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Meet soboro bread, your new favorite Korean sweet bread. This pillowy soft peanut streusel bread topped with crumbly peanut goodness is about to become your baking obsession.
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What makes this recipe special
Every time I pass by a Korean bakery, I have to resist the urge to buy my favorite bread, soboro bread. Soboro bread, also known as gombo or Korean peanut streusel bread, is basically a soft roll baked with peanut streusel. When fresh out of the oven, it's incredibly delicious. My mouth is just drooling thinking about it!
I became curious as to how bakeries create this wonderful treat, and so I decided to try making it myself. Although soboro bread only costs about $1.50 per bread, I can now make it fresh at home!
For more delicious Korean baked goods, check out these coffee buns, mocha walnut bread, and Korean croquette bread.
Ingredients
- Milk: Adds moisture to the dough, making the final bread softer and more tender than if made with water.
- Bread flour: The higher protein content in bread flour develops more gluten when kneaded, creating a stronger, more elastic dough versus all-purpose flour.
- Powdered milk: Helps create the crumbly, streusel-like texture characteristic of soboro topping while adding subtle milky sweetness.
- Chunky peanut butter: The peanut pieces create the characteristic textural contrast in soboro topping, but you can use smooth peanut butter instead if you prefer.
Substitutions and variations
- Fillings: Often, you can find soboro at Korean bakeries with different fillings, including red bean paste or whipped cream.
- Peanut topping: Experiment with other flavors using almond butter or hazelnut butter instead of peanut butter.
Recipe
Soboro Bread (Korean Peanut Streusel Bread)
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (6 grams)
- ¾ cup warm milk, 100-110 degrees F (187 ml)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 3 cups bread flour (420 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ⅓ cup butter, softened at room temperature (75 grams)
Peanut topping
- 1 ½ cups cup all-purpose flour (222 grams)
- 1 tablespoon powdered milk (8 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (14 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, softened at room temperature (113 grams)
- ¼ cup chunky peanut butter (66 grams)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine yeast with 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and warm milk. Let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast is activated and mixture is foamy.
- In a large bowl, sift together bread flour, ¼ cup sugar, and salt. Add yeast mixture, egg, and butter and mix to combine. Knead until dough is smooth, about 7-8 minutes. Transfer dough to a clean bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare peanut topping. Sift together flour, powdered milk, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together softened butter with peanut butter until smooth. Add sugar, egg, and honey, stirring until well-combined. Add flour mixture and mix until combined. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
- Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place them on two lined baking sheets, 6 rolls on each. Cover and let rise for 1 hour in a warm area.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Portion peanut topping into 12 equal pieces. Use the palm of your hand to flatten each piece until it's ⅛ inch thick. Brush tops of rolls with egg wash and gently press peanut topping on top. Bake bread for 15-20 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Let cool slighlty and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Prepare dough
This bread is not difficult to make, but it does take a while because you have to proof it two times. Proofing the dough allows it to become this wonderfully light and airy bread, so don't skip this step!
Start by activating the yeast and combining it with the remaining ingredients. Make a well in the center, add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until you have a dough. You can knead the dough by hand or use a kitchen mixer, which will save you lots of time and energy.
The dough will be smooth and very soft. Add a touch more milk if the dough is dry, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm area for 1 hour. If your kitchen is particularly cold, put the dough in the oven with the oven light on.
Punch down the dough and portion it into 12 rolls. It's helpful to use a scale to get consistent sizes.
Loosely cover the rolls and let them proof for the second time.
Step 2: Make peanut topping
While the dough is proofing for the second time, make the peanut topping. Beat together the peanut butter with softened butter, add the wet ingredients, then stir in the dry ingredients. The topping will have a similar texture to cookie dough. You can also use smooth peanut butter if you don't want little bits of peanuts on your bread.
Brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash and place the topping on each of the rolls. If the peanut topping is too firm, let it sit out for 10 minutes to soften up.
Gently press down on the topping to ensure that it sticks. Don't worry about making the topping the perfect size. The buns will expand, so the topping will expand and most likely crack, but that's the beauty of soboro bread!
Step 3: Bake
Alas, after 2 hours or so, it's finally time to bake! Rotate the pans halfway while baking to ensure an even golden color. The smell of the peanut aroma permeating through the kitchen is simply intoxicating!
Remove the buns from the oven and let them cool before enjoying. You can also dig in while they're still warm - I know the temptation is too hard to resist!
I have to say, I was very pleased with the outcome of this recipe. It tasted almost exactly like the soboro bread sold in the bakeries, with the bonus that I now have 12 rolls all to myself!
Make-ahead and storage
- Make-ahead: You can refrigerate the dough after the first rise. Punch it down, cover it tightly, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, allow it to come to room temperature before dividing and shaping.
- Store: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. To bring the bread back to life, microwave it for 15-20 seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Absolutely! Use the dough hook attachment and knead on medium-low speed for about 5-6 minutes until smooth and elastic.
The topping should be golden brown, and if you tap the bottom of a roll, it should sound hollow. The internal temperature should reach about 190°F if you're using a thermometer.
Yes, this bread freezes wonderfully. Pack them in an airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.
More Asian dessert recipes
Looking for more Asian dessert ideas? Try these:
Diana says
Hi. I really want to give this a try. But I don't have a powdered milk at hand. Can I omit this powder milk in this recipe?
cma0425 says
Powdered milk makes the bread more tender so I wouldn't recommend omitting it. If anything you can substitute with actual liquid milk but I haven't tried this substitution myself and am not completely sure what difference it makes in the end result
Diana says
Thanks a ton! Then I should try to find some. Thank you for your amazing recipes! Live all!
Phylis Caskey says
Lee So-Jean made this on 3 meals a day, but your recipe seems a bit more doable. Gonna give it a try during the holidays when our family gets together. Thanks for the recipe.
cma0425 says
Hope it comes out a winner! Thanks for visiting!
athirah says
i dont know if i missed this information out or not but at what temperature must we set the oven? and um for how many minutes?
cma0425 says
Hi there! You want to bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until the tops of the bread becomes golden brown.
Kimi says
I've been searching for this bread since I moved back from Korea! I had no idea what it was called. So happy to run across your recipe. I'm currently trying it out, though all the rising time is making me crazy! Thanks for sharing!
cma0425 says
That's the thing about bread, they take forever to make but the end result is always worth it! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Jess says
How do you stuff these? If I wanted to make a version filled with peanut butter or cream how do I go about doing that ... Have been scouring the internet and can't find a recipe anywhere that expands on how to make these with a filling
Any advice would be amazing!!
Cherry on My Sundae says
To stuff the bread, after you portion the dough into 12 pieces, roll them out into roughly a 5-inch circle. Then put your fillings in the center (about 1-2 tbsp peanut butter or cream), and gather up the edges towards the center to seal them together, pinching the ends together. Place the dough with the seam side down on the lined baking sheet, cover, and proof for 30 minutes. You can then continue with the recipe (with the peanut topping and bake). It might be easier to watch someone stuff the bread - you can look up video recipes for Asian custard bread and the process should be the same. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Kathy H Hurst says
Can you refrigerate the dough overnight?
Cherry on My Sundae says
I never actually tried to chill the dough overnight so I don't have a definite answer for you but my gut feeling says, yes. If it were me, I would chill the dough during the first rise.