Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread

Yield: 6 individual garlic breads

Ingredients

Rolls:

• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 1 ⅓ (303g) water, lukewarm (110–115°F)
• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, divided
• 4 ½ cups (540g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 large egg, beaten

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 8 ounces (227g) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

Garlic Butter:

• ½ cup (114g) whole milk
• 8–12 cloves New Dawn Fields Organic Garlic, minced*
• 1 ½ Tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
• kosher salt

*We used 10 cloves of Purple Glazer and 2 cloves of German Red, but feel free to use whichever New Dawn Fields garlic variety (or varieties) you like. Adjust the number of cloves based on the spiciness of your chosen variety, as well as your taste preference. We obviously loooove garlic!

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix together yeast, lukewarm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Mix well and leave undisturbed for about 10 minutes until the mixture gets foamy.
2. In your mixer bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, flour, and salt.
3. Add foamy yeast mixture to flour mixture. Attach dough hook, then mix on low until the dough starts to come together, 2–3 minutes.
4. Increase speed to medium and knead dough until it’s smooth and soft, about 10 minutes.
5. Tip dough out onto a clean work surface and form into a ball. Lightly grease inside of your mixer bowl with neutral oil. Place dough back into bowl and roll around to coat all sides with oil. Cover bowl with beeswax wrap or cling film and place in a warm, dry spot and leave undisturbed until dough has doubled in bulk, 45–60 minutes.
6. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. After dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release excess gas build-up. Turn out onto a floured surface and divide dough into 6 equal pieces (about 148g each).
   NOTE: We recommend weighing your dough—instead of eyeballing it—so that you can create truly equal rolls.
8. Place rolls on prepared baking sheets, keeping ‘em evenly spaced apart.
9. Cover rolls and allow to rise until visibly puffy, roughly 1 hour.
10. While your dough is proofing, make the filling. In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Place in fridge.
11. Towards the end of the dough’s rising time, heat oven to 350°F.
12. Once rolls have had their second proof, brush them with beaten egg.
13. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden.
    NOTE: You’ll be baking these rolls again after they’re filled, dipped, and garlicky. Keep that in mind when you’re judging how golden they are at this stage.
14. Transfer rolls to wire rack and allow to cool completely before continuing. (Hold onto your parchment-lined baking sheets, as you’ll need them again in a bit.)
15. Once rolls are totally cool, heat oven to 400°F. Retrieve filling from fridge.
16. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut each roll into 8 wedges, but DO NOT cut all the way through the rolls. (Watch this video to see all of the steps for constructing the garlic bread.)
17. Transfer filling to a piping bag fitted with a medium-sized round tip. Pipe a line of filling in between each wedge, taking care to not break the bread apart.
18. Now let’s make the garlic butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, minced garlic, parsley flakes, and eggs.
19. Place another bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure that the bowl doesn’t touch the water’s surface. Add butter to this bowl and melt it.
20. Slowly pour a small amount of melted butter into garlic mixture while whisking constantly. (This gently raises the temperature of the eggs so that they don’t end up scrambled.) After garlic mixture has been tempered, pour in remaining butter while continuously whisking.
21. Return mixture to double boiler. Whisking constantly, heat garlic butter mixture until it’s nice and warm.
22. Remove bowl from heat and place on a trivet.
23. Dip one roll into garlic butter. Roll it around with your hands to make sure that every surface has been coated, including in between all the wedges. Hold roll upside down to allow some excess garlic butter to drip off. Place on baking sheet.
24. Repeat with other 5 rolls.
25. Pipe remaining filling into the centre of each roll. Sprinkle kosher salt on top of all rolls.
26. Bake for 8–10 minutes until bread is golden brown and crispy.
27. Transfer to wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.

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Slightly adapted from: Two Plaid Aprons