Use these Cheddar Brioche Buns for grilled cheese sandwiches or with cheeseburgers! They’re also amazing dunked in stews or soups.
Brioche is one of my favorite yeasted breads. I often buy it pre-made to use for french toast or bread pudding, but making it from scratch is something that I recommend every home baker try at least once. Yes, it’s a bit time consuming but it’s really not complicated. And if you love bread, I promise you there is nothing quite like hot brioche, fresh out of the oven.
These cheddar brioche buns have so much potential. Use them as the bread for a grilled cheese sandwich. Or as the bun for a cheeseburger. Dunk them in chili (which is what we did). Heck, eat them plain (I did that, too).
I recommend making 8 buns for burgers and sandwiches (the size seen in the photos) or 12 buns for dinner rolls. Keep in mind when you’re rolling out the dough that it will continue to rise in the oven. I was fairly conservative with the cheese but you can push the quantity a good amount without having the buns lose their structure. Just make sure the cheese is contained within the dough as much as possible.
Baking With Yeast
This recipe uses active dry yeast. Yeast is an ingredient many novice bakers fear, and I’d like to change that! So what is yeast, and how does it work? Can you substitute one variety for another? Check out my article What is Yeast to learn more!
Cheddar Brioche Buns
Ingredients
- 11 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (approximately 2 3/4 cups)
- 1 1/4 ounces nonfat dry milk (1/4 cup)
- 1 1/4 ounces granulated sugar (3 tablespoons)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 cup lukewarm water
- 5 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated (or more as needed)
For topping
- 1 large egg + 1 tablespoon water, whisked (for egg wash)
- coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Add the flour, dry milk, sugar, salt and instant yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer and briefly whisk together. Add the 3 eggs, yolk, water and butter. Use the dough attachment to kneed the ingredients together on low speed for 20 minutes. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for another 2-3 minutes.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl (if the dough is too sticky to handle, some vegetable oil on the hands works wonders). Cover with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour, then place the covered bowl into the refrigerator and chill overnight (or 3 hours minimum).
- Set the dough on the counter for 45 minutes to soften the butter slightly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 8-12 even pieces (8 pieces will yield hamburger/sandwich sized buns, 12 will yield dinner rolls). Stretch out one piece and add a spoonful of cheese to the center (For 8 buns, I added 2-3 teaspoons of cheddar per bun). Fold the dough around the cheese for a cheese-filled center. Alternately, kneed the cheese into the dough so that it's more evenly distributed. After shaping the bun, poke any large bits of visible cheese back into the dough. It won't hurt the bun if cheese is visible but it might create dark spots in the final product.
- Place the buns on the prepared sheet, cover loosely and allow to rise for an additional 3 hours. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the egg wash liberally on top of each bun and sprinkle coarse sea salt on top.
- Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, or until they're a deep golden brown on top and register 190 degrees F in the center with an instant read thermometer.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
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Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate says
Cheese in brioche basically sounds like the best idea EVER. Love it!
Kitchen Belleicious says
such a great idea to add cheddar to the mix no pun intended:))) I love these and you made it look so easy! that is the sign a good cook:)
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
These are the most beautiful buns I’ve ever laid eyes on. I find kneading dough methodical and stress relieving. I’ve been making my own bread once a week. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it’s worth all of the effort. There’s nothing better than homemade bread. Love this!
Joanne says
These look delicious and are just beautiful. The cheddar takes the brioche buns to a whole new level – one I would like to visit!
Kelly @ Kelly Bakes says
I’ve had brioche on the brain all week. I haven’t had the time/energy to tackle it yet, but as soon as I get a day off, this is going to be the first thing on my to-do list!
Bonny @ Clever Hen says
Who can pass up Brioche? especially with Cheddar cheese! Wish I had one right now to eat…
Todd | HonestlyYUM says
Wow these look mouth watering!! The cheeseburger bun idea is the winner. Love it!!
Peg says
These look fabulous…..will the proof setting on my oven affect the 3 hour rise time? I have noticed with other breads that they rise a tad faster.
Jennifer Farley says
I’ve never used that setting before (don’t have one) but you can always just keep an eye on the dough and use it once it has doubled in size (a little over proofing never hurts, either).
Mariel says
I could imagine the BEST burger on these buns. I might be making these soon…or when the weather gets better to BBQ! Thanks so much!
Robin says
These look incredible, I can’t wait to try it! Just to clarify, do you really mix the dough on low speed for 30 minutes?
Jennifer Farley says
Yes! That’s why I do not recommend doing it by hand :)
magdykaram says
These look amazing
Natasha O says
Looks awesome, wish there were some photos of them sliced to see the gooey inside!! I’d then be uber motivated to try it out!
Jennifer Farley says
Sorry I couldn’t motivate you!
afterorangecounty says
WOW!! These look amazing! Just printed the recipe and look forward to making them.
vittoria's secret says
I make the same but stuffed with ham and cheese or with cabbage. It is so delicious.
Andrew Mills says
Great recipe, next time I will add a little more flour and add the cheese earlier before refrigeration. I found that only half an egg was needed for the egg wash, I’d make 10 buns next time as they came out very big and I only needed for 2 hours for the last rising period. Being English I struggled with the measurements and had to look up what the hell half a cup of cheese weighed!!! Beautiful buns though, great with a decent burger and homemade sweet potato fries. This is a better brioche recipe than any I’ve found in cook books.
Jennifer Farley says
Oh my goodness, thank you. That last sentence warmed my heart (and FYI – I have a cookbook coming out this fall!). I’ve found that many of the recipes I create don’t need the full egg for washing, but I would get so much crap from people if I ever included “1/2 an egg” in an ingredient list. More recently, I’ve been trying to include weight measurements along with volume, so I apologize that this one wasn’t more thorough.