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5 from 2 votes

Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Just think of this Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread recipe as your favourite garlic bread taken up a notch. The sweet and salty flavour gives this bread a unique taste.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Korean
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Proofing Time 2 hours
Servings 24 wedges
Calories 141kcal
Author Sushma Iyer

Ingredients

Bun Ingredients

  • 125 ml (1/2 cup) Milk
  • 60 gms (1/4 cup) Yogurt
  • 30 gms (2 tbsp) Sugar
  • 6 gms (1.5 tsp) Instant Yeast
  • 240 gms (2 cups) Bread Flour
  • 15 gms (2 tbsp) Milk Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 20 gms Unsalted Butter

Sweetened Cream Cheese filling

  • 200 gms (approx 1 cup ) Cream Cheese softened
  • 50 gms (1/4 cups) Cream
  • 30 gms (3.5 tbsp) Sugar

Garlic Butter Sauce

  • 50 gms (1/4 cup) Milk
  • 1 tbsp Cornflour
  • 113 gms (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter melted
  • 30 gms (1.5 tbsp) Condensed Milk
  • 20 gms (1 tbsp) Honey
  • 30 gms Chopped Garlic
  • 5 gms Coriander leaves or Parsley
  • 1/4 tsp Salt

Instructions

Step 1 - Prepare the Korean Garlic Bun

  • Dump all the ingredients in a bowl starting with milk and yogurt. Give a gentle mix and add the dry ingredients starting with sugar, yeast, flour, milk powder and salt.
  • Combine to form a shaggy mass of dough. Transfer to your worktop and knead for 5 mins. Then incorporate the softened butter and knead until you get a soft and elastic dough. It took me around 20 mins to reach this stage. You can also try the window pane method to confirm.
  • If using a stand mixer add all the ingredients except for butter. Knead on med to high speed for 6 mins, then add the softened butter and knead again for another 8 mins.
  • Lightly oil the same bowl in which you kneaded the dough, place the dough into it, cling wrap and allow for first proofing which is 1.5 hours. You can cut the time to 45 mins if proofing in the Instant Pot.
  • To proof in the Instant Pot place the dough in the oiled inner pot. Choose the Yogurt mode and set the time to 45 mins.
  • Once proofed, punch down the dough to remove any gases, transfer to your worktop and knead for another minute.
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
  • Take each part and shape to form a tight roundel by first tucking the sides to the centre and then pushing the dough with your thumb and fore fingers.
  • Place the shaped dough onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, loosely cover with a tea towel and proof again for 30 mins.
  • Once proofed bake in the pre-heated oven of 180°C for 20 mins or until the top is golden brown and bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
  • Once baked brush the top with some butter to soften the crust. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Alternatively you can also bake the buns in an air fryer at 180°C for 10-12 mins. Do remember to preheat the air fryer for 3 mins.

Step 2 - Cream Cheese Filling

  • In a bowl, whisk the softened cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
  • Add the whipping cream and icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
  • Transfer to a piping bag and set aside.

Step 3 - Garlic Butter Custard Sauce

  • In a saucepan mix the milk and cornflour until the cornflour dissolves. Then cook them together on med flame until it forms a sauce like consistency. Transfer to a separate bowl to cool completely.
  • To a separate bowl, add the melted butter, now cooled cornflour slurry, condensed milk, honey, chopped garlic, chopped coriander leaves and salt. Mix everything until it is homogenous.

Step 4 - Assembling the Korean Garlic Bread

  • Make 3 cuts on the bread bun to form 6 wedges keeping the base of the bread intact.
  • Pipe the prepared cream cheese filling on each side.
  • Then take the entire bun and dunk it upside down on to the garlic butter custard sauce to coat the bread well. Turn it to the right position and spoon some extra sauce in between the slices and also on top of the bread.
  • Place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the other 3 bread buns too.
  • Bake in a preheated oven of 200°C for 10-12 mins or until the crust becomes crispy and the inside remains gooey and cheesy.
  • Alternatively you can also crisp up the bread bun in your air-fryer at 200°C for 5 to 8 mins. Remember to pre-heat the air fryer for 3 mins at 200°C before placing the buns.
  • Enjoy warm.

Video

Notes

Substitutions:
  1. Yogurt in the Bread Dough - Use 1 egg instead
  2. Bread Flour - with APF or Maida. 
  3. Milk Powder - Can be skipped if not available easily.
  4. Milk and Cornstarch in the Garlic Butter Sauce - Skip preparing the cornstarch slurry and instead use 1 egg. 
Notes:
  1. I always prefer and recommend using Instant Yeast to make a Bread dough at home because it can be directly incorporated with the rest of the ingredients without having the need to activate it first.
  2. Whenever you are making a bread dough, ensure that your liquid ingredients - milk in this case is warm, neither hot nor cold and the yogurt or the eggs are at room temperature.
  3. Never add salt and yeast in one go as salt inhibits the activity of yeast and your dough would a little extra time to proof. Follow the order mentioned in the recipe.
  4. Adding milk and milk products like milk powder and yogurt enriches the dough and keep the end product soft, light and fluffy. I use full fat milk powder by Nestle (not sponsored).
  5. Don't shy away from dunking the buns very well in the garlic butter sauce. You want all the sides as well as the interiors of the bread to be filled with the sauce.
  6. You can use store bought bread to make this recipe instead of making the bread from scratch. I would recommend using a brioche bun for this recipe. Just make the filling at home, slice the bread, fill and bake. Won't take you more than 10 mins to put it together. 
  7. Being an enriched dough with a heavy and rich filling you cannot eat more than 2-3 wedges at a time. The recipe makes 4 buns and each bun makes 6 wedges so in all you get 24 wedges which can be served to 12 people.
  8. Adding a tbsp of nutritional yeast to the garlic butter sauce would improve its flavour quotient but remember not to serve it to children below 13 years of age.

Nutrition

Calories: 141kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 26mg | Sodium: 158mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 319IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg
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