Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Stuffed with sweet cream cheese and dunked in a custardy butter sauce, Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread is more decadent than the original.

Leave it to the Korean street food scene to dream up this creation.  This bread is garlicky and buttery like you’d expect from a normal garlic bread.  But it’s also sweet and cheesy.  It’s crunchy on the outside and soft and custardy on the inside.  It’s basically a cross between traditional garlic bread and a sweet cheese danish. 

The sweet, buttery, garlicky flavors all work so well together, that it’s no wonder that this bread has taken the internet by storm. 

What is Korean cream cheese garlic bread?

Korean cream cheese garlic bread is a version of garlic bread that’s stuffed with a sweet cream cheese filling, dunked in a custard of butter, half and half and garlic, and then baked. 

The bread has become a popular street food item in Korea, and has started to trend on the internet globally as well.

How is Korean cream cheese garlic bread different from regular garlic bread?

There are two main differences between the Korean version and the original. 

The first and most obvious difference is that the Korean version is filled with a sweet cream cheese. 

The second difference is in the type of butter used.  Regular garlic bread uses a mixture of butter, garlic, and some Italian spices like oregano or parsley. 

The Korean version uses a butter sauce that more closely resembles a custard.  This mixture contains butter and garlic in addition to eggs, half and half, and sugar.  The mixture is gently cooked over the stove to thicken it into a custard. 

Because of the cream cheese filling and the sweet custardy butter, the Korean version is richer and more decadent than regular garlic bread. 

Ingredients for Korean cream cheese garlic bread

Bread.  This recipe uses two premade, white bread rolls.  Each roll is about 6 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall.  Sure, you could bake your own bread.  But using premade rolls gets you to your garlicky, buttery, cheesy goal quicker.

Cream cheese filling

Cream cheese, sugar, half and half.  Whisk cream cheese with sugar and half and half to make a sweet filling for the bread.  This recipe uses three tablespoons of sugar to six ounces of cream cheese, resulting in a truly sweet filling.

Butter sauce

Butter.  A full stick of butter (½ cup) is melted down as the base of the sauce to dunk your bread in.  Healthy, this recipe is not.  But it sure tastes great.

Garlic.  Two full tablespoons of minced garlic goes into the butter sauce, making sure that this bread has a strong enough garlic flavor.

Half and half.  Dairy is mixed with the butter to create a velvety sauce.

Egg.  The egg is a key ingredient to this recipe because it gives the sauce its custardy texture.  By gently cooking the egg with the other ingredients, the sauce will thicken up and start to get the texture of a loose custard.

Parsley.  The parsley gives the bread a bit of subtle fresh flavor and some color.  Since it’s so subtle, feel free to skip it.

Sugar.  Sugar gives the sauce a sweetness which contrasts so well against the butter and garlic.

For topping

Parmesan cheese.  Shave an ounce of parmesan cheese on top of the bread before baking it to add some umami and to give it a nice crunch on top.

How to make Korean cream cheese garlic bread

To make this recipe, you’ll stuff the bread with a sweet cream cheese filling, dunk it in a butter sauce, and then bake it.

Make the cream cheese filling

Let the cream cheese soften to room temperature.  You can also microwave it for 10-20 seconds to speed up the process.  Once softened, whisk the cream cheese with the sugar and half and half until it’s smooth and no lumps remain.

Slice the bread

First you’ll slice the bread so that you can fill it with the cream cheese filling.  Make four slices about two-thirds of the way through the bread, resulting in eight pieces or sections.  The most important part of this step is to not cut all the way through the bread.  Just cut partly through it.

Stuff the bread

Now that you’ve sliced the bread, you’ll stuff it with the cream cheese filling.  First add the cream cheese to a pastry bag or to a ziploc bag.  If using a ziploc bag, cut off the corner of the bag.

Now pipe the cream cheese directly into each cut you made.  And then pipe more cheese directly into the center of the bread.

Make the butter sauce

You’ll be gently cooking the sauce in a bowl that’s sitting over a pot of boiling water, using a method that’s called a double boiler.  I know, I know.  It sounds challenging and unnecessary, but it’s actually really easy.  It’s also needed to get the butter sauce to the right consistency since it gently cooks the egg and fully incorporates it into the sauce without scrambling it.

To cook the sauce, put two to three inches of water in a large pot and bring it to a simmer on your stovetop.  

Now place a heatproof metal or glass bowl directly on top of the pot.  

While the water’s still simmering, add all of the sauce ingredients to the bowl.  Now cook them, stirring constantly, for about five minutes until all the butter is melted and the sauce thickens.  Remove the bowl from the stove.  

Dunk the bread and top with cheese

Now dunk the bread directly into the sauce.  Use a spoon to pour the sauce all over every surface of the bread.  Try to get the sauce inside all of the cuts you’ve made by repeatedly spooning butter on top of the bread.

Place the sauced bread on a parchment-lined sheet tray.  Shave an ounce of parmesan on top of the bread (half an ounce per loaf).

Bake

Now bake the bread at 400° for 15-18 minutes.  Rotate the tray halfway through baking to ensure even browning.

Tips for making Korean cream cheese garlic bread

Slicing the bread correctly and gently cooking the sauce are key.

1. Don’t cut all the way through the bread

When you make slices in the bread, make sure that you don’t cut all the way through.  Make four even slices in your bread that go two-thirds through the bread.

2. Don’t skip the double boil method for making the sauce 

Double boiling is a method of cooking that stresses heating the ingredients gently.  It’s used for sauces like hollandaise, for melting chocolate, and to create custard.    

To double boil something, bring water in a pot to a gentle simmer.  Then place a heatproof bowl on top of that pot, without touching the water.  Add the ingredients to the top bowl and stir.  

The steam from the simmering water will come into contact with the top bowl and gently cook your ingredients.  This guide gives more information on how easy it is to double boil.

Double boiling can seem intimidating or like it’s not worth the effort.  When I developed this recipe I considered cooking the sauce directly on the stovetop, or even microwaving it, to make the recipe easier and more accessible.

But in the end I chose the double boil method because I really wanted the sauce to achieve a true custardy texture.  

Double boiling is important for the custardy texture because you do not want to overheat the egg.  Cooking the egg too quickly could overheat the yolk and break the emulsion that needs to happen for this sauce.

Once you’ve tried double boiling, you’ll see that it’s actually super easy and also fun to do.  So I encourage you to give it a try to see for yourself how this method improves the texture of your sauce.

What to serve with Korean cream cheese garlic bread

Korean street food.  For a night of Korean street food, try this bread with rose tteokbokki, the Korean rice cakes cooked in a spicy, creamy gochujang sauce.