Korean Hotteok: Brown Sugar Cinnamon Stuffed Pancakes with Walnuts for Cozy Fall Snacking

Mix the flour, sweet rice flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the warm milk and 1 tbsp oil and stir into a sticky, soft dough.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (40g) sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
• 1 cup (240ml) warm milk
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for frying
• 1/2 cup (100g) packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or mixed nuts and seeds

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, sweet rice flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the warm milk and 1 tbsp oil and stir into a sticky, soft dough.
2. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until doubled.
3. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped walnuts for the filling.
4. Oil your hands well. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, flatten each into a disc in your palm, place 1 1/2 tbsp filling in the center and pinch the edges tightly closed.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Place a dough ball seam-side down and cook 1 minute until golden.
6. Flip and press flat with an oiled spatula (or a hotteok press) to about 1/2 inch thick. Cook 1–2 minutes, flip again, cover and cook 1 minute more until the sugar inside melts into syrup.
7. Rest 2 minutes before eating — the filling is extremely hot. Hotteok reheat well in a dry skillet or toaster oven and can be frozen after cooking for up to 1 month.
8. Hotteok are one of South Korea's most iconic winter street foods, sold from carts where vendors press them sizzling on oiled griddles. Believed to have come to Korea with Chinese merchants in the late 1800s, they are a cold-weather comfort treat — the molten cinnamon sugar center makes them a perfect after-school dessert as autumn arrives.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 290 kcal
• Protein: 6g
• Fat: 8g
• Carbohydrates: 49g
• Fiber: 1g
• Sugar: 17g
• Sodium: 170mg