Little soft, cheesy buns – kiflice
Every month I join in an online baking gathering called Fresh From the Oven. Apart from learning new recipes and honing my baking skills, it’s great getting to know other food blogs and sharing the experience with people who are equally enthusiastic about cooking. There is real warmth and immense generosity about swapping advice and knowledge within the group.
This month’s recipe comes from Maja from Serbia who, as well as posting her blog Cooks and Bakes in two languages, is an expert baker. She’s one of the first blogs I look at in the round-up as her comments give an in-depth knowledge of the baking process and I have learned a lot from her posts.
I was a little daunted when I saw 40 little beautifully crafted kiflice in her instructions but, although mine are not quite as perfect as Maja’s, this was a simple and rewarding recipe to make. By the time I got to the end I’d mastered wrapping the little point of dough round and round.
We ate half of these warm from the oven and I let the rest cool and popped them in the freezer as they’ll make great snacks with drinks in the run up to Christmas. I added some grated parmesan with cottage cheese and sprinkled on some of the rolls which worked really well. I’m planning to add bit of salami or Parma ham or chopped mint leaves next time too. Just don’t over-fill them (a scant teaspoon) and try to stretch the dough evenly – as you can see, a few of mine leaked although this didn’t really matter. I urge you to try these – even just for the delicious, warm, cheesey, buttery smell that fills the kitchen. Do pop over and see Maja’s kiflice on Cooks and Bakes and also have a look at what we all got up to on Fresh From the Oven. Here’s Maja’s family recipe:
Kiflice
Dough:
500 g all purpose flour (plain)
1 tsp salt
20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp instant yeast or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)
1 tsp sugar
250 ml milk
75 ml sunflower oil
1 egg
Filling:
200-250 g cottage cheese (you may use feta or other fresh cheese)
1 egg white (optional)
And more:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
100 g margarine (or butter)
Directions:
1. Crush the cheese using a fork. Add some salt if it tastes neutral. Stir the egg white in, if the cheese is too crumbly. Filling shouldn’t be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than the cream cheese, and pretty salty.
2. For the starter – dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup, add a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of flour, stir to get smooth batter. Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.
3. Sift the flour, add salt. Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk, then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough. The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don’t worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken. It is not necessary to knead the dough by hands, the wooden spoon works just fine (you may use any spoon, of course, the wooden spoon is common tool for all stirring and kneading works here at the Balkans). Grease the cling film with oil, cover the bowl, and set aside for at least an hour, at lukewarm place, to let the dough doubles in size.
4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls. Each part should make 8 rolls, so you’ll end up with 40 rolls, which should perfectly fit the regular oven pan, if lined in 5×8 order. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury working surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out in a circle, a few millimeters thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles. Take one triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently. Put some filling at the triangle base, then fold the edges of the base to avoid the filling leak out during baking. Roll. Arrange the rolls at the pan (5×8).
5. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of milk, then brush the top of each roll with the mixture. This is used to prevent forming thick crust, and to improve the color of baked rolls. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, if you like.
6. Arrange the small pieces of margarine (or butter) between the rolls, then bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes. Be careful not to overbake them. Let them cool a bit, be careful as the filling is always more hot then the dough, take a seat in your favorite armchair, and start enjoying the softest cheese rolls ever. And don’t think of calories, please.
Sally’s note: I used butter in between the rolls and two roasting tins as my oven is a different size to Majas. Using cottage cheese I didn’t need to add the egg white because it’s quite runny – even using 250g I ran out near the end. I made the dough (with the dough hook on my KitchenAid rather than a wooden spoon) let it rise a bit and put it in the fridge overnight. I rolled, stuffed and baked the rolls the next day. I’d love to hear what you think of these.
Kiflice - fresh from the oven
Trackbacks
- I'm Serious..
- Cheesy Buns- Warming my Heart | Roaring Tiger
- Garlic bread – Khrushchev-style « My Custard Pie
Comments are closed.
My Custard Pie 
This looks yummy and easy to follow! I will try it at home – great for daughter to bring for snacks in school!
Sally these look yum! I love working with yeast so am keen to try anyway, but esp as we have a few drinks prties coming up with my herbs are florishing in the sun so wll add to the cheese, cant wait:)
Beautiful buns!
Sally, they are beautiful as your other commenters have pointed out. Lovely! I really enjoyed making them, too. I see you used your “overnight fridge rise” method again; it seems to work for everything, do you think?
Thanks Sarah. It’s the only way with my busy life at the moment! This dough is very good natured so stood up to my slowing down techniques – they came out very soft and fluffy. I think it is possible to over-prove (which I have done with brioche).
The parmesan looks like a very tasty addition. Your rolls look perfect.
I awlays tend to overfill mine and this overfilling makes them hard to roll, but can’t restrain myself of doing so 🙂
Yours look perfect!
Whatcha mean ‘not perfect’? They look spot on to me, and turned out so much better than mine! I couldn’t get the little crescent shape no matter how hard I tried … and you managed to get them to all fit in the pan perfectly too – another step I failed on!!! In my case I guess practice will make perfect but I think you’ve managed it first time round ;0)
I thought these were wonderful, so worth the effort. It’s great you’ve included a picture of the 8 segments being cut up, I forgot to do this and it’s tricky to describe. Definitely one to make again!
Those crescent rolls look so delicious! I love warm fluffy buns when the weather is cold!
I love that you can freeze these to be enjoyed at a later time.
🙂 Mandy
The rolls are gorgeous!! The pictures really help to see how they are rolled up. Thanks!
Nothing smells better than fresh baked at home.
Oh I agree – the smell of baking is almost the best bit!
What a great idea! I think I might look up that group of bakers! I certainly would love to learn more about the different breads and pastries that are being made throughout the planet; these look adorable and so tasty with that cheese filling! Love the shape and the perfect symmetry of these buns.
Do have a look – it’s a really nice group and I’ve learned a lot and baked things I wouldn’t normally make. The link to the round up site is Fresh from the oven
Beautiful crescents. The fillig sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Hi Sally,
Thanks for stopping by on my page.I am such a bigg fan of crescent rolls but havent made them ever at home as yet.And look at yours..such neat and professional..thanks again for sharing
Cheers
Thanks Nisrine and Tanvi – I enjoyed making them.
Oh wow! This one right here is piece of art my friend!!
LOVE how they looks all cute n puffed up 🙂
Hello Sally, from a Greek food blogger-lover!
Excellent blog, nice buns -I adore anything with cheese and these kiflice look gorgeous!
Keep food blogging!
Artemis
Yours look so neat and tasty. I don’t know why mine didn’t have the little curved sticky out bits at the side, I must have ‘over-tucked’. They look beautiful.
Thanks – Neat and tasty looking is how I would describe everything you bake Claire. I was admiring the ends of your buns and wondering why mine weren’t so perfect!
Easy and very descriptive way to make these crescent rolls. Lovely presentation.
you can never go wrong with those! They look so delicious!
Sally, your kiflice looks EXCELENT! Your dough have risen fantastic, and you rolled kiflice really, really well! I am very pleased you participated in this round, and liked kiflice.
Regards,
Maja
Me, again. I forgot to say I like you did not overbaked them, they have the perfect color!
Thank you Maja – your instructions were excellent and you did say not to overcook. I really enjoyed making your lovely recipe – thanks again.
Yours look quite perfect. They are lovely rolls aren’t they.
Your bread is awesome!!!.. 🙂
these look really tasty! I can’t wait to make them =)
I love trying foods from other cultures – this looks fantastic.
Thanks for sharing it!
Kathy
http://www.KidCulture.wordpress.com
Oh my! These look amazing…my mouth is literally watering. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Um…these are on my “to-bake” list for the holidays! Your pics are great and your kiflice look scrumptious. These will make a nice surprise for the family! 🙂
YUM!!!
And if you omitted the salt or added sugar do you think you could add a sweet filling such as jam? Just an after thought!
A sweet filling such as jam would be lovely.
so pretty! I love this kind of buns!
I can already imagine the smell of those coming out of the oven.
Raymund
http://angsarap.wordpress.com
Cheese and bread what more could you ask for! I bet they were to die for straight out of the oven – no wonder they didn’t last long 😉