Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Learn how to bake viral Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread from-scratch! The soft, pillowy buns are stuffed with tangy-sweet cream cheese and brushed with a garlic butter glaze. Then they’re baked to golden perfection, boasting a crispy outer crust with a creamy, savoury-sweet center, and an addictive garlicky aroma.

This recipe works even if you don’t have a stand mixer, simply use store-bought buns!

However, if you love baking you may also love this No Knead Whole Wheat Bread recipe. It takes a fair amount of time, but the result is bakery quality bread. Having a dinner party or family get together? Bake up these Easy Dinner Rolls because everyone loves freshly baked bread!

Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

This one is for the garlic lovers. If you love garlic bread with lasagna or barbecue steak, you will adore these cream cheese garlic buns. With 1/2 cup of grated garlic in the garlic butter mixture, no vampire would dare come close!

The first bite delivers a pleasingly crisp crust, followed by the soft, airy warmth of the bread soaked in garlic butter goodness. Then comes the cream cheese—smooth, tangy, and just sweet enough to create an addictive contrast.

The garlicky richness lingers, balancing perfectly with the subtle sweetness, every bite is comforting, indulgent, and utterly addictive! These garlicky buns are such a great treat on their own but also go perfectly with soup, stew, or as a fresh baked brunch option.

What is Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread?

Have you seen this viral Korean style Cream Cheese Garlic Bread?! This incredibly popular South Korean bakery and street food snack has taken the internet (and the rest of the world) by storm.

The key characteristics of Korean garlic bread are a soft, fluffy bread roll often brioche filled with a generous amount of slightly sweet cream cheese. Each bread is dipped or brushed with garlic butter then given a second bake to give the treat its signature crispy crust.

Ingredients for this Recipe

Garlic. Lots of garlic. Just kidding… but really there is a lot of garlic in this recipe. Regular pantry ingredients like bread flour, active dry yeast, granulated sugar are required to make the buns. If you just want to make the filling, you’ll also need cream cheese, whipping cream, butter, mayonnaise, and parsley.

I highly recommend a stand mixer for this recipe. However, you can mix and knead the dough by hand then use a hand mixer for the filling. I personally love large mixing bowls with non slip bottoms for this and other baking recipes.

• Water
• Active Dry Yeast
• Bread Flour
• Milk
• Granulated Sugar
• Eggs
• Honey
• Salt
• Butter
• Cream Cheese
• Heavy Cream
• Garlic
• Mayonnaise
• Parsley

This recipe requires active dry yeast (not instant or rapid rise yeast) as it is the most common yeast used in bread baking. It has small granules and requires warm water or milk (105-110°F / 40-43°C) to become active (bloom).

Bread flour is a high-protein flour, typically milled from hard wheat, and has a protein content ranging from 12-14%. The high protein content encourages more gluten development resulting in a chewier texture, greater volume, and better browning.

This is a decadent, over the top baked treat! Do not substitute lower fat versions for the cream cheese, heavy cream (at least 36% milk fat), or mayonnaise. Feel free to use either salted or unsalted butter according to your salt preference.

How to Make Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

This is the perfect garlic bread recipe, complete with handy tips, tricks, and helpful hints to make your baking experience a success. However, if you aren’t a baker, simply follow the post-baking instructions using store-bought buns.

If you make the buns from scratch (and I hope you try it at least once!), the recipe will take around three hours total time, including proofing time. To simplify things, I have broken the recipe down into steps to make it a touch easier.

Make the Dough

Start by activating the active dry yeast in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. This step isn’t completely necessary, but it will ensure the yeast is active and will do its job in the recipe. To activate, sprinkle active dry yeast into warm water (105-110°F / 40-43°C) and mix until fully combined. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before adding the dough ingredients.

When the yeast is active and bubbly, add bread flour, milk, granulated sugar, eggs, honey and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, mix dough ingredients at medium speed for 3 minutes or until a dough forms.

Add softened unsalted butter and knead for 8-10 minutes at medium speed until the dough passes the windowpane test (light shows through when the dough is stretched thin).

Finally, cover the mixer bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and let the dough rise for 1 hour at 82-91℉ (28-33℃). While the dough is resting, prepare the cream cheese filling.

Make the Cream Cheese Filling

To make the filling, place softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl.

Next, add chilled whipping cream to a second high sided mixing bowl. Add sugar to the whipping cream and beat using a hand mixer at medium speed until it thickens to a yogurt-like texture. Do not overbeat!

Gradually add and beat sweetened whipping cream into the cream cheese until the mixture is smooth and well combined. Transfer the cream cheese filling into a piping bag and set aside.

Make the Garlic Butter Sauce

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine melted butter, whipping cream, fine granulated sugar, grated garlic, dried parsley, mayonnaise, and salt. Stir until fully combined then set aside.

Shape and Bake the Buns

When the dough has doubled in size, transfer to a clean surface and roll to remove air bubbles. Next, divide the dough into 12 equal portions (approx. 1.5-1.7 oz / 45-50g each).

Shape each piece into a round ball and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover and let the dough rise for another 45 minutes at 82-91℉ (28-33℃).

Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Allow the buns to cool completely before assembling.

Finish the Buns

Now for the fun part! If you are using store bought buns, start here.

Use a sharp serrated knife to make 4 cuts on each bun without slicing all the way through, ensuring the sections remain connected at the base. There should be 8 wedges in the bread all connected at the bottom.

Next, pipe cream cheese filling into each section then place the filled bun on parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat for all buns.

Brush garlic sauce generously over each filled bun. If you like, you can sprinkle some grated Parmesan Cheese over the buns for extra cheesy flavour. Bake at 350℉ (180℃) for an additional 10 minutes. Serve breads warm or at room temperature.

How to Store Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw and reheat in an air fryer or oven at 350℉ (180℃) for 8 minutes.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

1. Yeast activation. Use warm water (100-110°F / 38-43°C). Water that’s too hot will kill the yeast, preventing proper rising.
2. What is a windowpane test? It is a test to check whether your dough is properly kneaded. You may check it by stretching a small portion of dough between your fingers. Properly kneaded dough should stretch into a thin, elastic sheet without tearing.
3. Dough resting tip. If your kitchen is cool, place the dough in an oven (turned off) with a bowl of warm water to create a warm, humid environment.
4. What if my dough doesn’t rise properly?

• The yeast might be expired or inactive. Try proofing it in warm water with a bit of sugar to check.
• The water temperature could be too hot (which kills the yeast) or too cold (which slows activation).
• The environment might be too cool. Place the dough in a warm spot, like an oven with the light on or near a bowl of warm water.

5. Cut the bun into 6/8 parts but don’t cut all the way through! Make sure all the sections of buns are well connected so that the sections can hold the cream cheese fillings. The authentic Korean cream cheese garlic buns are sliced into 6 sections, but we opted for 8 to allow more surface area for the garlic butter to soak in.

Hi! I’m Bernice Hill and I am the recipe developer, photographer, and writer here at Dish ‘n’ the Kitchen. It is my pleasure to share easy to follow recipes that are delicious, nutritious, and approachable for the whole family.

If you make this Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread recipe, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section or in a recipe rating. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please share your photos and tag me on Instagram. I hope you like this recipe!