Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

This Hotteok Recipe (Korean Sweet Pancakes) will let you enjoy one of South Korea’s popular street food! Crispy crust yet chewy inside with sweet gooey filling.

I enjoy popular Korean street food or Korean cuisine and try to recreate them every chance I get. Kimchi and tteokbokki are some of our favorites and just can’t get enough of. Well, this sweet Korean pancake is a welcome addition to our snack or dessert line-up.

Making this sweet treat is super easy and doesn’t even require a stand mixer to make the dough but you may if you wish to. The ingredients are pantry staple except maybe the glutinous rice flour that can be bought at Asian stores near you. I guarantee you, these babies are worth it!

What Is Hotteok?

Hotteok (Hoeddeok or Hodduk, 호떡) is a popular street food in Korea especially during cold winter. It was brought by Chinese immigrants in the 19th century and has been a favorite in Korean streets ever since.

Normally, the dough is made from wheat flour, water, milk, sugar, and yeast. It is then stuffed with brown sugar filling with cinnamon powder. Assorted nuts like peanuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc. can be added or others make savory pancakes by filling it with kimchi, cheese or bulgogi.

How To Make Hotteok Flat like Pancakes?

Vendors of this street food usually use pancake press to flatten the dough while frying. This are thin round metal disk with wooden handle. With my Hotteok Recipe (Korean Sweet Pancakes), I used my trusted metal measuring cup to press the pancake. You can also use a solid turner or spatula for this and still achieve great results.

Notes On Some Ingredients

Flour – I used bread flour for this recipe but you can also use all purpose flour. The ratio of flour and rice flour varies depending on preference. Stick to the ratio of this recipe first then experiment on what best suits you.
Glutinous Rice Flour or sweet rice flour is a key ingredient for this recipe to give the pancakes their chewy texture.
Oil – Either vegetable oil, canola oil or any neutral tasting oil can be used for this recipe.
Yeast – I used instant dry yeast in this recipe, so no need to activate (proof) before adding it to the rest of the dough ingredients. You can also use active dry yeast if you prefer.
Salt – is an essential ingredient that helps balance out the sweetness of the filling and the dough.
Cinnamon and Sugar – Brown sugar, cinnamon and white sugar is used to make the brown sugar syrup filling. These will turn to gooey syrup while frying the pancakes.
Warm Milk – can be skipped and replaced with warm water.

Cooking Tips

Grease the pancake press or whatever you will use to press down the pancakes with oil to avoid it from sticking.
Normally the uncooked pancake (dough) is white with some brown spotting due to the filling. This is okay but you can avoid this by not thinning out the dough so much.
You can also buy premix versions from a Korean grocery store but where is the fun in that?
Give enough room when frying the pancakes depending on how big your pan is. Keep in mind that the pancakes will expand when you press down with the press or turner.
Press down gently or lightly on the pancakes when cooking to avoid the filling from oozing out.

How To Serve And Store

When making this Hotteok Recipe (Korean Sweet Pancakes), it is best consumed the day they are made.
Serve when slightly cooled down but still warm since the filling can be really hot when served right away.
You can store leftovers if any in an airtight container and store at room temperature for a day or two.