This recipe is my take on the famous Korean Cream Cheese Garlic bread/buns. I love a good garlic bread, but this one is something else. I think the cream cheese adds a whole new level of creaminess and a hint of sugar adds the perfect oomph to the entire flavour. Let’s get baking!
Dough:
- 280 gram maida (all-purpose flour)
- 5 gram Active dry yeast
- 60 gram Castor Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 180 millilitre milk (Lukewarm)
- 60 gram unsalted butter (soft and spreadable)
- a few tablespoons water/milk if dough is too dry
Filling:
- 150 gram cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt (adjust according to taste)
Garlic Butter:
- 60 gram salted butter (if using unsalted, add some salt according to taste)
- 10-12 cloves of garlic (crushed or ground to paste, add more or less according to preference)
- 1/2 tablespoon mixed dried herbs of choice
- 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes
Shredded cheese to top the buns (optional)
Make the buns:
In a bowl add the lukewarm milk and caster sugar. Stir to combine and then add the yeast. Stir again and set it aside.
Once the yeast mixture is bubbly, add the sifted dry ingredients (flour & salt). Start kneading the dough, either by hand or using a stand mixer.
Once the dough has come together but is not smooth, add the soft butter. Continue kneading till the dough is very smooth and stretchy.
Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp tea-towel and set it aside to proof. It should take around 1-2 hours to double in size.
Once doubled, invert the dough to a clean surface, gently knead it to bring it together into a smooth ball.
Using a knife or a dough scraper, or just your hands, divide the dough into equal pieces. Depending upon your size preference you can make as many or as little as you like. I divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
Roll each individual piece into a smooth ball and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. The sheet should be large enough to leave space between the dough balls as they will rise again and fluff up in the oven as well.
Loosely cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let the dough rise gain until almost 1.5-2 times its size.
Preheat your oven to 180 C for 15 minutes, while that happens, gently brush the risen buns with milk on top (for browning).
Now bake the buns for roughly 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let them cool while you make the filling and coating.
Filling:
Mix all ingredients together for a few minutes to combine and transfer into a piping bag.
Coating:
Add all the ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and heat it in 30 s increments till the butter is melted completely.
Assembling and Final baking:
Preheat your oven to 190C.
Take a bun and make an “X” through the top of the bun ensuring not to cut all the way through, this makes space for us to pipe the filling inside the bun. (video below)
Using the piping bag, pipe the filling inside these cuts as neatly as possible.
Now dip this bun, cut side down into the melted garlic butter. (once you dip all the buns you can brush the extra garlic butter on all the buns again.) Add shredded cheese on top of the buns.
Repeat for all the buns and place them all on a baking tray and bake for 7-10 minutes till the cheese is melted.
Enjoy warm/hot.
Bakesalotlady™ 