Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

4.80 from 5 votes

Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread is a tasty snack popular on the streets of Korea and it is no wonder why! Soft rolls stuffed with sweet cream cheese and baked in a garlic butter custard coating.

Prep Time2 15

Cook Time30

Total Time2 45

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Cuisine: Korean

Keyword: Appetizer Recipes, Banana Bread Recipe, Garlic Bread, Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread, Korean Recipes, Snack Recipe

Servings: rolls

Calories: 727kcal

Author: Alisa Infanti

Ingredients

Bread

3 ¾ cup bread flour
2 ¼ tsp instant quick-rise dry yeast or 1 packet
3 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk warmed
3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
1 tsp salt

Egg Wash (optional)

1 egg
2 tbsp water

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz cream cheese softened
3 tbsp sugar
¼ cup heavy cream

Garlic Butter Coating

½ cup unsalted butter melted
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
8 cloves garlic chopped
2 tbsp honey
1 ½ tbsp fresh parsley minced

Instructions

Bread

In a large bowl or stand mixer add the bread flour, salt, eggs, sugar, instant yeast, warm milk and melted butter. Mix until it's all combined (some visible flour is ok).
Knead by hand on a lightly floured surface or with a dough hook using a stand mixer until the dough is no longer sticky and becomes smooth and stretchy. Check to see if it passes the window-pane test –when you stretch out a small piece of dough, it doesn’t break easily, it’s very stretchy, and light can shine through it.
Roll the edges of the dough under and tuck then pinch the dough at the bottom to form a smooth tight ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap.
Let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place to let rise until dough is about double in size.
Poke the dough and the indent should stay. Punch down the dough to get rid of all the air. Knead with your hands for another 3-5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll and tuck the dough under each piece to form a smooth tight ball for each one.
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and let them rise for 30 minutes.
In a small bowl mix the egg and water to make an egg wash. Brush with the egg wash if you wish and bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool.

Cream Cheese Filling

Add all of the ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and beat with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy.

Garlic Butter Coating

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside

Assembly

When the buns have cooled enough to handle use a serrated knife to cut each bun 3/4 of the way down into 6 equal slices. Do not cut all the way through.
Fill a piping bag with the cream cheese filling and pipe the cream cheese evenly into the slits of each bun. Be sure to not overfill so you have enough for all the buns.
Dip the entire bun top side down first into the garlic butter mixture. Flip the bun over and make sure to cover the entire bun including the bottom.
Place the coated buns back on the parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350F for another 8-10 minutes. Just enough to set the custardy coating. Keep an eye on them so they don't over-brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before enjoying. Serve warm.

Notes

Storage: Store in the fridge in a tightly sealed container for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or oven at 350F for 5-10 minutes.

Sweetened condensed milk is traditionally used in place of honey for the garlic butter coating and can be subsituted.

Large fresh or frozen store-bought dinner rolls can be used if you do not wish to make fresh bread.

Nutrition