easter bunny breakfast roll

This is not at all what I meant to write today!

You see, bunny breakfast rolls weren’t my initial plan for this Easter article.
I thought I was going to create a list with lots of Easter ideas. Things to eat, things to decorate, things to DIY… But then I typed Easter food into Google and soooooo many things popped up. All those pages offered 25 easy Easter treats here or 40 simple Easter recipes there. I felt overwhelmed reading it, let alone compelled to chime in.
Two of the top links in that list were even from the same page, one post from last year and one post from this year. Both offered 25-30 recipes and ideas. Which is lovely, right? Inspiration is a good thing. I love looking at inspiring content and getting ideas. Except in this moment I felt mainly tired and exhausted by the thought of learning new tricks and crafting fancy treats. That’s possibly the cold speaking, that I have been battling for a week and a half now. But anyway. In any case I wasn’t inspired. I was mainly overwhelmed.

back to (much loved) basics in your kitchen

Why do we try and re-invent the wheel every year? I say this with curiosity more than anything else. Of course occasionally we want something new and exciting rather than ‘same old same old’. But the sheer volume of possibilities that is presented to us, adds to our overwhelm, don’t you think? There is simply too much information. Everywhere!

It doesn’t always have to get bigger, better and more exciting. I think there is comfort in the traditions that you create as a family. (Am I showing my age here, haha?) It can feel like there is an expectation of doing something different every time, rather than falling back on much loved basics, that make your life easier and meal times or celebrations more joyful. I used to pick new things to make all the time, often too many. At the very least I ended up being stressed. At worst, I looked back on hours spent making something that didn’t come close to what I wanted the result to be (cue disappointment and expectation hangover).

Holidays can induce quite a bit of anxiety and overwhelm. Expectations end in disappointment if they can’t be achieved. Granted, at Christmas more so than Easter, but still. If I look at all these suggestions from magazines and websites, it’s easy to believe that Easter is a failure if it doesn’t involve four layer cakes, intricate biscuits, or decadent chocolate creations. They are all fabulous, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t have the capacity for it right now.

what fits in your capsule kitchen right now?

When you think about your capsule kitchen and the recipes that are part of it, it’s important to keep in mind what is achievable for you right now. So you feel happy and capable, not overwhelmed and exhausted.

That’s why I’ve decided to scale it back. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love (or would like to eat) those exciting suggestions. It means that I’m getting clear on what I can do in this phase of my life and letting go of (often my own) expectations.

The simple Easter tradition that’s part of my capsule kitchen at the moment, is baking a zopf for breakfast.

how to make bunny bread rolls

This year, instead of making a large loaf, I took inspiration from Finn’s wonderful playgroup teacher. The kids formed bunnies out of dough and decorated them with raisins for eyes and pumpkin seeds for whiskers. Too cute.

You can find the zopf recipe here.

Divide the dough into 8 equal parts.
Form rolls and twist them so they form a bunny belly, head and ears.
Be mindful that they will expand in the oven.
Bake for about 15-20 mins, until browned to your liking.

For our bunny breakfast bread rolls at home I kept it simple and didn’t decorate them (read: I had run out of raisins and was too lazy to go and get some). I quite like it this way, that’s the minimalist in me I suppose :). They will taste good with sweet or savoury toppings. You can even slice them in half, fill them sandwich style and take them with you to a picnic!

There: same recipe, new form, lovely idea. A basket full of bunny bread rolls on the table will change it up from the usual Zopf but keeps the family tradition alive at the same time.

what’s your Easter recipe?

Do you have a recipe that you make every year? I encourage you to keep making what you love. Maybe you can give it a little twist (hah – literally!) like this if you’re after a change, but keep it your own at the same time. Make muffins with your cake recipe, make a slice version of your muffin recipe… something like that.
The key is to leave the distractions and pick one thing that makes Easter for you. It takes the pressure off. One thing that is important to you and that will be part of your capsule kitchen. Something that you want to pass on to your kids. Keep it simple :).

If you’re not sure yet what your thing is and want to bake, these Cardamom Hot Cross Buns have been making me pretty happy in the lead up to Easter.