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Easy Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
A street food that has taken the world by storm, our easy Korean cream cheese garlic bread uses less sugar and a bit more salt for better contrast in flavor.
Baking your own bread is not necessary. But pay extra attention to the balance of saltiness and sweetness when mixing the cream cheese filling and the garlic butter.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine Korean
Servings 4 people
Homebaked Korean cream cheese garlic bread and coffee

Ingredients
  

  • 4 large dinner rolls or hamburger buns

Cream cheese filling

  • 1 cup cream cheese softened to room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • salt (optional)

Garlic butter

  • ¾ cup butter softened to room temperature
  • 1 ½ tablespoons milk
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons granulated garlic
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • ¾ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
  • 1 large egg

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350F.

Toast the bread

  • Line a baking tray with non-stick paper or silicone mat.
  • Arrange the buns on the tray and toast for five minutes (see notes after the recipe).
  • Take the tray out of the oven and allow the buns to cool a bit.
  • Turn down the oven temperature to 320F.

Mix the cream cheese filling

  • In a bowl, whisk the cream cheese and sugar.
  • Taste. If your cream cheese is on the not-so-salty side, add just enough salt to create a good balance. Start with a pinch, mix, taste and add more if needed.
    Mixing cream cheese with sugar and salt, and putting the mixture in a piping bag
  • Scoop the cream cheese filling into a piping bag fitted with a large tip (the shape of the tip doesn't matter).

Make the garlic butter

  • In a mixing bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the garlic butter (except the egg) until smooth.
    Mixing softened butter with granulated garlic, parsley, sugar and egg
  • Add the egg and whisk until fully blended.

Make the Korean cream cheese garlic bread

  • Cut each bun into eight segments without going all the way through (the bottom should be in one piece).
    Cutting a bun into eighths, and piping cream cheese between the segments
  • Pipe the cream cheese filling between the segments of each bun.
  • Dunk the filled buns into the garlic butter mixture one by one, turning them over to make sure that every part of the bread, including the crevices with the filling, is coated.
    Drunking cream cheese filled buns in garlic butter and egg mixture
  • Arrange the buns on the same tray where they were toasted.
  • Bake the buns for 15 minutes.
    Homebaked Korean cream cheese garlic bread
  • Serve your Korean cream cheese garlic bread immediately.

Notes

Toasting the bread creates a light crust. It makes cutting easier as there's less tendency for the bread to get squished. It also prevents the cream cheese garlic bread from acquiring a soggy texture despite being dunked in the garlic butter mixture.
Keyword Street Food