Cheese Baps

These baps are packed with cheese throughout and more cheese sprinkled on top.  I baked a batch of them on the weekend for packed lunches during the week.  I ended up having to make another batch as the first one was gobbled up for lunch that day whilst they were still warm.  We devoured them with a vegetable soup as it was a rainy day, even though it is summer here in the UK.

My 3 daughters enjoyed helping with the baking process, as usual, and especially liked shaping the buns and practising their dough rolling and shaping techniques.  Apologies for the quality of the photo, I managed to take a quick photo with my phone before the baps were devoured - no chance to get out the DSLR before my hungry family ate all the baps.

Cheese Baps

450g strong white bread flour

50g unsalted butter

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 sachet (7g) instant yeast

2 free range eggs, beaten ( I used medium eggs)

180ml lukewarm milk

200g grated mature cheddar cheese

additional grated cheese to sprinkle on top

Put the flour into a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, and rub in the butter. Stir through the sugar, salt and yeast. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs and milk. Mix until a soft dough forms.

Knead the dough using a stand mixer or by hand until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling film or a shower cap and leave to prove until doubled in size.

Line a couple of oven trays with non stick baking paper. Knock the dough back and divide into 10 equal pieces. Knead a little cheese and bacon into each portion of dough. Form into a round then squish with the heel of your hand so each bap is about 4 inches, 10cm across. Brush the tops of the buns with milk then sprinkle some grated cheese on top, then put on to prepared oven trays. Leave space between the baps on the oven trays to allow room for them to double in size. Cover then leave to prove until doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Bake the baps for 15 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Cover with a clean tea towel until cool which will ensure a soft crust.