Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

I’m always seeing videos of people making Korean cream cheese garlic bread. I love garlic bread. So I knew it would taste good. But I didn’t realise the taste would be so different. 

The first time I tried it I was kind of flabbergasted….but in a good way.

This is not your regular degular garlic bread, it has like a sweet, salty, creamy combo that makes it so good!

Top view of korean garlic bread bun

Video Tutorial

Making the bread buns

For these, I made the bread buns myself, you absolutely don’t need to do this. It will be much quicker and easier if you don’t but fresh bread is always better in my personal opinion.

I made milk bread buns for this, if you’re buying it, brioche works great too. You could use whatever kind of bread you want. 

I’ve still included the recipe to make the bread buns though. If you are going to make them, here are a few tips:

The tangzhong:

When making the dough, a tangzhong is going to be the first thing you make. It doesn’t take long, all you do it heat some flour and water together.

This makes the bread a lot more softer and fluffier so don’t skip it!

Dividing the dough:

I divided this dough into 5 pieces, to make 5 bread buns. If you wanted bigger buns you could divide the dough into 4 instead, or if you want to make smaller ones, divide it into 6. It’s totally up to you.

Make sure to adjust the baking time though, they might need longer or less time, depending on the size of them.

Getting a shiny top:

To give the top of the buns a golden brown shiny finish to them, there are 2 things you can do.

The first is to egg wash them right before baking. Just get an egg, whisk it, brush the tops of the buns with this, then bake. 

Then the second thing is to brush them with some melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. This makes the buns shiny and also adds some flavour.

Both of these are optional, you don’t have to do it but it is worth it. 

Single bread bun before baking
Single bread bun after baking

Assembling

So assembling these is pretty simple. You just need to cut into the bread, add the cream cheese, then dip them into the garlic mixture. 

The only thing I have to say is, when adding the cream cheese mixture, I know you might want to stuff them with it as much of it as you can. 

I recommend not adding too much, if you do it just kind of melts and them makes a mess when baking them.

But other than that…..that is all, let’s get into it!

Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Ingredients
Makes: 5

  • For the tangzhong:
  • 20g plain flour

  • 100ml water

  • For the dough:
  • 320g plain flour

  • 30g granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 8g instant yeast

  • 1 egg

  • 120ml warm milk

  • The tangzhong

  • 25g soft unsalted butter

  • Garlic mixture:
  • 125g butter

  • 5 cloves garlic

  • 1 teaspoon parsley

  • 15g granulated sugar

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1 egg

  • 50ml double cream

  • 2 tablespoon parmesan

  • For the cream cheese mixture:
  • 300g cream cheese

  • 60ml double cream

  • 50g granulated sugar

Directions

  • Making the tangzhong:
  • In a pot, mix together the flour and water. Place this pot over medium-low heat and keep heating this, whiles constantly stirring, until you get a thick mixture. Leave this in the fridge for 5 minutes to cool.
  • Making the dough:
  • In a large bowl, add all the ingredients for the dough, except the butter. Also make sure to remember to add in the tangzhong you just made.
  • Mix all this together until a dough forms, then add in the butter and knead for 8 minutes. This is going to be a sticky dough, don't worry that's normal.
  • Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in volume.
  • Making the buns:
  • Once the dough has risen, divide it into 5 pieces and then roll these pieces into balls. Again, this is a sticky dough so use some flour to help.
  • Add these dough balls onto a baking paper lined tray, then leave these to rise again for about 30-40 minutes. This time you don't need them to double in volume, they should just look slightly puffier and feel softer when you touch them.
  • After they have risen, brush them with an egg wash and bake in an 180c/350f pre-heated oven for around 25 minutes. As soon as they come out, I like to brush them with some melted butter.
  • Making the garlic mixute:
  • Start by melting the butter, then mince your garlic. Add the garlic into the melted butter along with the parsley, sugar and salt. Leave this aside to cool down a bit.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, double cream and parmesan. Now pour the cooled butter mixture into this, whiles whisking at the same time.
  • Making the cream cheese mixture:
  • In a bowl, just mix together the cream cheese, double cream and sugar until you get a smooth mixture.
  • Putting everything together:
  • Pre-heat your oven to 200c/400f.
  • Get your cooled bread buns and cut them into 6 pieces. Make sure not to cut through the bread completely, you want them to stay together.
  • Pipe some cream cheese into the cuts you made, then dip the buns completely into the garlic mixture. Hold the buns upside down to let any excess drip off, then put them onto a tray.
  • I sprinkled the tops with some flaky salt then baked them for around 10-15 minutes. If you want a crispier bread you can bake them for longer.
  • Let these cool down for a few minutes then enjoy!
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