There is a bakery in Seattle that has been selling these amazing little cheese buns since I was a little kid. I know so many family’s that don’t feel like their Holiday is complete without them. But I am too lazy for that. The bakery is all the way across town, and I loathe traffic. So it only seemed logical to just make my own cheesy buns.
And lucky me, I stumbled across an amazing looking cheese bun on pinterest that took me HERE for an awesome recipe. I slightly altered it (sorry!) and wound up with a bun that I am completely obsessed with. I have made it 3 times in the last 5 days. I am not exaggerating. I promise, you can take 6 down in as many minutes.
Mostly I am busy thinking about all of the different things I could do with these buns, because they are truly excellent. And interestingly enough, despite the fact that they are a yeast bun- they are so simple to make and seem to be foolproof!
This would be an absolutely wonderful addition to anyone’s Thanksgiving table. They are squishy- squishy!!!
You can also heat them up for a few minutes before serving if you want to make them ahead of time, then the cheese on the inside will be all melty again. Yuummmmm…
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and prepare a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook combine the hot water, sugar and yeast. Let sit and rise until puffy, about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic powder, salt and olive oil and begin mixing on low. Add the flour 1 cup at a time and mix until you have a smooth soft dough, about 5 minutes.
Remove the dough hook and pat the dough into a ball. Lightly grease a bowl and place the dough in it, cover with a dishtowel and set in a warm place until the dough doubles, about an hour.
Divide the dough into 16 even pieces.
Pull each little piece of dough apart and stuff with a few little balls of fresh mozzarella, and then crease closed in a ball.
Place the buns on the prepared sheet pan, and brush generously with melted butter (there will be some left over, set it aside.)
Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of each bun.
Bake the buns for about 12 minutes, until pale golden on top.
When the buns come out, brush them with the remaining melted butter and serve hot!
Recipe: Cheese Buns
Summary: makes 16 buns
Ingredients
- 1 cup hot water (110-115 degrees)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 packet rapid rise yeast
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 cups AP flour
- ½ cup mini mozzarella balls
- ½ cup shredded cheese (I used jack and cheddar)
- ¼ cup butter, melted
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and prepare a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper.
- 2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook combine the hot water, sugar and yeast. Let sit and rise until puffy, about 10 minutes.
- 3. Add the garlic powder, salt and olive oil and begin mixing on low. Add the flour 1 cup at a time and mix until you have a smooth soft dough, about 5 minutes.
- 4. Remove the dough hook and pat the dough into a ball. Lightly grease a bowl and place the dough in it, cover with a dishtowel and set in a warm place until the dough doubles, about an hour.
- 5. Divide the dough into 16 even pieces.
- 6. Pull each little piece of dough apart and stuff with a few little balls of fresh mozzarella, and then crease closed in a ball.
- 7. Place the buns on the prepared sheet pan, and brush generously with melted butter (there will be some left over, set it aside.)
- 8. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of each bun.
- 9. Bake the buns for about 12 minutes, until pale golden on top.
- 10. When the buns come out, brush them with the remaining melted butter and serve hot!
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 12 minute(s)
Print Recipe
Ohhhh myyy! What a lovely idea! I bet a few too many of these were consumed…haha.
oh how well you know me Katrina! yup, they were just basically shoveled in.
Heaven. Help. Me.
seriously Bev.
I want these…right now!
one thing I miss about giving up gluten is exactly this! I have yet to make a good gf bread and when I do – this will be what I make!
It would be worth the once in a while splurge Susan- seriously!
Love these puffy cheese buns Heather!
Thanks Marla!
I need to make these! My fiance LOVES cheese (and carbs), so it’s a must on my baking list.
Holy heck I’d eat the whole pan.
Cathy- there is no doubt!
These look dangerousssssss! Bun perfection.
You mean these little babies have cheese IN them, too? I thought we were only talking about cheese on top.
Yes- cheese in and out! (although you could certainly do them without the filling- I have and they are equally delicious!)
I can’t WAIT to try this for thanksgiving!!!!!!
WOW! I am in total awe of these beauties! All that gooey cheese is so tempting. Thanks for the inspiration!
These look great!
Have you used the Red Star Platinum yeast in any of your recipes? I’d like to try it, and it says it can be used in any recipe that calls for yeast – I was just curious if you’d had any experience using it, and your thoughts if so!
I haven’t used it, or even heard of it!? I will look into it though. Do you know what it promises?
It’s supposed to be very forgiving and yield great results. I believe it is a relatively new product. I have used yeast in recipes before and am not terribly intimidated by yeast recipes, but anything that is a little more fool proof couldn’t hurt! Thanks for the super fast response by the way!
oooh! I can’t wait to try it. I will see if my local store carries it!
They have a list of stores on the Red Star site – I don’t know how widely distributed it is yet.
One more question for you – do you think these would freeze well? And if so, prior to, or after baking? Thanks!
oooh- not sure. If you are going to try- I would definitely freeze them after baking, and then thaw. Please let me know if you try this!
Ok – I may try to freeze just a couple and see how it goes. I’ll report back once I know!
I made these and they turned out exactly as shown! I did freeze most of them and they did just fine. To thaw I used the defrost setting in the microwave, and then cooked an additional few seconds on level 8 (out of 10) to get them hot. Worked great. Don’t know why you couldn’t let them thaw at room temp and put them back in the oven as well if that would be preferred. Seems like a super versatile recipe. The red star yeast worked great.
Great!! Thanks so much for letting me know!
I love that your solution to being “too lazy” to drive across town is to make these from scratch. You’re my kinda food person!
It really looks yummy.
Question: Please can you tell me the quantity of yeast we need to add for the above measurement, as you have vaguely mentioned 1 Packet.
Hi Pavithra- 1 packet (standard) is 1/4 ounce. Hope that answers your question!
2 1/4 teaspoons equals 1 package yeast
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
These are just awesome!!
These have become a favorite in my house. For some reason they take about double the amount of time to properly cook though. But they’re delishhh !
Hi Heather, thanks so much for the recipe — these were fantastic! Were gone in a flash! I wanted more grated cheese on top, so brushed leftover cheesy white sauce (from making lasagna) on top of the buns and they made a great glue! Thanks for sharing!
These are great..I add some grated parmigiano reggiano and gruyere to dough as I am kneading it and add gruyere on top instead of cheddar. You can freeze individual buns before baking and thaw and bake when you need them. I also love pao de queijo..a Brazilian cheese bread
Besides stuffing the center with cheese, you can also add ham, really yummy. This cheese batter would work really good for wrapping around pepperoni sticks and then baking also.
I want to make these for my family. I have a question tough, what is AP flour? Is it just regular flour?
Yes! AP just stands for All Purpose!
OMG!! yay i have been looking for cheese bun recipe everywhere since i have read the hunger games this is the best recipe i have found.
Hello,
I wanted to let you know that I put all of the ingredients into my bread machine and set it on the dough cycle. Once the cycle finished I continued following the recipe and they turned out fantastic! You were correct, I quickly gobbled up three in a row.
One thing I did do for my second batch (yes I have already made two batches of these wonderful buns) is I reduced the amount of garlic powder to 1tsp to better suit my families taste buds.
I have a batch in the freezer too as they freeze well. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hi! I have made these buns for the past two years for our school holiday fundraiser. They have made me FAMOUS! Thanks for the great recipe.
Awesome Vanessa!! Thank you so much- very happy that they are well received!
What does AP stand for?
I mean what is AP flour? Is it all purpose flour?
yes Liyana! All Purpose!
YUMMY, THANKS
Can i replace hot water to hot milk?
I’m going to try making there rolls for our Monday potuck. I live in the Bellevue area and would love to try the original too. Which bakery is it?
Madison Park Bakery!
HI Heather, These do look yummy! thanks for sharing this recipe. Can we use cream cheese spread as a stuffing instead of mozarella balls? Thanks again. Merlyn
Feel free to try it!
One half cup mozzarella!!
?