Korean Hotteok Brown Sugar Pancakes 🥞🇰🇷

Description

Hotteok are chewy Korean street pancakes stuffed with molten brown sugar cinnamon filling, crisp on the outside and gooey in the middle.
Hook ✨
That first bite crackles, then the syrupy center pours out, pure cozy winter market energy at home.

Ingredients

• Dough
• 🥣 250 g all purpose flour (2 cups / 8.8 oz)
• 🍬 25 g sugar (2 tbsp / 0.9 oz)
• 🧂 3 g fine sea salt (½ tsp / 0.1 oz)
• 🍞 7 g instant yeast (2¼ tsp / 0.25 oz)
• 🥛 180 ml warm milk 38–40°C (¾ cup / 6 fl oz)
• 🫒 15 ml neutral oil (1 tbsp / ½ fl oz)
• Filling
• 🍯 120 g brown sugar (½ cup packed / 4.2 oz)
• 🌰 35 g toasted sunflower seeds or chopped peanuts optional (¼ cup / 1.2 oz)
• 🌿 4 g ground cinnamon (2 tsp / 0.14 oz)
• 🧈 10 g butter melted optional (2 tsp / 0.35 oz)
• For cooking
• 🫒 30–45 ml neutral oil (2–3 tbsp / 1–1½ fl oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Activate the dough
2. In a bowl whisk flour, sugar, salt, and yeast, then pour in warm milk and oil and stir 60 seconds into a sticky dough. 🥣
3. 2️⃣ First rise
4. Cover and let rise in a warm spot 60 minutes until doubled, the surface should look airy and slightly domed. ⏳
5. 3️⃣ Mix the filling
6. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and seeds, add melted butter if using, then mix until it looks like damp sand. 🍯
7. 4️⃣ Portion and fill
8. Oil your hands lightly, divide dough into 8 balls, flatten one, add 1 heaped tbsp filling, pinch closed, and set seam side down. ✋
9. 5️⃣ Pan fry and press
10. Heat a 28 cm (11 in) nonstick skillet over medium for 2 minutes, add 10 ml (2 tsp / 0.34 fl oz) oil, place 2–3 balls seam side down, cook 60 seconds, flip, then press each pancake with a spatula into a 9–10 cm round and cook 2 minutes. 🔥
11. 6️⃣ Finish both sides
12. Flip again and cook 2 minutes more, then flip once more for 30–45 seconds until deep golden and crisp, the center should feel soft and molten. 🥞
13. 7️⃣ Rest and serve
14. Rest 2 minutes so the syrup thickens slightly, then serve warm, be careful, the filling is hot. ✨

Total Time

⏱️ Prep: 15 min
🔥 Cook/Bake: 18 min
🛋️ Rest: 62 min
⏰ Total: 95 min

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