Soft & Fluffy Cheese Buns

Soft, moist, and super tasty: the baked cheese buns made of yeast dough are the favorite of all children - and many adults!

Taste and Occasion

Recipe Recommendation

Classic Gugelhupf (German Bundt Cake Recipe)

An extremely popular German classic made with stirred yeast dough. Grandma's easy Gugelhupf with almonds and raisins turns out wonderfully fluffy and moist!

Check out this recipe!

You can find them on every corner nowadays, but making cheese buns yourself is much better than just buying them. Reason 1: Since you only need standard baking ingredients, you can eat them practically at any time of day or night 😉 . Reason 2: You know exactly what's in it. And what's not.

Ingredients

For delicious cheese buns like those from the bakery (or bakery store), you definitely don't need emulsifiers, thickeners, inverted sugar syrup, or the like that are often used there. Instead: a straightforward yeast dough and some cheese. Done. I have tested several alternatives to present the best recipe for soft cheese buns. Especially fast, you can use dry yeast. Fresh yeast and overnight dough proofing are better if you have more time. The goal was super fluffy, moist cheese buns that, unlike regular breakfast rolls, shouldn't be crusty or too airy. On top is a lot of melted cheese - which may well run down the sides.

The recipe is not just only buns topped with cheese. What you could actually do with any (ready) bun. No, the cheese is additionally in the dough. The melted cheese topping results in the buns remaining moist after baking. Nevertheless, as it is typical for yeast pastries, you should eat the soft, fluffy cheese buns as fresh as possible. Which should not be a problem 😉.

How to make the Cheese Buns

Let's start by putting all ingredients for the dough in a large bowl and kneading with a food processor for a few minutes until smooth. Now, cover – preferably with plastic wrap – and let rise in a warm place for at least 45 minutes. Then, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 8-10 portions. Either form into balls and flatten them very slightly, or fold the sides of the dough balls inward to the bottom and, with the hollow of your hand, grind rolls round and tight over the dough ball.

After that, place rolls, spaced apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise again, covered, for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 360°F/180°C and whisk egg yolk and milk. Brush the rolls very carefully with the mixture and sprinkle with cheese. In the end, bake the rolls for about 15 minutes until golden brown. They taste best quite fresh but can also be frozen well.

Top Tip

You can use grated cheese or slices to top the rolls with cheese. Unfortunately, the latter looked a little weird on me. But it certainly hits the cheese type and consistency. In my experience, children like Gouda or butter cheese are best for soft cheese buns, similar to those from the bakery. The whole thing becomes heartier with mountain cheese, for example.

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Cheese Buns

These cheese-topped rolls turn out deliciously soft and fluffy. Better than from the bakery!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Baking Time15 minutes mins

Waiting Time1 hour hr

Servings: 10 buns

Calories: 263kcal

Ingredients

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For the dough

• 400 grams (3 ⅕ cups) all-purpose flour, preferably type 550
• 1 sachet dry yeast, 7g
• ¼ teaspoon (⅓ teaspoon) sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 100 milliliters (7 tablespoons) milk, lukewarm
• 120 milliliters (8 tablespoons) water, lukewarm, coarse indication
• 40 grams (3 tablespoons) butter, lukewarm
• 100 grams (1 cups) grated cheese

To finish

• 1 egg yolk, small
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 80 grams (¾ cups) grated cheese, coarse

Instructions

• Put all ingredients for the dough in a large bowl and knead with a food processor for a few minutes until smooth. Cover (preferably with plastic wrap) and let rise in a warm place for at least 45 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 8-10 portions. Either form into balls and flatten them very slightly, or fold the sides of the dough balls inward to the bottom and, with the hollow of your hand, grind rolls round and tight over the dough ball.
• Place rolls, spaced apart, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise again, covered, for about 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C. Whisk egg yolk and milk. Brush the rolls very carefully with the mixture and sprinkle with cheese.
• Bake the rolls for about 15 minutes until golden brown. They taste best quite fresh but can also be frozen well.

Notes

• The rolls taste even better with a longer rising time and a smaller amount of yeast (about 4g).
• First, let the dough rise covered in a warm place for 45 minutes as directed for overnight proofing. Then place in the refrigerator overnight and allow to come to room temperature for another 1 hour in the morning. Continue as described in the recipe, i.e. form rolls, etc.
• Suitable cheeses are, depending on whether they should taste mild or savory, e.g. Gouda, Edam, butter cheese, mozzarella, or mountain cheese. Instead of grated cheese, you can also take small slices.

Ingredient substitutions

Do you want to replace some ingredients? Here you find tips for baking ingredient substitutions!

Variations

To make the result even softer, I slightly enriched the dough. For example, there is a bit of soft butter and a milk-water mix instead of just water. Thus, the cheese buns resemble braided bread or brioche burger buns. Absolutely recommended by my whole family and me!