Have you tried Korean-style cream cheese garlic breads before?

I’ve been to South Korea twice and i love everything about it – the Korean culture, fashion but mostly their food. While the Korean cuisine is extensive and vibrant, cafe culture is also tremendously huge. There is an abundance of coffee shops and bakeries that line the streets of Seoul, which in turns give rise to various types of delicious pastries and cakes. Paying a visit to one of the Korean bakeries is a must when visiting South Korea.

These Korean-style cream cheese garlic breads are definitely making another wave on social media so i thought it’s about time i’d give it a try. Popularised by bakeries in South Korea, these cream cheese garlic breads are a play on sweet and salty, rich and indulgent, definitely not for the faint hearted. Personally, I find these breads great tasting but i could never finish one whole bun by myself, the creaminess from the cheese cream makes it very indulgent and subsequently heavy. Nonetheless, would definitely make this again to share with friends and family 🙂

The ingredients you’ll need for this recipe and some tips to help you along the way!

1. The bread: Milk buns would be best for this recipe as it pairs well with the cream cheese and garlic butter. I actually used uncut brioche burger buns that are readily sold in big supermarkets and they turned out great. I’ve also seen it done with bagels and croissants. In my opinion, bagels would too dense and bready for this, while the butteriness in croissants would make it too rich and heavy with the cream cheese and garlic butter. As long as you have a light and fluffy bread to serve as a vessel for the filling, i think it would turn out well!
2. Cream cheese: Block cream cheese or spreadable cream cheese are fine. But just remember to leave your block of cream cheese out for a few hours to soften.
3. Sugar: it’s going to be a sweet cream cheese filling. Again, we’re playing with sweet and salty here (which is a super popular flavour combination in South Korea) but you could definitely adjust the sweetness level in this recipe if you prefer a more savoury profile.
4. Heavy cream: this is needed to create a lighter texture for the cream cheese filling and loosen it up a little bit so it’s easier to pipe. Optional but highly recommended.
5. Garlic butter: the base of the garlic butter is going to be butter, minced garlic and salt. Just the typical ingredients you’ll find in most garlic butters. We will also be adding sugar to this – yes, it will be sweet and yes, you can adjust but i highly encourage you to explore the sweet and salty flavour combo! The egg is needed to ensure the garlic butter sticks to the bread when baked. Parsley adds colour, flavour and health lol.
6. Parmesan cheese: i highly encourage you to use the fresh parmesan block of cheese and grate the cheese yourself – the flavour would be more fresh and strong. If you only have access to the pre-grated packet ones then that’s fine too!
7. Storage: highly recommend you to consume these fresh out of the oven and within 1 hour for best taste. If this is not doable, you can store them in an air-tight container and in the fridge for up to 2 days. When you’re ready to consume them, just pop them on a baking tray and into the oven at 180C/350F for 5-10 minutes or until it’s heated through. You could also use an airfry for this! Just remember leaving bread in the fridge keeps your bread fresher for longer but it also tends to dry out your bread – so 2 days is enough, any longer it might dry out your buns!

Ingredients

4 milk buns
Parmesan cheese

Cream cheese:
250g cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp heavy cream

Garlic Butter:
100g butter, melted
1 egg
1/3 cup parsley, minced
1-2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 tbsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
2. Cream cheese: In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the cream cheese filling and mix well. Transfer filling into a piping bag.
3. With a serrated knife, make 3 slices into your milk buns WITHOUT cutting all the way through. You want the bottom of the buns to still be intact. Then pipe the cream cheese filling into the slits you have made in your milk buns. [NOTE: The more cream cheese you pipe into these slits, the heavier and indulgent the breads will be, just keep that in mind!] And if your buns break, that’s okay! Just use the cream cheese to glue the pieces together, they will stay intact while you bake. Set them aside
4. Garlic butter: combine all the ingredients for your garlic butter into a bowl and mix well. Take 1 filled bun at a time and dunk it into the garlic butter mixture, get it coated evenly on all surfaces and place on a lined baking tray. Repeat for all your buns.
5. Grate parmesan over the buns and bake for 10-12 minutes. Best enjoyed slightly warm.