Sweet Onion Cheese Swirl Buns
These homemade buns are easy to make, but no one will believe you if you tell them that. They look as impressive as they taste! Don't let the prep time scare you... It's a whole lot of waiting instead of work.
Servings: 8 yield(s)
Prep Time: 110 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 125 mins
Ingredients
  • 1 cup water (100-110 F)
  • .25 oz quick rise yeast
  • 3 cup unbleached flour (divided)
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup parmesan, asiago, and/or romano cheese (finely grated)
  • 1 egg
  • everything bagel seasoning (link in recipe notes)
Instructions
  1. Dissolve yeast in the water and test with a tablespoon of flour. If it is active, stir in half the flour.
  2. Stir in the onion powder, olive oil, and brown sugar, then add the remaining flour. Work the dough until you get a good ball of dough (you may have to add a little more flour, but try not to dry it out.)
  3. If you are using a stand mixer with a dough hook, you may be able to skip the next step. On a floured surface, knead the dough until you have a ball of dough that is elastic and no longer tacky.
  4. Roll out the dough to 3/8" to 1/4" thick and roughly into a rectangular shape. Evenly cover the surface with the cheese.
  5. Roll the dough up into a fairly tight spiral shape starting at the short edge and rolling across lengthwise. Cut the resulting spiral into 8 equal pieces exposing the swirl pattern. The two ends will look a little different, but no need to waste them! NOTE: This photo is deceiving. The dough was rotated 90 degrees after being rolled up for easier cutting.
  6. Place the buns with some space for expansion between them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover them with a damp, light cloth (think tea towel), and place them somewhere warm without a lot of drafts to rise. Allow the buns to rise undisturbed for 90 minutes. Ideally, if your oven has a bread proofing setting like mine does where the bottom element is only used and the temperature is set to 100 F, use that for consistent results. Your proof time may take longer depending on the ambient temperature.
  7. Once your buns have reached about 4" in diameter on average, they are ready to be baked. Place a tray of water on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F.
  8. While preheating, brush the tops and sides of the buns gently with an egg wash and sprinkle liberally with everything bagel seasoning.
  9. Bake the buns on the rack just above the steam tray to a golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
  10. Buns can be sliced into sandwich buns or served as a bread roll.
Recipe Notes

Bread making can be intimidating! This recipe is surprisingly easy if you take your time and really let the dough do its thing without disturbing it. That's the hardest part for me... I want to poke it or something. Don't fret if your buns touch each other. If you try to move them around once they are risen, you will make more of a mess of them than if you were to just let them touch. You can find the Badia Everything Bagel Seasoning I use here on Amazon