These small batch Cheesy Bread Rolls with honey butter are the savory twin to Cinnamon Rolls, and equally as good! They are made with the softest, most pillowy dough which doesn't require a stand mixer, filled with a delicious cheese filling, and topped off with warm honey butter. It's basically like a cheese board in the form of bread, and I can't think of many things better than that!
My easy Cinnamon Roll recipe has been a favorite of many, and I was itching to turn it into a savory version. Bread is one of my favorite things to eat, and works with pretty much everything, and bringing cheese into the mix was the obvious answer. Many years ago I tried a similar recipe from Cloudy Kitchen and absolutely loved it, so I had to put my own spin on it.
INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
Here's what you will need for this recipe (exact quantities are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post):
Bread dough:
- Whole milk, warmed up
- Granulated sugar
- Active dry yeast (you can also use instant yeast)
- All purpose or plain flour
- Salt
- Unsalted butter, softened
- Egg; if you don't eat eggs, you can use ¼ cup yogurt instead
Cheese sauce:
- Unsalted utter
- Chopped or minced garlic
- All purpose flour
- Whole milk
- Salt, pepper and chili flakes for seasoning
- Shredded cheese - I like to use mozzarella, cheddar and gouda, but you can really play around with what cheeses you use!
- Cream cheese
Honey butter:
- Unsalted utter
- Honey
HOW TO MAKE SMALL BATCH CHEESY BREAD ROLLS (CINNAMON ROLLS STYLE)
Now, let's go through the recipe step by step. This isn't exactly "difficult" or technical, it just takes a little time:
1. Make the dough
Add all dough ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer. Make sure your milk is warm to touch, but not hot. The heat will help activate the yeast. Ideally, active dry yeast should first be bloomed with the milk, but I find that step to unnecessary and my dough rises just fine with an all-in-one-dump method.
Use the dough hook attachment of the stand mixer to knead the dough, starting at a low speed and increasing as you go. The dough will be really sticky at first, but over several minutes (7-10 min), it will become smooth and stretchy once enough gluten has developed in it. Keep kneading until it reaches that stage and starts pulling away from the edges of the bowl.
Once the dough is smooth and stretchy, place it in a clean bowl sprayed with oil, and cover with cling wrap. Place the bowl in a warm place - inside your oven with the oven light on is often ideal - and let it rise.
It is important to proof the dough fully before moving to the next step. It can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, but you're looking for the dough to be at least double in size, and if poked lightly, it should spring back partly.
2. Prepare the cheese sauce
While the dough is proofing, you can prepare the cheese sauce.
First, melt the butter in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Then add the flour and mix for another minute until the flour smells toasty. Add the milk and seasonings, and keep stirring until all lumps disappear and the sauce starts to thicken up.
Turn down the heat, and add the cheeses. Keep stirring until the cheese melt in. Turn off the heat and taste the sauce, adjusting the seasoning as needed.
The consistency should be thick, but not too thick (it shouldn't be hard to stir). If it feels too thick, add a little more milk to make it thinner. It will thicken up more as it cools down.
3. Assemble the rolls
Once the dough has doubled in size and the cheese sauce is cooked, we can move on to the fun part: assembly! Prep an Eighth sheet pan with parchment paper. If you don't have an Eighth sheet pan, you can also use a different sized pan but it won't be filled all the way (which is fine).
Lightly dust a counter with flour, and turn out the dough. Use your hands and rolling pin to roll it out into a 12x14" rectangle. Spread the cheese sauce (it shouldn't be hot) evenly using an offset spatula.
If you like, you can sprinkle on some more cheese, or even play around with other toppings like caramelized onions or Everything But The Bagel seasoning.
Then, cut the rectangle into 6 strips along the length, each about 2x14". Carefully roll each strip into a cinnamon roll shape, as tightly as possible, and place onto the lined Eighth sheet pan.
The reason I like to cut into strips and then roll up is it makes the rolls much neater, and reduces the amount of mess by ten fold! I know a lot of people say it's easy to cut rolls with floss, but floss gets sticky and slimy too, so trust me, this method works best!
Once all 6 rolls are in the pan, you are going to give the rolls their second proof. Place them in a warm spot for ~30-45 minutes until they puff up again.
4. Bake!
In the last 20 minutes of the second rise, pre-heat your oven to 375F. Once the rolls have puffed up again, place them into the oven, and bake for about 20-22 minutes until they look light golden in color. Remove from the oven.
5. Brush with honey butter and serve
Lastly, we are going to brush our rolls with honey butter! Melt the butter and mix in honey (it should be warm to mix in properly), and brush generously onto the rolls while they are still hot using a pastry brush.
Serve, and enjoy!! These are best eaten fresh, but can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. I recommend heating them up in a toaster oven (or your oven) so they feel fresh again when you enjoy them.
VARIATIONS
You can play around with this recipe in so many ways! Here are some ideas:
- Use more cream cheese and Everything But The Bagel Seasoning and turn these into bagel rolls
- Spread caramelized onions on top of the cheese sauce before rolling
- Add corn to make a corn and cheese version
- Play around with different cheeses
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes, you can! But it will take time and patience, and you need to avoid the temptation to add more flour. See my detailed instructions for a similar dough made for my Cinnamon rolls here.
Yes, instant yeast can be substituted for active dry yeast in the same quantity, and you don't need to first activate it. Simply throw everything together and knead.
The rolls should develop a light golden color when they are done baking. In addition, try picking up one roll with a fork and knife, and look at the edges where it was touching the other rolls. Do they look cooked, or do you see specks of raw dough?
Yes! If you do, use a 9x13" pan to bake them.
You can store these rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Any longer than that, store them in the fridge and heat them in a toaster oven for a few minutes before enjoying.
SMALL BATCH CHEESY BREAD ROLLS WITH HONEY BUTTER RECIPE
- Total Time: 3 hours including rest
- Yield: 6 rolls
Description
Easy small-batch cinnamon roll style cheesy bread rolls brushed with honey butter
Ingredients
Bread:
- 160g milk (⅔ cup), warm
- 40g sugar (3 tbsp)
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 325g AP flour (2 ½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 60g unsalted butter, softened (¼ cup)
- 1 egg
Cheese sauce:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter (28g)
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour (16g)
- 1 cup milk (240g)
- 1 tsp minced or chopped garlic
- ½ tsp each salt, pepper and chili flakes (add more to taste)
- ⅓ cup shredded mozzarella cheese + more to sprinkle (optional)
- ⅓ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅓ cup shredded gouda cheese
- 2 tbsp cream cheese (30g)
Honey butter:
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter (28g)
- 2 tbsp honey (40g)
Instructions
Bread:
- Add all ingredients for the bread to the bowl of your stand mixer, and knead using the dough hook attachment for 7-10 minutes. The dough will be sticky at first but over time will become smooth, soft and stretchy, and pull away from the edges of the bowl
- Transfer the dough to a clean bowl sprayed with oil, cover with cling wrap and place in a warm, humid place for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size
Cheese sauce:
- Melt the butter in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant
- Add flour and stir for 1 minute, then add the milk and seasonings. Stir and cook until there are no lumps and the mixture is starting to thicken
- Turn the heat to low. Add the shredded cheeses and cream cheese, and stir until they fully mix in. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. The sauce should be thick but not too thick or stiff; it will thicken up more as it cools
- Remove from heat and let cool down
Assembly:
- Prep an Eighth sheet pan with parchment paper and butter
- Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 12x14" rectangle
- Use an offset spatula to spread the cheese sauce evenly onto the rectangle. Optionally, sprinkle some more mozzarella cheese onto the rectangle
- Cut the rectangle into 6 2" thick strips (along the length). Carefully roll each strip as tightly and neatly as you can to form 6 rolls. Place the rolls in the prepared pan
- Let the rolls rise for a second time, for about 30-45 minutes until they look puffed up
Baking & serving:
- In the last 20 minutes of the second rise, preheat your oven to 375F (conventional)
- Bake the rolls for ~20-22 minutes until they are golden in color
- Melt the butter for the honey butter and mix in the honey. Brush onto the rolls using a pastry brushb while still hot
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- To get soft rolls, it is critical to ensure the dough is properly risen before assembly. It should be at least double in size, and when poked gently, should spring back part of the way
- Prep Time: 40 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: American
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If you enjoy this recipe, you will also love my other bread recipes!
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Anushree Rao says
Hi Zoha,
I loved the way this looked and was waiting to try it out. I swear I followed the recipe to a tee, but my dough was wayyy toooo runny no matter how long I mixed it in the stand mixer.
I had to add more flour to even get to a point where it looked like yours. It still was pretty sticky. It’s in the second stage of rising at the moment so no clue how it will turn out or taste, but would you be able to tell me where I went wrong?
The only thing I didn’t realise was I added the dry ingredients first followed by the egg and then milk in the end, I didn’t let the yeast soak into the milk. I feel I shouldn’t have added all the milk in one go.
Zoha says
Hi Anushree! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a go. It's very strange that your dough wasn't coming together even after many minutes in the stand mixer. This is more or less the same dough recipe I have used in my cinnamon rolls, garlic knots and naan buns, all of which have been tried by hundreds. So I know you said you followed everything to a tee, but I can't help but wonder if the measurements went wrong accidentally somewhere?
This IS meant to be a sticky dough but mine comes together (pulls away from the bowl) after 7-8 minutes of kneading in the stand mixer
Anushree Rao says
Thanks for the reply, I m I did have to add extra flour it turned out great!!!
I’m trying another batch today as Mum loved it. I’m going to see if I face the same issue again!
Zoha says
Best of luck! 🙂
Ramsha says
OMG. Absolutely delicious. I have tried so so so many recipes for making bread and could not get the best results until I tried making bread from your recipe of cheesy rolls and they turned out perfect! So soft and so cheesy. They were amaaaaaazing.
Zoha says
Awww, THANK YOU! SO happy you enjoyed this recipe.
Jeudylle says
I absolutely love this recipe!!! The dough comes out so pillowy soft and perfect everytime. I don't use a mixer, I do it by hand its super easy and quick. Love your recipes ❤️R2
Zoha says
So happy to read this. Thank you Jeudylle!
Mojh says
hii zoha, I tried your papparoti buns and they were amazing which tempts me to make so many more of your recipes however since all of them are all purpose flour I wanted to try them with wheat flour. So how much will there be a change in the texture and will it even turn out good, is my only question
Zoha says
Hi! Wheat flour has more gluten so any recipe made with wheat flour instead of all purpose will not turn out as soft. You can try, for sure, but know it won't be the same 🙂 Depends how much you want the wheat!
Aasiyah says
This dough is incredible! I filled it with chicken, veggies, cream cheese, and a mix of cheeses, rolled them up, and it turned out amazing. Such a versatile and delicious recipe—thank you for sharing!
zare says
can i skip the spices? onions and chili?