Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Buns

Make these Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Buns for a deliciously unique and sweet take on garlic bread.   

These garlic buns are rumored to have begun as a trendy street food in the city of Gangneung in South Korea. 

They are evidently super popular in Gangnam, Seoul's fashionable district (remember "Gangnam Style?") and are the signature bread at the popular Korean bakery, Pain Famille. They are also known as six-sided cream garlic buns, or yukjjok (six-leaf). 

These buns include lightly sweetened cream cheese tucked into a roll that is then drenched in a buttery, savory, and sweet garlic sauce and then baked until crispy and warm. 

Sweet garlic bread? Yes!! After baking these, I promptly devoured one while standing at the kitchen counter. It was that tasty. 

How to Make These Korean Garlic Buns:

First you make the buns with flour, milk, sugar, milk powder, salt, egg, and a small amount of butter. Give them an egg or milk wash right before baking. 

The dough requires quite a bit of kneading. If you have a stand mixer, it will be much easier, but you can knead the dough by hand. It should be super smooth. Bake the buns and let them cool. 

Next, make the cream cheese filling by blending room temperature cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a little heavy cream. Cut the rolls into six sections and pipe the cream cheese between the cuts and then dip the rolls in a mixture of melted butter, lots of garlic, a bit of mayonnaise, honey, and chopped parsley. 

Finally, top the rolls with a small blob of the cream cheese mixture and a sprinkling of panko bread crumbs (see photo below of the bread before baking) and bake then a second time for about 15 minutes. 

Eat them while still warm. 

Recipe Variations:

Although these homemade buns have just the right texture and flavor, for a quick and easy way to make these buns, you can use store bought brioche burger buns that have not been pre-sliced by the store. 

For the garlic butter sauce, you can substitute sweetened condensed milk for the mayo and honey, and for the fresh parsley, you can substitute half the amount in dried parsley. 

Finally, you can also sprinkle the rolls with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese along with the panko breadcrumbs. 

My cream cheese "blob" on top melted into the buns. 

Make-Ahead and Reheating:

You can bake the buns the night before and then fill and rebake them with the garlic butter the next day. 

If you have leftovers, these buns can also be frozen and then reheated at 350 degrees F for five to six minutes. 

The Bread Baking Babes are making these Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Buns. Our host is My Diverse Kitchen who adapted it from Poke the Dough. 

After the recipe, be sure to take a peek at all of the babes' versions of these buns. 

Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Buns

Yield: 8 Buns

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 1 HourCook time: 35 MinInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 3 H & 35 M

Make these Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Buns for a deliciously unique and sweet take on garlic bread.

Ingredients

For the Buns

• 160 ml (generous half cup plus 2 tablespoons) milk
• 30 grams (2 1/2 tablespoons) sugar
• 5 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) instant yeast
• 315 grams (2 1/2 cups) all purpose or bread flour
• 15 grams (1/8 cup) milk powder (I used nonfat)
• 3 grams (1/2 teaspoon) salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 20 grams (1 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• Egg wash or milk wash

For the Cream Cheese Filling

• 225 grams (1 cup) cream cheese, room temperature
• 30 grams (2 1/2 tablespoons) powdered sugar
• 30 ml (1/8 cup) heavy cream

For the Garlic Butter

• 120 grams (1 stick) salted butter
• 8 to 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 cup mayonnaise
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• Panko breadcrumbs for topping

Instructions

For the Buns

1. Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and knead until everything is incorporated. Add the butter and knead on medium low for about 10 minutes, until smooth.
2. Form the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes.
3. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Divide the dough into eight pieces and shape each into a ball. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Brush with the egg or milk wash and bake the buns for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

To Make the Sweet Cream Cheese

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients. Place them in a piping bag.

To Make the Garlic Butter

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the panko in a small mixing bowl.

To Assemble and Bake

1. Heat the oven to 330 degrees F.
2. Cut the buns into 6 wedges, crossing at the middle, being careful not to cut all the way through.
3. Pipe the cream cheese mixture between the wedges of each bun, leaving a little to top each bun.
4. Dip the buns, top side down, into the bowl of garlic butter. Be sure to coat the top and sides. Place them on the parchment lined baking sheet and sprinkle them with panko bread crumbs. Top each with a squeeze of the cream cheese mixture.
5. Bake the buns for 15 minutes, until the tops are crispy and the panko is golden.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

511

Fat (grams)

32 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

18 g

Carbs (grams)

47 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

46 g

Sugar (grams)

16 g

Protein (grams)

11 g

Cholesterol (grams)

121 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2023/05/korean-cream-cheese-garlic-buns.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

garlic bread, buns, street food

Bread

Korean

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