Käsebrötchen - German Cheese Buns

My version of Käsebrötchen or German cheese buns don’t look like the individual ones I’ve been seeing online but they are delicious, nonetheless.

My Bread Bakers group are sharing buns and rolls today so a few weeks ago, I started researching recipes for ones I’ve never made before. There are so many rolls and buns to choose from! I finally had it narrowed down to buttermilk potato buns and these käsebrötchen when it occurred to me that I had already made potato buns years ago. 

So käsebrötchen it would be. We really liked how soft and fluffy they turned out! They are perfect for breakfast sandwiches. Well, any sandwich really or just to eat on their own.

Käsebrötchen - German Cheese Buns

This recipe is a hodge-podge of ingredients and instructions from a variety of recipes online so I won’t say it’s authentic in any way, except that the buns have cheese just on top. My husband and I both agreed that there should be some cheese in the dough as well. NONE of the recipes I found did. 

Ingredients

For the bun dough:

1 1/4 cups or 300ml lukewarm milk

3/4 oz or 20g fresh yeast or 3 teaspoons dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons or 45ml canola or other light oil, plus more for baking pan

1 large egg white

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

4 cups or 500g flour, plus extra for separating into buns and rolling. 

For baking:

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

3 1/2 oz or 100g extra sharp cheese

Method

In a medium bowl, combine the lukewarm milk, yeast and sugar. Stir and let sit for about 10 minutes. 

Add the oil, egg white, salt and half of the flour. Stir until well combined. 

Add the remaining flour and knead until smooth ball of dough begins to form. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. 

Cover and allow to rise for about 1 hour. 

Grease a baking pan with canola.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and cut it into 15 relatively equal pieces.

Roll the dough pieces into balls and place in the prepared baking pan. 

Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes. I had a brief hope of individual buns but honestly, I should have known better. Dough gonna rise and fill those gaps!

Grate your cheese and whisk the egg yolk with the water. 

Brush tops of the buns with egg yolk and top with grated cheese.

Leave to rise for about 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave to cool on a wire rack then use a spatula to release the buns and transfer them to a cutting board. 

Once they are cool enough to handle, you can pull the buns apart to eat them. 

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it’s Bread Bakers’ day, always the second Tuesday of the month and we are sharing recipes for buns and rolls. Many thanks to our host, Karen from Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the list below. 

• Alabama Orange Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheesy and Spicy Wild Garlic Stuffed Spelt Rolls from Cook with Renu
• Filled Wool Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Hoagie Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Käsebrötchen from Food Lust People Love
• Orange Date Sticky Toffee Buns from A Messy Kitchen
• Soft and Fluffy Sourdough Hamburger Buns from Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns

These sweet sourdough pumpkin buns are soft, fluffy and flavorful. Sweetened with brown sugar, they are the perfect bread to serve with to your Thanksgiving feast. 

I am here to tell you that my sourdough starter, John Dough, is a survivor! I abandoned him in my Houston refrigerator in May and when I got back in September, I fed him a couple of times and he is back to normal. Go, John, go! 

I had a back up plan, though. In her fabulous book, The Sourdough Whisperer, Elaine Boddy gives useful and easy to follow instructions on how to dry out a sourdough starter for foolproof transport. I tried it with Jane Dough (my Jersey, CI starter) before I headed back here to Houston but then I didn’t need to use it when John revived.

What that means though is that I have dried sourdough starter to share, if a friend happens to need some or if John Dough gets into a slump. I can highly recommend connecting with Elaine if you love baking with sourdough and/or want to get started. Her books are great for experienced bakers and beginners alike. Plus she’s a really nice person. Tell her Stacy from the delicious. group sent you!

Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns 

The dough for these sweet buns uses a fed sourdough starter. Your dough will rise nicely but there isn’t a pronounced sharpness from the starter. This recipe was adapted from one on Aberle Home.

Ingredients for 12 buns

1/2 cup or 113g FED sourdough starter (100% hydration)

1/4 cup or 60ml milk, lukewarm

1/2 cup or 120g canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)

2/3 cup or 132g dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 3/4 cup or 344g unbleached bread flour

1/4 cup or 56g butter, softened

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Optional to finish: 2 tablespoons melted butter

Method

In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the fed starter, milk, canned pumpkin, brown sugar and egg until well combined. 

Sift in the flour and mix again until there is no dry flour showing. 

Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Mix in the butter and salt until thoroughly combined. 

Knead on medium speed (or in the bowl by hand) for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the dough becomes very smooth and elastic. You might need to scrape the bowl down a time or two at the beginning to incorporate butter that has stuck to the sides. I did. 

This is a really soft dough. Form it into a ball as best you can in the bowl, and cover. Allow to rise at room temperature until it has doubled in volume or overnight in the refrigerator. (If you do an overnight cold prove, allow time for the dough to come back to room temperature before continuing with the next steps.) 

I did a slow overnight rise for this batch of buns because I believe that the extra time also makes the dough more manageable. 

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and divide it into 12 pieces (weigh dough for uniform buns - my whole dough ball weighed 864g/12 = 72g for each bun.) 

Dampen your hands with a little water so the dough doesn’t stick to them then form the dough into a tight ball by pinching the sides to the bottom. Cup your hand around the dough ball and push it around gently to create a nice round ball. 

Repeat to shape remaining pieces of dough. 

Place the balls in a baking pan lined with baking parchment, leaving room for them to rise. Ideally, they will touch once they have risen. For these buns, I used a 9x13 in or 23x33cm pan. Cover them with cling film and leave to rise for about 45-55 minutes.

If it’s cold in your kitchen and you have a microwave, put water in a microwavable bowl and heat it to almost boiling. Set the pan of buns on top of the bowl and leave the microwave closed for the rising time. Works like a charm. 

Near the end of your rising time, preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Bake the buns on the center rack for 12-15 minutes or until they are lightly golden on the edges. (The centers should read 185°F or on an instant-read thermometer when done.) Cool in the baking pan on a cooling rack. 

These are divine served warm. I like to brush them with some melted butter. You might like to as well. 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers to share their recipes. Since Thanksgiving is nigh, we are sharing breads that would be excellent additions to your Thanksgiving feast. Check out the list below. Many thanks to our host Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.

• Crispy Sage and Garlic Parmesan Rolls by A Messy Kitchen
• Easy Sourdough Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Keto Coconut Flour Sandwich Thins by Sneha’s Recipe
• Sourdough Cloverloaf Rolls by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns by Food Lust People Love
• Thanksgiving Stuffing Rolls by Karen’s Kitchen stories

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Sweet Sourdough Pumpkin Buns!

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