KOREAN CREAM CHEESE GARLIC BREAD

8th August 2020

Bread making is truly an art and we are apprentices. Let us just remind you that we’re not professional bakers! We just love to BAKE and experiment in the kitchen. Kneading the dough is such a form of therapy. It sparks joy and creativity. It’s like play dough to a child. Being a beginner in bread making, I realised how much of a task, patience and time is invested to produce a freshly baked product. However, smelling that freshly baked aroma that encapsulates the household is such a rewarding pleasure. Those little things in life that we tend to neglect. So please appreciate and give some little love to your artisan bakers and local bakeries. They’ve poured so much love and sweat (literally!) to bring us bread.

Okay, so we’re back to our Korean feature. This specific bread has been storming social media for quite some time now and we might be a little late but the the quest continues. If not for this pandemic, we should’ve personally devoured this cream cheese garlic bread if our flight wasn’t cancelled last March. I guess, we have to wait until next year to fly. On a positive note, this pandemic taught us a lot of things. Having spent more time indoors, we we’re able to start this blog and our You tube channel that we have been planning for years. And we have learned to make bread and a whole lot more. Having said that, we tried to experiment at home and this recipe didn’t let us down. Don’t be anxious if your bread might turn out dry because in the end, it will soak up all the creamy goodness from the cream cheese and garlic mixture. This specific recipe yields 4 large sized bread or 8 medium sized buns. Let me tell you, the process of this bread takes longer than it is to consume it. It is that good that you can’t wait to make another batch. Happy Baking! xoxo

KOREAN CREAM CHEESE GARLIC BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

BREAD

• 400 grams bread flour
• 220 mls cold milk
• 45 grams melted butter
• 5 grams salt
• 1 large egg
• 7 grams active dry yeast or instant yeast
• 10 grams sugar

BUTTER MIXTURE

• 1 egg
• 100 grams butter
• 20 grams milk
• 40 grams honey
• 50 grams minced garlic
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp parsley

CREAM CHEESE

• 150 grams cream cheese
• 40 grams granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

BREAD

1. Mix the dry ingredients. In the bowl of your mixer (or large mixing bowl if you’re kneading by hand), add flour,sugar,salt and active dry/instant yeast. Mix with a whisk.
2. Make a well in the center. Using a spatula, make a well in the center and add the egg,melted butter and milk.
3. Mix the mixture. Start mixing the mixture with the mixer attachment or a spatula if you’re not using a mixer. Ensure that everything is well combined.
4. Switch to dough hook attachment. If you’re using your hands, knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is supple, smooth and elastic. You can do a window pane test at this point.  If you can stretch the dough without it breaking, that means the gluten is well-developed and your dough is ready to rise.
5. Place in a lightly oiled bowl.  Roll and tuck dough under to form a smooth ball. Place in a lightly-oiled bowl and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap.
6. Let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place. I used my oven preheated to 50 degrees Celsius but turned it off after 10 minutes or so. It is a challenge to rise bread in winter! (Yes, it’s winter down under from June-August).
7. Dough is ready when it has doubled in size. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it in an oiled surface. Usually, it is placed in a floured surface but we don’t want to add more flour into our dough.
8. Divide in 4 equal pieces. We wanted to make a bigger version so we divided the dough into 4 pieces. But you can make 8 medium sized pieces if you prefer a smaller version but it’s quite difficult to add the filling if the bread is too small.
9. Roll and tuck the dough under. Roll the dough into a smooth ball and tuck it under to ensure no sides will open when baking.
10. Transfer to a baking sheet. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and let them rise for 30 minutes.
11. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Optionally, brush with egg wash. We left it as it is.
12. Bread is ready when it sounds hollow. Take it out of the oven to rest.

***While the bread is baking, start making the filling.

CREAM CHEESE:

• In a large bowl, smooth out the room temperature cream cheese. Make sure it is soft. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.
• Put the finished product in a piping bag and set aside.

GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE:

• In a bowl, whisk the egg, add the melted butter (make sure it’s not hot or else you’ll end up with scrambled egg). in a medium bowl. Add milk,honey,minced garlic,mayonnaise and parsley.
• Whisk thoroughly until combined. Set aside.

ASSEMBLY:

• Slice each bread roll into 6 sections. Make sure not to cut all the way for each cut, but still close to the bottom. We want these sections to still be attached.
• Pipe in the cream cheese mixture in-between each bread section.
• Dip the bread into the garlic butter until it’s evenly coated – get the insides as well. Wear gloves to keep your hands clean.
• Place each bread roll on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 330F.
• While hot out of the oven, sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese, we also added some parmesan shavings. This is optional.
• Serve fresh and enjoy!

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MAKE KOREAN CREAM CHEESE GARLIC BREAD AT HOME!

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