Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread Recipe

This might be the ultimate garlic bread. Although I have said that a number of times before. I just love garlic bread in any shape or form!

The Korean street food vendors know a thing or two about delicious snacks. We should look towards Asian street food more often as it is arguably the best in the world. Crispy and garlicky on the surface, creamy and rich in the middle. You don’t want to skip this one! This recipe is for 4 buns. Multiply the amount of ingredients if you wish to make more.

Watch the video down below to see detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the dough –

250g (8.8oz) white flour

100g (3.5oz) cold milk*

2g (0.07oz) dry yeast or three times the amount of fresh yeast

5g (0.2oz) sugar

5g (0.2oz) salt

20g (0.7oz) soft butter

1 medium sized egg

 *To learn more about dough temperature control click here.

For the filling –

200g (7oz) cream cheese

80g (2.8oz) grated cheddar or other ‘stretchy’ cheese.

For the garlic butter topping –

130g (4.6oz) butter

8 cloves of minced garlic

Chopped herbs (I used parsley and dill). The amount and which herbs you use is up to you.

1 egg

Pinch of salt

Method

To make the buns –

1. In a bowl add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, yeast, and egg. Whisk to combine.
2. Add the flour and mix until no dry flour left.
3. Knead the dough for around 5 minutes. Desired dough temperature 24 – 25C (75 – 77F). If your dough is cooler or warmer, then adjust the proofing time up or down accordingly.
4. Cover and proof for 45 minutes.
5. Fold.
6. Proof for 45 minutes.
7. Divide into 4 equal pieces and preshape into rounds.
8. Rest for 30 minutes.
9. Final shape into tight balls. 
10. Final proof for 1 hour. During this time pre-heat your oven to 180C fan off!
11. Bake for around 23 minutes.
12. Let the buns cool down completely.

To make the filling –

1. Whisk together the cream cheese and grated cheese.
2. Place in a piping bag.

To make the garlic butter –

1. Warm the butter until just molten. It must not be hot otherwise the egg will curdle! Max 50C (120F).
2. Add the garlic, herbs, pinch of salt and the egg. Whisk to combine well. 

*You could also simply use softened butter instead of melting it. It may be easier to brush the butter on to the buns if you have a brush instead of dipping them in the molten butter. As always there are various ways to to anything.

To finish the buns –

1. Score them with a knife into desired number of segments. I decided to cut them into 4, but the original ones are cut into 6 or 8 because the buns is supposed to resemble a head of garlic. Do not cut them all the way to the bottom.
2. Pipe in the filling.
3. Dip the buns in the garlic butter and cover them all over. Or brush them with a brush alternatively.
4. Place them on a tray and bake at 180C for 10 minutes.

Enjoy whilst warm and fresh although they will stay soft and nice for quite some time.