Gruyère Basil Cheesy Buns
Fewer breakfast breads are better than these gruyère basil cheesy buns. They are so flavourful and burst with cheese bits, ready to be spread with butter and maybe some honey? You can go sweet or savoury, I won’t judge.
My love for all sorts of breakfast breads knows no bounds (as this blog can attest) and combining a fresh yeasted dough with the herby basil and melty cheese just takes them to the next level. I highly recommend using a high quality olive oil in the mix as it imparts so much more flavour. You can also go the butter route, should you prefer it.
Bread and cheese has always been a timeless combination, add some basil to the mix and it elevates the recipe completely. I used gruyère here, as it is readily available in Switzerland but any hard, melty cheese will so, such as cheddar or grana padano.
If you’re planning to make these for breakfast, it’s easier to make the dough the night before and let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight. In the morning shape the buns and let them arrive to room temperature for 30 minutes, then bake as per instructions.
Lastly, if you make them, make sure to let me know how you liked them in the comments below!
Ingredients (makes 8 rolls)
400g white flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
80g Gruyère, grated - I like my bits of cheese on the larger side so I use the large holes on the box grater.
1 bunch fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2tsp instant dry yeast or 20g fresh yeast, crumbled
200 ml warm water
50g olive oil
1tbsp butter, for brushing
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C, fan.
Start by making the dough. Combine flour, pepper, salt, gruyère, basil in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.
Separately, mix yeast, sugar, warm water (not hot!), let sit for 10 minutes.
Add the yeast mixture and oil to the dry ingredients. Start bringing the dough together with a spoon until it turns into a shaggy ball. Bring together with your hands and knead it onto a floured surface for a few minutes until it becomes elastic and can be easily shaped.
Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with the dough attachment. In that case, pour the wet ingredients at the bottom of the mixer bowl and then add the combined dry. Knead until dough forms and is elastic and the gluten is developed.
Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let sit at room temperature for one hour or in the fridge overnight, until doubled in size.
Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll them into balls. Place dough balls into a baking dish (or a cast iron pan also works, just remember to oil it well first) and bake for 20 minutes.
Take the buns out of the oven and brush with the butter (you won’t need to melt it, drop the butter directly onto the hot buns and brush it around until it melts). Let sit for 10 minutes, to cool (I know, easier said that done).
Serve warm with butter and more cheese and basil, or go sweet with a bit of honey. Either way, they will be gone before you know it. If not, they will keep well for 2-3 days at room temperature, tightly wrapped, but this has yet to happen to me.
Enjoy! xx