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Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

A soft, savory, and sweet treat that’s impossible to resist.

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I am part of a monthly supper club where every month we gather to cook a meal from a different region or maybe just according to a theme. Last month was “Korean Street Food,” and since that happens to be something I have very little familiarity with I naturally turned right to Google. It turns out when you enter “Korean street food” into a search engine, a lot of delicious looking stuff comes up, but there was one thing I instantly knew I had to make: these Cream Cheese Garlic Bread Rolls. I mean, just look at them!

It’s garlic bread, but in roll form, and then stuffed with cream cheese! Yes please to all of that. But then I started to actually look at recipes and things got even more interesting. There’s sweetened condensed milk involved. And powdered sugar. With the garlic and the butter and the parsley and such.

I didn’t entirely know what I was in for — except for something certainly sweet and savory — but I knew that I couldn’t wait to try it and I’m so glad I did. These are delicious. They’re unlike any other garlic bread I’ve ever had because, yes, they’re sweet, but they’re creamy and plenty garlicky too. It just works, and it works so well. Here’s how you go about it:

You want a pack of a dozen rolls. Regular ol’ dinner rolls work fine but so do Hawaiian rolls. They can be attached or detached, but you do want them to be soft.

Slice into each one to create six wedges or petals, but take care not to slice all the way through. The bottom should stay attached and intact.

Then you’re going to pipe a mixture of cream cheese and powdered sugar into those slits you made, filling them about halfway full.

You might balk at the powdered sugar, but just try it. At least once.

Then you’re going to dip that entire roll in garlic butter. But let’s talk about what’s in it.

There’s melted butter. And garlic. Sure. There’s parsley, salt, an egg, and heavy cream. And then there’s also sweetened condensed milk.

Much like the powdered sugar above, just go ahead and give it a try. At least once.

Make sure the bottom and top are well coated and then tuck that buttery baby onto a baking sheet. (You definitely want to line it in parchment paper first.)

Another dollop of that cream cheese filling is a great idea.

And then you bake.

My supper club people and I all loved these so much that I just knew I had to make them all for you as well. I will just say, the reaction was great, better than I ever expected and when we made these in the 12 Tomatoes studio, it was pretty much the same thing all over again. Because these just aren’t what you expect. When you look at them you see shiny garlicky butter and you think “oh, those must be delicious” but then you bite into one and you think “what is happening?!” because it’s delicious in a different way than you’ve ever expected. They’re buttery and creamy, garlicky and just herby enough, but with this pretty sturdy sweetness to carry it all through. That might not be for everyone, but everyone I’ve served them to has loved them!

Yield(s): Serves 12

10m prep time

1h 41m cook time

Allergens: Milk, Eggs

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you're making mealtime meaningful.
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For the rolls:
  • 1 pack (12 rolls) soft dinner rolls or Hawaiian rolls
  • 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
For the filling:
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
For the garlic butter:
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons dried parsley or 4 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. First, make the cream cheese filling:
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar and mix or beat until creamy and smooth. Transfer mixture to a piping bag or zip-top bag and cut off the corner to create an opening about 1/2-inch in size. Set aside.
  4. Next, prepare the garlic butter:
  5. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, garlic, parsley, egg, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
  6. Using a sharp knife, cut slits into each roll to create 6 wedges or petals, but take care not to cut through to the bottom.
  7. Using the piping bag, pipe some of the cream cheese filling into each gap you cut in the roll, filling about halfway to the edge. Leave some space to allow for filling to expand in oven. Reserve 1/4 cup filling in piping bag.
  8. Dip each stuffed roll in garlic butter mixture, taking care to coat the top evenly. Place dipped rolls on prepared baking sheet.
  9. With the remaining cream cheese filling, pipe a dollop in the center of each roll. Sprinkle with grated parmesan.
  10. Bake until tops of rolls are golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
  11. Serve warm and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Beyond Kimchee.