Soft buns with only one-time proofing, topped with coffee flavor cookie crust and filled with melty cheese are simply irresistible. All the tips you need to know to make this at home.
If you want to use butter, cut the butter into cubes of about 10 grams each. Place this on a wax paper or parchment paper and freeze them in the freezer until ready to be used
If you want to use cheese (which is what I highly recommend), cut the cheese block into cubes of about 10 grams each. Keep them chilled in the fridge. You don't need to freeze them as they won't melt like butter until being baked later
Prepare the dough:
Place all ingredients for the dough, except for butter and milk, in a large mixing bowl or mixing bowl of a stand mixer, that's what I used. Use a dough hook to knead the dough and gradually add in milk. I started out with 100 ml of milk and add a bit until it's about 120 ml. You may need a bit less or more. Knead until you get a rough dough, about 3-5 minutes
Once you have a rough dough, gradually add in the softened butter, piece by piece until the dough absorbs the butter before adding more each time. Adding the butter will turn the dough into a sticky mess again, don't panic, it's normal
Let it continues to knead until the dough is no longer sticky. I need to stop 2-3 times and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl in between and continue to knead until the dough reaches a window pane stage. This means when you stretch the dough, it won't break easily (as shown in the photo). To reach the window pane stage from the time I added butter, it took me about 15 minutes kneading on speed 2 on my kitchen aid. The time is just for your reference, it may take you longer or it may not
Shape the dough:
Divide into 12 smaller dough. Cover them and work with one dough at a time
Flatten the dough. Put one frozen butter cube or cheese cube in the middle. Wrap the dough around it. Pinch to seal the seam tightly. Place on a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Continue with the rest of the dough and filling
Proof the shaped dough:
Cover the shaped and filled dough with a clean kitchen towel and let them proof again in a warm place until double in size. It took me about one hour. Again, the time is just for reference, it may not take you that long it may take you longer
Prepare the topping:
15 minutes before the end of the proofing, start preparing the topping. Mix 2 teaspoons of instant coffee with 1 teaspoon of hot water. Let it cool down. Get the egg out of the fridge to let it comes to room temperature. Cream or whisk the softened butter and sugar until combined. Add egg and the cooled-down concentrated coffee mixture and whisk well again. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder. Use a spatula to fold the flour mixture in. Transfer this to a piping bag or a thick zip lock bag. If it's really warm where you are, place this in a fridge for about 5-10 minutes. Don't chill for too long as it may be hard to pipe the topping later. Updates: some readers have shared that it's easier to just spread the topping with a spoon. Feel free to try that method too.
Pipe the topping:
After the proofing, preheat your oven to 380 F (195 C). Get your piping bag out of the fridge. If it's hard to pipe, you can knead it a few times and it will soften. Starting from the center, pipe the cookie batter in a spiral manner covering as much surface as possible.
When you are done piping, place the baking sheet in the fridge for another 15 minutes. I find it helpful that the cookie crust doesn't melt too fast that you end up with cookie crust not on the buns but all sliding down to the side of the bun
Remove from the fridge and put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden dark brown and the bottom is golden brown. I recommend baking one tray at a time if you have two trays so they cook and brown properly. Keep the other tray in the fridge while the other one is baking
Cooling:
Remove from the oven and let them cool down on the tray for 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack to let them cool down further. They can be served warm for that melty cheese or butter. If you use butter, don't be surprised that some of the butter may have leaked out during baking :( I have no solution to this, unfortunately :( But they will still be buttery and delicious though!
The topping will crisp up as the buns cool down
Storing:
These buns are best served on the same day they were made. You may notice that the cookie crust on top may get soft and sticky after few hours and this is quite common especially if it's humid where you are. You can recrisp it in the air fryer or oven at 350 F for 5 minutes or so until they crisp up again