Put the milk and butter in a large saucepan or 2 cup Pyrex type microwave-safe measuring cup and heat until it just begins to boil.
Remove from heat (or microwave) stick a thermometer in it.
Let cool to 130 degrees.Meanwhile, combine only 2 cups of the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and potato flakes in a mixing bowl – preferably a stand mixer bowl so you can use the dough hook.
Add the milk mixture and stir until blended, then add the egg and stir until well blended.
Add another 1/3 cup of flour – dough should still be a little sticky, but not wet. Start kneading with the dough hook. If a lot of the dough still sticks to the sides of the bowl as you start to knead, continue adding flour a few tablespoons at a time. If you weighed your flour, you will probably use the entire 2 2/3 cup (12 oz) of flour. If you are a heavy handed scooper who doesn’t weigh, you may need only the 2 1/3 cup. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic. It should be easy to handle at this point.
Transfer to a greased bowl and let it pick up some of the butter/oil from the bowl, then flip it so you have a nice, greasy, ball. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.Punch down! Pull off egg size chunks, smooth them into balls and arrange them a little over an 1 inch apart in two 9×13 pans that you’ve lined with parchment. You can also use baking sheets, but I find pans easier to cover.
Brush generously with more melted butter and cover pan with plastic wrap.
Let rise for one hour.Make indentations in the buns and fill with cheese mixture or fruit pie filling.
Sprinkle with crumb mixture.
Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
