg-shape. Arrange the finished pieces on the baking sheet.

If you have another baking sheet the same size, you can use that as a lid for the pan. Secure it with rubber bands to keep it in place. Otherwise, cover the pan with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate the dough overnight, or up to 24 hours.

Remove the pan from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 degrees - I like to let the buns sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while the oven heats.

Right before you're ready to bake, use a small sharp pair of scissors to cut two long bunny ears on each bun. Fold the tips over so the ears are more rounded on the top rather than pointy.

The ears are likely to shrink during baking, so pull them to make them longer. Seriously longer. Make them longer than you think you need.

Use a skewer to poke holes in the dough for the eyes. Don't be shy - poke deep. The holes will tend to close up, so a bigger, deeper hole is better than a shy little poke.

Bake the buns at 325 degrees until nicely browned, about 30 minutes.

Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool on a rack.

If you want to give them a little more character, you can use food-safe pens (you can buy them at craft stores and some supermarkets) to enhance the eyes or draw in a mouth. I didn't bother - I thought they were fine as-is.