Sweet Cheese Filled Buns (Vatrushka)

Sweet Cheese Filled Buns (Vatrushka Recipe) are freezer-friendly, soft and fluffy sweet buns filled with delicious smooth farmer’s cheese filling. These are BEST when they are warm and fresh from the oven. When you start at one, you won’t be able to stop until all are gone.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Vatrushka buns are typically filled with farmer’s cheese, potatoes, jam, cabbage or other flavors. They are very popular in Ukraine.

Our favorite flavor is with farmer’s cheese and if you’re been following me for a while, you know that farmer’s cheese and I are best friends ;). The fact that I get requests for more farmer’s cheese recipes all the time, I feel like I’m obligated to share the cheese version with you.

Sweet Cheese Buns Family Recipe:

After I got married, my sister Alla shared a sweet buns recipe with me that she got from our grandma. I slightly tweaked grandma’s recipe and took my other sister’s, Mariya idea of making vatrushki into mini pies. I filled them with farmer’s cheese filling (of course ;), and we got these very delicious mini pies with a really smooth and creamy topping.

These are really easy to make, but just need a good amount of rising time so they turn out soft, fluffy and mouth-watering.

I remember when my mom, sisters and I visited Ukraine in 2011 (I believe that’s the year). We used to go to bazaar just for these goodies. They would sell out really fast early in the morning. People just LOVE them!

Sweet Cheese Filled Buns Recipe:

The ingredients are very basic and very likely you have them in your fridge already. We use instant dry yeast to rise the dough by combining with some sugar and whole milk to activate it. In addition to large eggs, I add another egg yolk. The salt balances out all the flavors and the sour cream and oil make this dough elastic and light as an air.

Make sure you are properly measuring the flour. Spoon flour into a measuring cup and scrape off the top with the back of a knife. There is no need to cool the melted butter if you’re making the dough using bread machine. Just pour the melted hot butter over flour.

Sweet Cheese Filled Buns Filling:

Combination of homemade farmer’s cheese and cream cheese make the yummiest cheese filling in buns. My family prefers these more on the sweeter side, so I always add a generous amount of sugar into the filling. Adding a bit of vanilla for some extra flavor is always a plus.

How to Make Cheese Filled Buns – Vatrushki:

To Make Sweet Buns Dough:

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine and stir 1 cup whole milk, 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast and 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar. Let rest 10-15 minutes for the yeast to activate. Then pour the mixture into the bread machine basket.
2. Into the basket, add 2 large eggs, 1 egg yolk, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon fine salt, 3 tablespoons sour cream, 2 tablespoons oil and 4 cups all-purpose flour. Microwave to melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and pour it over flour. If making dough by hand or mixer, slightly cool butter before adding.
3. Set bread machine to dough cycle. When it starts mixing, I like to peek in to make sure it doesn’t need more flour. (It depends on the flour and its moisture). The dough is perfect when it is no longer sticking to the walls of the bread machine basket. Do not add more flour past this point.
4. Line parchment paper with 2 baking sheets and set aside.
5. Once the dough cycle is complete, the dough will be tripled in volume. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down the dough and knead it for 1-2 minutes.
6. Divide the dough into half and then cut each piece in half, then again in half and keep repeating until you get a total of 16 pieces from the entire dough.
7. Shape the dough into balls. Place 8 balls of dough per baking sheet, evenly spaced on your baking sheet (2-3-inches apart). Cover baking sheet with clean kitchen cloth and let the dough balls rise at room temperature, in a draft-free area for 45-60 minutes.

Cheese Filling:

1. Press 2 cups farmer’s cheese through a strainer. Place few tablespoons at a time and press down with a spoon. This will ensure the cheese filling is really smooth.
2. In a large bowl, combine the pressed farmer’s cheese, 2 (8 oz) cream cheese, 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat with mixer until everything is fully combined and filling is smooth, about 2 minutes.

Filling Buns with Cheese and Bake:

1. Make egg wash by combining and whisking 1 egg and 1/2 tablespoon milk; set aside.
2. Push a round 2/3 measuring cup or a narrow drinking glass over the center of each dough round to make a well in the center.
3. With your fingers, make the well wider again and spoon about 2 tablespoons of cheese into each well. Use a teaspoon to spread the cheese into sides. It would seem as there’s too much cheese and won’t fit, but it will work just fine. Let rise at room temperature for 20-25 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to a 360°F. Brush the buns with egg wash. Bake 1 or both sheets at the same time at 360°F for 20-22 minutes or until tops are golden brown. These are best fresh and warm. Store sweet buns at room temperature, covered with plastic food wrap.

Working with Yeast Dough:

Number one rule is to never let the dough or yeast get too hot during the rising process or you will kill the yeast. I personally ALWAYS let anything bread rise at room temperature. I think I’m kind of old-fashioned this way.

Try not to let the mixture get warmer than 100°F. That means your milk cannot be too hot and your oven cannot be above 100°F while the dough is rising or you will ruin the dough.

Filling Variations for Sweet Buns:

When it comes to filling vatrushki, you want a filling that’s thick and not runny. Few variations are:

• Sweet cherries. Pitted and topped with 1/2 teaspoon sugar for each bun. Summer-perfection!
• Poppy seed. Even though my family does not really like poppy seed, many people love it and it works like a charm in vatrushki.
• Preserves or jam. You might need to add 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch, but don’t add too much jam into each bun. Jam tends to leak out when heated.
• Cheese and berries. Sweet cream cheese filling, topped with fresh or frozen blueberries.

Do I Need Bread Machine to Make the Dough?

No, a bread machine is not required for this recipe. You may follow the same instructions and make the dough by hand OR with your big KitchenAid stand mixer. I personally always use bread machine to make any type of buns or bread dough. It is so much easier and I get to do other things around the house. The bread machine mixes, rises and prepares the dough to work with in slightly over 2 hours.

The key is to let the dough rise. Whether you’re preparing the dough by hand or mixer, make sure to give that time for it to rise. Proper rising time will make sweet buns fluffy and soft.

If making dough by hand: cover your mixing bowl with plastic food wrap or clean kitchen cloth and let rise in a warm 100°F oven for 1 hour (or at room temperature 2 hours). The dough should triple in volume.

Our Favorite Ukrainian Bread Recipes:

• Cherry Pizza Pie -with the smooth and creamy topping
• Farmer’s Cheese Sweet Rolls – light as an air and you won’t stop eating these
• Ukrainian Pumpkin Bread – this loaf bread recipe is made all-year round, especially around Christmas and as Easter bread
• White Bread Machine Bread – the #1 daily bread in our family for decades

If you love farmer’s cheese like we do, don’t miss our most popular Crepes With Cheese, favorite breakfast treat Cheese Pancakes and easy Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake.