Hunger Games Cheese stuffed cheese buns recipe.. the hunt is on for the perfect cheese bun recipe!

Posted by I crave cheese buns from my childhood.. super light fluffy bread with streaks of cheesey goodness rolled up into them and covered in more cheese... like a cinnamon bun, but replace out all that cinnamon brown sugar goodness with ooey gooey fragrant awesome cheese! So, I'm on the hunt for the recipe that would best reflect my childhood memories of sinking your teeth into the perfect cheese bun... and get some calcium along the way hahaha!I adapted this recipe from Yammie's Noshery mainly cuz I had no idea where to start, and it was the first website that popped up that looked promising after I typed in "cheese stuffed cheese buns" into Google. Thanks Google!  I normally put more research into recipes, but hey, it was a spur of the moment thing, and the cheese buns turned out good - not what I was looking for, but if you imagine the Red Lobster biscuits flavor and stuff it with cheese, you essentially have these cheese stuffed cheese bun flavor profile down pat.  Bonus - it doesn't take forever, though the dough does need proofing time... total prep+baking time.. just over an hour for cheesey stuffed garlic cheese buns!


One thing I noticed (sheer accident cuz I tucked in some cheese into dough balls before rising, and decided to do half the batch that way, and the other the proper way which was stuff the dough balls after the dough rises) - if you tuck in the cheese into the doughballs before the dough proofs, you'll get a much fluffier and less dense bun... the ones on the left I crammed in cheese nuggets before letting the dough rise, the one of the right, after the dough balls had risen.  Makes sense as the dough gets to rise without you squishing out all the air bubbles it created as you cram in the cheese... No bubbles = denser biscuit like bun.

Proof is in the pudding... insert cheese before (left pan) the dough rises for a bigger, fluffier bun (not after - right pan)!

And if you're wondering who the heck is Peeta, he's the shy baker's boy and co-star character in the Hunger Games novel trilogy/movie and he makes cheese stuffed cheese buns which the main female badass bow and arrow toting heroine loves to nosh on.

Had to eat the ones that exploded out cheesy goodness

 Peeta's Stuffed Cheese Buns recipe (adapted from Yammie's Noshery)

1 cup warm water (Hot from tap is fine - should be warmer than lukewarm but not burning hot to touch)
2 tablespoons yeast (I used the breadmaker's yeast I had kicking around in the fridge)
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 Tablespoons granulated garlic (original recipe asked for 2 teaspoons garlic powder)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
-24 pieces cubes of cheese- cut into 1.5cm or about 3/4 inch cubes (I used marble, next time I'll use aged cheddar for more flavor)
-Parmesan cheese, shredded cheese

Steps
1) Mix together the yeast, sugar and water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic powder, melted butter, salt and oil. Add the flour a little and a time, mixing in your stand mixer with a dough hook or by hand in a large bowl.
2) Knead for 10 minutes, in the stand mixer on low (1-2 max if using a KitchenAid mixer) or by hand.
3) Divide the dough into 24 pieces. Put the 3/4 inch chunk of cheese in each one and make sure you pinch all the edges back up tightly. Put the pinched side down on a greased baking sheet.
4) Cover the stuffed dough balls with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes... my oven had a proofing setting so I used that :)
5) Preheat the oven to 375º. Sprinkle/smoosh in on top of the buns with more shredded cheese and some parmesan cheese - cheese do not stick well! Bake at 375ºF for about 11-15 minutes until the bread is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.  Serve warm but they're good cold too!