Basic Butter Tteok
Basic Shanghai Butter Tteok with a crispy exterior and chewy interior.
📝 Editor's Notes
Red Bean Paste Butter Tteok is an appealing snack with a charming crispy yet chewy texture.
It evokes the savory and sweet taste of the crispy tail end of bungeoppang (붕어빵).
Made with dry sweet rice flour and tapioca starch for a delightfully chewy texture, and combined with a sweet red bean paste filling and savory butter aroma, it's a flavor that everyone, young and old, will love.
While it's an oven-baked treat, it's more about precise measuring and batter consistency than complex techniques, making it suitable for home baking beginners.
It's recommended as a satisfying snack to enjoy with warm milk or coffee.
🛒 Ingredient Tips
The core ingredients for this recipe are definitely unsalted butter, dry sweet rice flour, and red bean paste (단팥 앙금).
First, unsalted butter is a crucial element in determining the flavor, so choose fresh, high-quality butter.
Let it soften at room temperature after taking it out of the refrigerator; this makes it easier to spread in molds and blend more uniformly when melted with milk.
For dry sweet rice flour (건식 찹쌀가루), using this type makes it easier to adjust the batter consistency.
Tapioca starch plays a role in enhancing the chewy texture of the tteok, so be sure to prepare it.
It's best to choose a red bean paste (단팥 앙금) that isn't overly sweet.
Since sugar is already incorporated into the batter, selecting a paste with appropriate sweetness will ensure the overall flavor balance is just right.
🔄 Substitution Guide
If you have difficulty finding certain ingredients or have allergies, here are some substitutions you can try.
If using salted butter instead of unsalted butter, it's best to reduce the amount of salt in the recipe (4g) by half or omit it entirely, as salted butter has a high sodium content which can make the tteok too salty.
While the flavor may differ slightly, margarine or vegetable oils (like coconut oil) can also be used as substitutes.
If tapioca starch is unavailable, a small amount of potato starch or cornstarch can be used, but be aware that the chewiness might be reduced, and the texture may be slightly different.
For the red bean paste filling (단팥 앙금), you could substitute chestnut paste (밤 앙금), sweet potato paste (고구마 앙금), or even chocolate spread for a different flavor, but remember that the taste and aroma will be entirely different from the original Red Bean Paste Butter Tteok.
🥘 Ingredients
👨🍳 Cooking Points
To successfully make Red Bean Paste Butter Tteok, remember a few key points.
First, it's crucial to maintain the batter's temperature.
After melting the milk and butter, cool them to approximately 30℃ (86°F), and ensure the egg is at room temperature so the batter mixes smoothly without separating or forming lumps.
Second, always sift the dry sweet rice flour and tapioca starch.
This prevents lumps and creates a smooth texture.
Third, thoroughly preheat your oven.
Preheat to 210℃ (410°F) for a full 20 minutes, including the baking sheet, to ensure the tteok forms a crispy crust immediately upon entering the oven.
The changing baking temperatures (200℃ for 5 minutes, then 180℃ for 20 minutes) are also crucial for achieving that crispy exterior and chewy interior, so make sure to follow them.
👨🍳 Directions
Generously grease chestnut molds with softened unsalted butter at room temperature.
After evenly coating the molds with butter, sprinkle unrefined sugar to coat the insides thoroughly, then tap out any excess sugar.
Place the butter and unrefined sugar-coated molds in the refrigerator for a short while.
Combine 40g of unsalted butter and 185g of milk in a bowl and heat in the microwave in 20-second intervals until the butter is completely melted.
Let the melted butter and milk cool to approximately 30℃ (86°F).
Whisk 1 room-temperature egg, measure out 15g, then add 75g of sugar, 4g of salt, and 4g of vanilla extract. Whisk well until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Add the milk and melted butter, cooled to approximately 30℃ (86°F), to the bowl from step (6) and mix well.
Sift in 145g of dry sweet rice flour and 30g of tapioca starch. Whisk well to prevent lumps from forming.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to incorporate any remaining batter.
Let the batter rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes. While the batter rests, preheat the oven to 210℃ (410°F) for 20 minutes, placing the baking sheet inside to preheat as well.
After 15 minutes of resting, when the batter has stabilized and feels slightly thicker, stir it once more with a spatula.
Transfer the batter to a piping bag and fill the prepared chestnut molds with approximately 40g of batter each, to about 90% full.
Place the molds in the oven, preheated to 210℃ (410°F) for 20 minutes. Bake at 200℃ (390°F) for 5 minutes, then immediately reduce the temperature to 180℃ (350°F) and bake for another 20 minutes.
Immediately remove the butter tteok from the molds after baking and let them cool down slightly.
💡 Tips
The key to a crispy exterior is to generously grease the molds with butter.
Sprinkling unrefined sugar before baking creates an even crispier exterior and adds a delicious caramel-like flavor.
Allowing the batter to rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes is recommended as it allows the starch to fully absorb moisture, resulting in a chewy interior and stable texture. Refrigerating the batter is not recommended as it can harden the butter, reducing batter spread and potentially weakening the crispiness.
Preheating the baking sheet along with the oven helps achieve an even crispier exterior for the butter tteok.
The finished butter tteok tastes better after cooling down slightly rather than eating immediately. The flavor deepens and the interior becomes even chewier the next day. Personally, I also enjoy eating them frozen.
Oven temperatures can vary, so if the exterior becomes too hard, it's recommended to lower the oven temperature by about 10℃ (18°F) or reduce the baking time by 1-2 minutes.
If the resting time for glutinous rice flour batter is too long, the texture after baking can change significantly. If baked long after preparation, the butter may separate and pool at the bottom of the mold, resulting in a rubbery, tough texture and a hard exterior. If you plan to bake multiple batches but only have one mold, it's better to prepare the batter one mold's worth at a time and bake immediately, rather than making all the batter at once.
📦 Storage & Reuse
Once made, Red Bean Paste Butter Tteok can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about a day.
For longer storage, refrigerate for 3-4 days or freeze for up to a month.
While refrigerated tteok can be enjoyed cold, reheating them brings back their freshly baked chewy and crispy texture.
You can lightly toast them in the oven or briefly microwave them.
Leftover red bean paste (단팥 앙금) can be refrigerated or frozen and used for patbingsu (팥빙수), an-butter toast (앙버터 토스트), or other types of tteok.
Dry sweet rice flour should be stored in an airtight container in a dry, cool place for long-term use.
🥢 Who This Is For
This Red Bean Paste Butter Tteok is a sweet and chewy snack perfect for all ages.
It's especially well-suited as a children's treat or an adult's tea-time dessert.
As mentioned in the tips, pairing it with warm milk creates a fantastic flavor harmony, and it also makes an excellent dessert with aromatic black coffee or a clean-tasting tea.
Consider serving it as a special refreshment when entertaining guests, or prepare it as a thoughtful homemade gift for loved ones. Everyone is sure to love it.
🔥 Nutrition Info
This Red Bean Paste Butter Tteok recipe yields about 12 pieces, with each piece estimated to be around 130 kcal.
Key nutritional components are estimated to be approximately 24g of carbohydrates, 3.3g of fat, and 2.5g of protein.
Carbohydrates, primarily from dry sweet rice flour, sugar, and red bean paste, are good for energy replenishment.
Fats from butter and milk contribute to a savory flavor and provide a sense of fullness.
While red bean paste (단팥 앙금) contains small amounts of dietary fiber, B vitamins, and iron, it is high in sugar, so excessive consumption should be avoided.
When you crave a sweet snack, one or two pieces with milk or tea will make a satisfying and substantial treat.
💬 Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!