Warning: These Cheese Babka Buns are too incredibly delicious. You’ll be dreaming about them long after Shavuos is over.
When we originally printed this recipe in Dairy Made Easy, it had about half the filling. I like cheese babka with way more filling, so I doubled the filling (even though I don’t use all of it). It makes for much messier cheese buns, but waaaayyy more delicious!
Want to keep your counters perfectly clean while you roll your babkas? See our babka hack in this post.
Roll each piece of dough into a 10 x 17-inch rectangle.
Roll up, jelly-roll style.
Pull back as you roll to ensure the roll is tight and thin.
Slice roll into 12 pieces.
Place each piece into a mini cheesecake or muffin pan.
Cheese Babka Buns
Serves: 36 buns
Ingredients
Dough:
- ¾ cup warm milk
- 4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- ½ cup sugar
- 6 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup (2 ½ sticks) butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
Filling:
- 3 (8-ounce) containers whipped cream cheese
- 1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 (3.5 ounce) white chocolate bar
Streusel:
- ¼ cup (½ stick) butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup flour
For Assembly:
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Add flour, salt, orange juice, vanilla, butter, eggs, and yolks. Knead until smooth. Let dough rest 1 hour. It will not rise a lot.
- Prepare the filling. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Melt white chocolate over a double boiler. Immediately add to cream cheese mixture and stir until smooth.
- Prepare the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour. Using your fingers, knead until crumbs form.
- Divide dough into 3. Roll each piece into a 10 x 17-inch rectangle. Smear ⅓ of the filling over each piece of dough. Roll up, jelly-roll style. Pull back as you roll to ensure the roll is tight and thin.
- Slice roll into 12 pieces. Place each piece into a mini cheesecake or muffin pan. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with streusel. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
These look divine! Can it also be rolled, pinched and not cut? Thanks 🙂
Yes!
Thank you! How about freezing? Baked or raw if so?
Hi Aviva, Yes they freeze great. Bake, let cool and freeze.
Again thank you so much! Excited to try these!
can this dough be made by hand? I don’t have a milchig mixer
Can this dough be made.by hand? I dont have a milchig mixer.
How much would you increase the baking time if making in loaves instead of small muffins?
Bake about 45-50 minutes or longer depending on the loaf size.
Thanks so much! Also, can these be frozen? If yes, should I freeze raw or baked?
Freeze baked. Just remove 1-2 hours before you need it from the freezer.
Looks delicious . What can I replace for the whipped cream cheese. Which other cheese can work?
purple chevington cheese, medium fat soft cheese original, whip it up yourself with machine!
HELP! How many grams (or ounces) are there in a cup of butter ? How many grams in a stick?
1 cup is 2 sticks butter. Each stick is 4 oz.
Hi, do you know if this can be made without a mixer? Thank you!
These cheese buns are absolutely delicious!
I split the dough into two instead of three to save some time and mess 😉
Everyone loved! Simply divine!
Thank you Would love to try these just wanted to know if I make these into a loaf how many loaves would it make one?!
Thank you!
Can this recipe be made by hand?
All dough recipes can be made by hand. I would place less water and flour and add slowly as needed.
How can I replace the instant yeast for dry yeast?
Yes they are interchangeable.
What temp?
Sorry about that. Its 350F
I have made many cheese babke buns over the years and they are always delicious, however the white chocolate in the filling mixture is what makes this recipe stand way above all those others!
I’ve shared this link too many times to count.. and that’s before I’ve ‘officially’ served them on Shavuos!
Thanks for a real winner recipe!’
These are amazing. I actually used my regular challa dough recipe for the dough portion (kill two birds with one stone), but used the filling and crumble and instructions from this recipe and they are delicious . Thank you!
Can the dough be made with fresh yeast and if so how much?
Thanks
Every 2oz fresh yeast is 6 3/4 tsp dry yeast.
I made the dough by hand, It was not a fluffy dough like it looks in the pictures. wondering why that is. I followed the recipe…
I was holding my breath the whole time it was baking but It did rise in the oven and came out delicious!
regarding freezing, i suppose i’d dredge icing sugar before serving… or would you freeze with it?
Dairy white chocolate bar?
Looks heaven!! i’m excited to try, Always like to hv good cheesy babke all year round
If I bake these in aluminium cupcake pan do I hv to increase baking time?