300 g warm milk, any kind
35 g sugar
5 g active dry yeast
27 g olive oil
480 g bread flour
5 g salt
Optional for coloring, 6 g butterfly pea powder
½ jar of K-SO Queso (not sponsored) – Substitutes mentioned below*
Melted butter for brushing the dough
*Substitutes for K-SO Queso: Any queso (oil drained and refrigerated). You need the queso to be slightly solidified so you can spoon/pipe it onto the dough. You can also use any grated cheese, quantity as per preference (preferred, 5 tbsp per bun).
Stand mixer with a dough hook attachment
8x8” baking dish
1. Prepare dough:Place warm milk, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside until the mixture is frothy. Mix in olive oil on low speed for 10-15 seconds.Mix in all remaining ingredients on low speed (or at the mixer recommended speed for dough) until the dough comes together and is no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl.
2. First proof: Remove dough and form a dough ball. Place the dough ball in a clean bowl, cover and set aside for 60-90 minutes.
3. Cut dough:Prepare a baking dish and set aside. Punch the air out of the dough and cut the dough into nine portions. Work with one portion at a time and keep the remaining portions covered.
4. Roll dough: Working with one portion of dough at a time, further cut the one portion into 5portions. Using a rolling pin, roll each of the five portions into small circles. Or, for perfectly symmetrical circles, before cutting the dough into 5smaller portions, roll the dough out into a large rectangle or circle. Using a large cookie cutter, cut the dough into five smaller circles.
5. Assemble roses: Form a dough train using the five circles. Place one circle on your work surface, place another circle over the first, covering one-fourth to one-third of the circle below. Follow this process with the remaining three circles.
6. Using a rolling pin, press down in the middle of the dough train (length wise) and gently roll 2-6 times. This will slightly expand the width and will seal each point where the dough train is connected.
7. Pipe queso:Drain any oil/liquid from the queso (or if using cheese, grate it to preference). Pipe or spoon approximately 1 tbsp in the middle of each circle on your dough train.
8. Seal circles closed: Work with one circle on the dough train at a time, and raise the bottom half of the circle (below the queso) and bring it over the queso, covering it completely. Pinch the ends of the dough together, ensuring the queso is properly sealed. Follow the same process and seal all five circles.
9. Roll roses: Starting from one end, roll the dough inwards to form the final rose shape. Place the rose dough onto the prepared baking dish, crease side facing down.
10. Second proof: Cover the dough roses with a kitchen towel and set aside for 30-45 minutes.
11. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 deg. F and brush the dough with melted butter. Before placing the rose buns in the oven, reduce oven temperature to 350 deg. F and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the tops are golden-brown and the sides should sound hollow when you tap on it.
12. Allow rose buns to cool in the dish for 15 minutes. Remove the buns from the dish and allow them to cool to room temperature before pulling apart.
