Puff Pastry Bunnies with Bacon and Primula Cheese Filling

As Easter is just around the corner, this month for the Primula Blogger Club we were asked to create Easter recipes using Primula Cheese.  Now some of the ideas that were floating around for inspiration included chocolate cheesecakes, cupcakes with primula cheese frosting and even chocolate and cheese Easter nests. However, recently I'm more of a savoury girl so I decided to opt for these adorable little Easter Bunny pastries finished with a delicious bacon and Primula Cheese filling!

Ingredients and tools you will need:
- Puff Pastry (Pre-Packed or Home-Made)
- Primula (Original)
- Unsmoked Bacon
- Water (Tiny amount)
- Baking Tray (covered in tinfoil)
- Frying Pan
- Bunny Shaped Cookie Cutter
- Small Cookie Cutter (any shape)
- Spoon or Fork
- Knife

Step One:
Roll out your pastry to roughly 4-5mm thickness on a well floured surface or baking paper. Alternatively, you can buy ready made, ready rolled puff pastry from the supermarket which is what I did here. (Sorry for cheating)

Step Two:
Next, using your bunny cutter, you will need to cut shapes from your pastry ensuring you cut them as close to one another as possible to maximise the number of pasty bunnies.

Step Three:
Simply place each of the pastry bunnies onto the tinfoil lined baking tray read for the next step.

*Tip* You will need to ensure you have an even number of cut outs as each finished bunny will require 2. (i.e. 2 bunnies = 1 finished item)

Step Four:
From half of the bunnies you will need to use your small cutter to take a piece of pastry from the 'belly'. Try to get this as central as possible so your bunny does not completely break! For this you can use whichever shape you like - I used a star cutter however a circle would have worked just as well.

*Tip* If you would like more filling in each bunny - why not use a wider cutter? You could also cut a small amount from the centre of the 'head' as well as the 'belly'!

Step Six:
Back to the whole bunnies (the half you have not cut the centres from) you will need to use your water to lightly dampen the edges. This is so you can place the bunny with a hole in on top of the whole bunny and they will then stick together while cooking. Be careful not to wet this too much as you don't want completely soggy pastry!

Step Seven:
As mentioned in the previous step, 'stick' the bunnies with a hole in directly on top of the whole bunnies. Once cooked and risen, this layering effect will ensure there is a section for you to place some filling.

Step Eight:
Place the pastry bunny shapes into the oven and cook at 200°C for roughly 20 minutes or until golden brown depending on your oven.

Step Nine:
Fry the bacon and remove all of the fat. You will then need to slice this as finely as possible and leave it to cool.

*Tip* Do not open the oven door if possible as this can prevent the puff pastry from rising effectively. Once your pastry starts to turn a golden brown colour - remove from the oven.

Step Ten:
Once the pastry bunnies have cooked through and have cooled slightly - gently pat down the 'bellies' to ensure maximum room for filling. These will then need leaving to cool further.

Step Eleven:
Using your fried bacon and your Primula Original, make a filling for the centre of your pastry bunnies. You can use as much or as little cheese/bacon for this. Personally, I think the cheesier the better! This will just need mixing thoroughly!

 Step Twelve:
Once the bunnies have cooled, add a generous amount of the filling mixture to each of the holes in the pastry bunnies. You may need to pat this down gently with your fork/spoon/finger to ensure it has reached the bottom.

There we have it! Adorable little bunny shaped pastries stuffed with a bacon and Primula Cheese filling - perfect for Easter!

I absolutely loved making these and I think they make a real statement! Perfect for kids parties or a fun little treat for any time!

The best thing about this recipe? You can change it up however you want! Primula Cheese with Chive your favourite? Use that for your filling instead! Wanting a lighter option? Why not use Primula Light and add some finely chopped onion for a bit of flavour!

Information regarding all Primula products mentioned in this post, such as nutritional information can be found at the following link as usual:
Primula Cheese - http://primula.co.uk/our-range/

Primula is the perfect fridge staple and perfect for putting into a recipe to create something amazing! There are more recipes available for you to try over on the Primula website. If you don't fancy creating a full recipe with Primula, they are just as delicious squeezed on a crumpet - very english!

Real Cheese, Real Character

If you liked this post, you may also like - Light Meal With Primula 

Disclaimer: This post is/was in collaboration with Primula and the Primula Blogger Programme who kindly sent me Primula Products from the range to create this post with! This post is a sponsored post through said Primula Blogger Programme, however, all opinions are my own. Any questions - please feel free to ask either below or by email/Twitter.