Cuuuuuute, not too sweet, soft, & chewy bunny sugar cookies decorated with melted chocolate! 🙂

Bunny cookies on a piece of parchment paper over a wire rack

About these bunny cookies
Can you make these vegan?
Tips for baking and decorating
Storing the cookies

About these bunny cookies

It’s been a MINUTE since I’ve posted an animal bake that wasn’t a bear or frog!

I recently had a follower message me asking for a basic sugar cookie recipe, so I decided to make these handsome little fellows. They’re perfect for Lunar New Year 2023, since it is the year of the rabbit! Plus, they’re not too sweet, so the aunties and uncles will approve.

Depending on how long you bake them, you can either get super soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies, or cookies with a slight chew to them. For these, I opted for soft cookies, so I baked them just until the edges were set. If you want them chewier, bake them until the edges are a bit golden brown.

If you’re interested in other animal-shaped cookie recipes I have, check out these recipes!: Teddy Bear Chocolate Chip Cookies, Keroppi Matcha Sugar Cookies, Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, Soft, Less Sweet Ube Sugar Cookie Bears (Dairy-Free!), Pig-Shaped Snickerdoodles (Vegan), Cat-Shaped Black Cocoa Cookies (Vegan), and Chick-Shaped Lemon Cookies.

Multiple bunny sugar cookies laid out on a flat surface

Can you make these vegan?

Yes, you can!

Instead of regular butter, you can swap in high quality vegan butter made for baking. Make sure to use a good brand—some brands are very high in water content and melt at lower temperatures, yielding very flat cookies. I recommend brands like Miyokos and Country Crock.

You can also omit the egg. First, follow the recipe up until you add the flour, baking powder/soda, and salt. Slowly mix the dry ingredients in. If the dough seems too crumbly, add a tablespoon of alternative milk at a time (2-4 tbsp total), until the dough comes together. The finished dough should be thick, but scoopable.

Lastly, you can replace the chocolate for a vegan brand, like Pascha chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.

Tips for baking and decorating

Properly measure the flour

I always like to measure my ingredients with a kitchen scale for consistent, accurate results. But if you’re measuring with cups, make sure you follow this tip: gently spoon in the flour into the cup until it’s full, then scrape the excess off using the back of a knife or offset spatula.

If you scoop the cup directly into the flour bag or container, the flour may get compacted, and you will be adding in more flour than necessary. On the other hand, if your flour is clumpy, you could be adding in chunks of flour into the cup with gaps in between them, possibly adding less flour than required. These instances can cause tougher or even really flat cookies, since the proper ratio of dry:wet ingredients isn’t met.

So, for best results, use a scale. If you don’t have one, gently spoon and level the flour into your measuring cup!

Shaping the dough

For the bunnies, you’ll want to use a small cookie scoop, or gather about 1 ½ tbsp of dough. Shape it into a ball, roll it into granulated sugar, and place it onto your lined baking tray.

To make the ears, scoop about ¾ tsp of dough, shape it into a ball, and equally split it into two pieces. Then, shape each ball into ~1.25-inch thin logs, and place the ears on the top sides of the heads. Make sure the ears are a bit thin and have some space between each other so they don’t connect while baking. You can refer to my video as a reference! 🙂

Decorating with melted chocolate

You can use a piping bag, cookie scribe, or toothpick to add on the details.

For the white chocolate, you’ll want to use oil-based food coloring or the chocolate will seize up and become lumpy. However, if you don’t have oil-based food coloring, you can try mixing in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time! The chocolate should come back together. Maaagic.

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A post shared by Bianca Fernandez 🇵🇭 (@bitesbybianca)

Storing the cookies

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week!

I really hope you enjoy this recipe. If you make these bunny cookies, I’d love to see them. You can tag me at #bitesbybianca / @bitesbybianca on Instagram. Enjoy! 🙂

If you’re interested in other animal-shaped cookie recipes I have, check out these recipes!: Keroppi Matcha Sugar Cookies, Frog Matcha Sugar Cookies, Soft, Less Sweet Ube Sugar Cookie Bears (Dairy-Free!), Pig-Shaped Snickerdoodles (Vegan), Cat-Shaped Black Cocoa Cookies (Vegan), and Chick-Shaped Lemon Cookies.

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4.82 from 32 votes

Easy Bunny Sugar Cookies

Cuuuuuute, not too sweet, soft, & chewy bunny sugar cookies decorated with melted chocolate! 🙂

Course Dessert

Keyword animal cookie, bunny cookie, bunny sugar cookie, character cookie, character cookies, cookie, cookies, gourmet cookie, rabbit cookie, rabbit sugar cookie, sugar cookie, sugar cookies

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 11

Resting time 30

Total Time 1 1

Servings cookies

Author Bites by Bianca

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (180g)
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 stick butter/8 tbsp)
¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
¼ cup light or dark brown sugar (50g)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

For rolling:

2 tbsp granulated sugar (25g)

Decoration for face:

1 tbsp melted milk or dark chocolate
1 tbsp melted white chocolate
oil-based food coloring, see steps (pink)

Instructions

For the cookie dough:

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder baking soda, and salt.
In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (can alternatively use hand mixer or whisk), mix the butter and sugars on medium speed until combined. Scrape bottom of bowl. Add vanilla and egg and mix again.
Dump in all of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover the dough and let it rest in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. This will let the flour hydrate and let the butter cool, yielding chewier cookies. The dough will also be easier to work with. 🙂
Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a small bowl, add granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
Use small cookie dough scoop to gather dough (about 1 ½ tablespoon each). Shape into a ball and roll in granulated sugar. Place onto lined baking tray. This will be the bunny's head.
For the ears, take about ¾ tsp of dough, shape into ball, and equally split it into two. Roll the balls into about 1.25-inch logs, and place on the top sides of the heads. Make sure they are somewhat thin and spaced out, so they don't connect when baking. You can look at my video in this post as a reference.
Place bunnies about 3-4 inches apart.
Bake for 9-11 minutes. For soft cookies, bake them until the edges are set and firm. For chewier ones, bake slightly longer, until the edges are a light golden brown.
Let cool on pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack. Let cool completely.

For the bunny faces:

You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details.
Use melted milk chocolate to create the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Add oil-based pink food coloring to the melted white chocolate. If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again.
Use the pink chocolate for the ears and blush.
Enjoy!

Notes

Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
To make it vegan, swap in a high quality vegan butter and vegan chocolate (suggestions listed in this blog post). Omit the egg. Follow the recipe accordingly up until you add in the dries. If the dough seems crumbly, add in a tbsp of alternative milk (2-4 tbsp total) at a time until the dough comes together. It should be thick, but scoopable. In addition, you can use a vegan chocolate brand like Pascha Chocolate. OR, you can try out my easy icing recipe, which is found in my teddy bear cookie recipe.