My partner occasionally tells me about a cheesy bread he remembers from high school. It had the form factor of a cinnamon roll (you know, the dough spiral with a filling), but was loaded with cheddar. His memories center around crispy, salty cheese, warmed under a hot lamp for hours waiting for kids to come eat.
That’s not the inspiration for today’s post, but it is something similar. These garlic cheese rolls have the same spiral form factor as cinnamon rolls, but with a slightly sweet bread dough similar to a brioche, and a garlic and cheese filling worked in. They’re soft, they’re savory, and they work great accompanying any dinner meal.
This is a yeasted dough, which means it will take some time, and you need to know how to work with yeast. At some point, I might even write a post about how to diagnose yeast issues (let me know in the comments if you’d want to read that!) but for now, just make sure to have fresh yeast and you should be good as long as you don’t treat it poorly. About the only way you can go wrong with this one is if you overheat the milk mixture and kill the yeast.
The good news is, while the recipe is somewhat labor-intensive compared to a lot of the posts I write, making some delicious garlicy cheesey rolls is still pretty easy. Plus, if you don’t like the cinnamon roll form, you can use the same dough and make cheesy garlic knots or something similar. It’s a bread dough! Use it however you like.
Definitely let me know if you make this one, it’s super tasty and I’ll be making it again soon, so I’d be interested in your feedback.
Garlic Cheese Rolls
Equipment
- Stand Mixer With beater and dough hook attachments.
- Rolling Pin
- Rubber Spatula
- Sauce Pan
- Pastry Cutter Or a decent sharp knife.
- Instant-Read Thermometer
- Mixing Bowls
- 9×13 Baking Dish
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 3¾ Cups Flour Plus extra for adjustments.
- 2¼ Tsp Active Dry Yeast One packet's worth.
- 1 Cup Whole Milk
- 3 Tbsp Sugar
- ⅓ Cup Butter
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 1 Egg At room temperature.
For the Filling
- ¾ Cup Butter Softened.
- 3 Tbsp Parsley
- 3 Tbsp Chives Feel free to change the herbs to your preference.
- 8 Cloves Garlic Minced
- 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Sharp cheddar works best.
- 1 Cup Grated Parmesan Feel free to change the cheeses to your preference.
Instructions
- In your stand mixer bowl, mix together 1¼ cup of flour, the salt, and the yeast. Set this aside.3¾ Cups Flour, 2¼ Tsp Active Dry Yeast, ½ Tsp Salt
- In the saucepan, heat up the milk, sugar, and butter on medium until it reaches 125℉. Try not to let it get any hotter or it can kill the yeast and leave your dough flat and sad.1 Cup Whole Milk, 3 Tbsp Sugar, ⅓ Cup Butter
- Add the milk mixture to the mixing bowl, and add the egg. Beat this with the beater attachment on low for about 30 seconds to start working it together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on high for 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the remaining flour.1 Egg, 3¾ Cups Flour
- Switch to the dough hook attachment and knead the dough with it for 4-5 minutes, until it's smooth and elastic. If it's still sticky, add a bit more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it doesn't stick to you when you poke with a finger.
- Using some oil, lightly grease your mixing bowl. Shape the dough into a ball, put it in the bowl, and turn it to coat the dough ball with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and place it in a warm place to rise for at least an hour, aiming for it to double in size.
- When the dough is nearly risen, make your garlic butter by mixing the butter, parsley, chives, and garlic in another bowl, until it's well combined. Set this aside.¾ Cup Butter, 3 Tbsp Parsley, 3 Tbsp Chives, 8 Cloves Garlic
- Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. You don't need to knead it, just cover it and let it rest for another 10 minutes. While you're waiting, grease your baking dish.
- Using your rolling pin, roll the dough out. You want it to be a rectangle roughly 8"x10", and about even thickness throughout.
- Spread about ¾ of the butter mixture evenly across the surface of the dough. Mix up your cheeses and spread them evenly on top of the butter, leaving about an inch along one of the long sides of the dough un-cheesed.1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella, 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar, 1 Cup Grated Parmesan
- Starting at the long edge with cheese on it, start rolling up the dough, keeping it as tight as you can. When rolled up, press the seam closed with your fingers.
- Cut the ends of the dough log off for even sizing, then cut the remainder into 12 equally-sized discs of filled dough spiral. You can discard (or bake separate) the remains, they just don't rise right if you include them with the rest.
- Arrange the 12 spirals in your baking dish. Cover this and let it rise again for 30-45 minutes. While they're rising, preheat your oven to 375℉.
- Bake your rolls for 25 minutes. When they're nicely golden, remove them from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes.
- Melt the remaining garlic butter mixture and drizzle or brush it over the top of the rolls, then serve warm and enjoy!