Print

Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread (Bakery-Style 6-Wedge Pull-Apart)

Korean garlic bread
Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

Indulge in Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread, bursting with creamy, buttery garlic goodness in every bite!

Ingredients

Scale

Buns:

  • 6 small brioche buns or homemade milk bread rolls (about 80–90 g each, soft and slightly sweet)

Sweet cream cheese filling:

  • 225 g (8 oz) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
  • 30 g powdered sugar
  • 30 g sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Honey-garlic butter bath:

  • 115 g (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 6 large garlic cloves, finely minced (about 2 tbsp)
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 30 g (2 tbsp) sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • Pinch of black pepper

To finish:

  • Extra chopped parsley for garnish
  • Flaky sea salt (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C / 355°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment.
  2. Cream cheese filling: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with powdered sugar, condensed milk, salt, and vanilla until smooth and pipeable. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip (or a zip-top bag with a 1 cm corner snipped). Refrigerate while you prep the rest.
  3. Cut the buns: stand each bun upright. Using a serrated knife, make 3 vertical cuts in a hashtag/asterisk pattern from the top, going about 3/4 of the way down — you want 6 wedges that stay attached at the base. Do NOT cut all the way through. Set the cut buns on the sheet pan.
  4. Pipe filling: pipe the cream cheese mixture into each cut, distributing about 2 tablespoons total per bun. Don’t overstuff — it expands when baked. Refrigerate the filled buns for 5 minutes to firm up the filling.
  5. Garlic butter bath: In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, minced garlic, beaten egg, condensed milk, honey, parsley, salt, and pepper. The egg thickens it into a custard that clings to the bread and prevents the butter from running off.
  6. Dip: working one at a time, hold each filled bun by the base and submerge top-down into the garlic butter bath for 3–4 seconds, lifting and letting excess drip off. Place back on the sheet pan. Spoon any remaining custard between the wedges.
  7. Bake 10–12 minutes, until the tops are deeply golden and the cream cheese is just bubbling at the cuts. The custard will set into a glossy crust.
  8. Finish: sprinkle with extra parsley and a pinch of flaky salt. Serve warm — the textural contrast of crisp custard exterior, pillowy bread, and melty sweet cream cheese is the whole point.

Notes

  • The dish is sweet AND savory — that’s the signature. If you reduce the condensed milk in the cream cheese filling, you’ll lose the bakery-style flavor balance.
  • The egg in the garlic butter is non-negotiable. It’s what creates the custardy garlic crust that sticks to the bread instead of pooling in the pan.
  • For the homemade route, use Catherine’s milk bread recipe (link in post) and shape into 6 small rolls of ~85 g each. Let them rise as normal, bake, cool fully, then proceed from step 2.
  • Make-ahead: assemble through step 4 (cut + filled buns) and refrigerate up to 6 hours. Make the butter bath fresh and bake just before serving.
  • Egg-free alternative: replace the egg with 2 tbsp full-fat milk + 1 tsp cornstarch slurry. Texture will be slightly less custardy but still delicious.
  • These do NOT reheat well — eat warm from the oven for the right texture experience.

Find it online: https://zhangcatherine.com/korean-cream-cheese-garlic-bread/