Salty Cheese Buns

Specially for those who are not a big fan of desserts. Now you guys can have your salty guilty pleasure!

So basically this is the same recipe as cinnamon buns, only with less sugar in the dough and of course a salty filling.

I suggest you use a cheese (strong flavours are a nice contrast with the soft dough) as a base. Then you can add some extras like chopped red onions, chili peppers, mustard or capers. Finish with fresh herbs. I used basil and parsley, but you can use any kind you want!

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Variation with baked red onions, leek, fresh parsley & dill

Variation with sun-dried tomatoes, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, rucola & parmesan

Ingredients (10-12 pieces):

Dough

• 500 g all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon of salt

• 10 g dried yeast

• 200 g milk

• 1 egg

• 100 g melted butter

• 30 g white sugar

Filling

• 250 g of (old) gouda cheese (slices or grated)

• 30 g brown sugar

• 30 g melted butter

• 3 tablespoons of mustard

• Big hand of parsley

• Big hand of chives

• 1 tablespoon of dry oregano

• Sea salt

• nigella seeds (enough to cover the filling)

• Peper

Finishing touch

• 1 egg

• good pinch of sea salt

Extra materials: Food processor (e.g Kenwood) with dough hook, scale, brush, dough roller

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Directions:

1. For the dough put the flour, sugar and yeast in the food processor.

2. In a separate bowl add in the milk, salt*, and the butter. Heat the mixture in the microwave until it’s warm and the butter has melted (don’t let this cook). Whisk in the egg quickly.

3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and knead this a few minutes to make a sticky dough (-/+ 10 minutes).

4. Cover the bowl with plastic foil, and let the dough rise for 1,5-2 hours in a warm place (e.g. near a warm stove or in a warm oven at 30°C). It needs to double in size.

5. At this stage you can choose to put the dough (wrapped in plastic) in the fridge and let it rest for 1 night. This way you create more flavour.

6. If you’re ready to make the buns make sure to flour your work surface! Now roll out your dough into a rectangle approximately 1 cm thick.

7. Mix the mustard, melted butter and brown sugar. Evenly spread this out on the dough. Then cover this with all the cheese. Finish** with the chopped chili pepper, herbs, salt, nigella seeds, sea salt and a good roll on the black pepper.

8. Starting with a long edge, gently roll up the dough. Slice the rolls +/- 3 cm thick and set them in a round or rectangular pie tin lined with baking paper. Put them not to close to each other (so they can grow in the second rise).

9. Cover the plate, and allow the rolls to rise until they have grown into each other and are puffed up (about 45 min).

10. Uncover the tin and brush them with a beaten egg. Finish with sea salt and bake the buns for +/-15 minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C, till they’re a deep golden brown. You can rotate the tray during baking so they can get evenly golden brown all over.

11. Remove the plate from the oven and place the buns on a cooling rack.

    *the salt deactivates the yeast, so it shouldn’t get in direct contact!

    **You can make lot’s of alternatives stuffings for this bun. Try some baked onions and leek & fresh dill, or go for pizza style with sun-dried tomatoes, rucola, basil & parmesan.