Hotteok is a flour dough pancake filled with sugar syrup inside. It’s one of the most popular street snacks in Korea.

Ok, now it’s time for me to release my hotteok recipe!

I used to make hotteok for my children. How often? So many times! When they came home from school, I would surprise them with my hotteok. I never made it before they came. I prepared some well-fermented dough and the brown sugar mixture. That’s all! Once they entered the home, I said, “Wash your hands and come back to the kitchen! Hotteok will be ready~” with big smile.  My children were so happy and excited!

A glass of milk and hot hot hotteok with sizzling golden syrup! Wouldn’t you like it? Yes, children love it! If you want to entertain your children, wait for them with the preparation just as I did.

I make hotteok for myself and my friends these days. Where are my little children!!

I sometimes miss the old times. They are already grownups and live far away from me.

Serve or eat hotteok right after you make it. If someone gives me cold hotteok, I will feel insulted. : )  I will refuse to eat it and save my empty stomach for kimchi and rice! lol

Ingredients

Makes 8 hotteok

  • water
  • 2 tbs white sugar
  • 2 ts dry yeast
  • ½ ts kosher salt
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • 2 cups and ½ cup of all purpose flour
  • ½ cup turbinado sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 ts cinnamon powder
  • 2 tbs chopped walnuts

Directions

Make hotteok dough

  1. Place 1 cup of lukewarm water into a mixing bowl.
  2. Add white sugar, yeast, kosher salt, vegetable oil, and stir it well.
  3. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and mix it with a rice scoop, or by hand.
  4. Let the dough rise. It should sit with the lid closed at room temperature for 1 hour.
  5. After an hour the dough will rise to double its size. Knead it to remove the gas bubbles in the dough.
  6. Let it rise for another 10-20 minutes.

Make filling (for 8 hotteok)

  1. Mix the turbinado sugar, cinnamon powder, and walnuts in a bowl.
    *tip: you could use mozzarella cheese for stuffing. Invent your own fillings with your favorite ingredients!

Let’s make hotteok!

    1. Knead the dough again to remove the gas bubbles.
    2. Place and spread about ½ cup flour on your cutting board.
    3. Put the dough on your cutting board and knead it. Make it into a lump, and cut it into 8 equal-sized balls.


    4. Take 1 dough ball, flatten it, put some filling in the center of the dough, and then seal it to make a ball.
    5. Repeat this 8 times to make 8 stuffed balls.
      *tip: Use some flour from the cutting board to prevent your fingers from sticking to the dough
    6. Heat up your non-stick pan over medium heat and add some vegetable oil.
    7. Place 1 ball on the pan and let it cook for 30 seconds.
    8. When the bottom of the dough ball is light golden brown, turn it over and press the dough with a spatula to make a thin and wide circle (about the size of a CD).
    9. Let it cook about 1 minute until the bottom is golden brown.
    10. Turn it over again and turn down the heat very low.
    11. Place the lid on the pan and cook 1 more minute. The brown sugar filling mixture will be melted to syrup!hotteok (호떡)
    12. Serve hot!

Posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010. Last updated on March 26, 2023.
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408 Comments:

  1. Urahara Canada joined 8/11 & has 5 comments
    Posted August 29th, 2011 at 9:18 pm | or create a profile.

    Hello Maangchi!
    I just made Hoddeok for my friends and they are absolutely loving it! I’ve made 4 recipes tonight so far as a test, because I want to cook a korean meal for my mother in law… I made chamchijeon, hobakjeon and musaengchae, with hoddeok as a dessert and right now everything is voted a big big yes!
    Thank you so much for your hard work!

  2. McRobbah USA joined 8/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 24th, 2011 at 6:36 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi! I just attempted your hoddeok recipe hoping to surprise my Korean wife & our kids. However my dough was way too wet. I followed your recipe with one exception that I added an extra cup of flour to try & dry it out a bit. I think my mistake was maybe in not mixing the yeast mixture & flour long enough. Could you please tell me approximately how long I should mix the yeast mixture & flour together?

    I’d love to get these perfect. My wife makes delicious Korean food, thanks to her Oma, so I don’t miss too much Korean food. She just won’t make hoddeok & I think it’s too expensive to buy at Hmart, since it seems easy to make.

    Thanks in advance!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments
      Posted August 24th, 2011 at 9:16 pm | or create a profile.

      The ratio of all ingredients are very important for making good hoddeok. If you follow the exact measurements in the video, it won’t be a problem. The rising time may differ depending on your room temperature. Good luck!

    • Jasper Philippines joined 5/11 & has 26 comments
      Posted December 29th, 2011 at 10:01 am | or create a profile.

      i think it’s normal that the dough should be wet. I had the same problem at first, and I couldn’t work with the dough. The trick is to sprinkle lots of flour on the outer part of the “dough ball” . That way, the inner part is still wet and sticky, but the outer part is all floury, non-sticky and workable.

  3. Misstongshil Wash., D.C. Metro area joined 8/11 & has 3 comments
    Posted August 14th, 2011 at 12:33 pm | or create a profile.

    teehee, I made my first Maangchi recipes yesterday! Dakjuk and hoddeok (secret surprise dessert! :D)

    Umma (mom) & Appa (dad) were totally quiet minus the yummy slurpy sounds! “jaedero dwaetnae~!” (turned out right!) :D

    and then Appa was “food coma” mode in front of the tv with a random National Geographic show on… *sniff sniff* … what’s this… MMM SWEET SUGARY SMELLL~~ … UH OH… he turn’s into something between a child with a sugar craving and a bear!

    Sleepy Dad (SD)- what are you making now?
    Me: Hoddeok..?
    SD: ME TOO ME TOO! *crunchcrunch.. HOTHOT… mm…slurp…nomnomm*
    Me: you move fast when you wanna, eh? :)

  4. Chingoonyugyu Denmark joined 7/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 21st, 2011 at 10:37 am | or create a profile.

    This question might be a little foolish but is it allowed to use regular yeast or is it obligatory to use the dry yeast? :)

  5. MrsKorea Montreal joined 7/11 & has 3 comments
    Posted July 19th, 2011 at 1:15 pm | or create a profile.

    I left Korea when I was really little and now I am a proud mom to a baby boy. I remember eating these and my mom would tell me I couldnt have anymore then 3 and I would get upset. I made them over and over again and they are so goood. Thank you so much for bringing back my childhood memories and flavour!!

  6. Noah Lithuania joined 6/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 29th, 2011 at 3:18 pm | or create a profile.

    I just served this to my sister and her friend with some vanilla ice-cream and strawberries it was soooooooo tasty and sweet :)
    but the brown sugar sold in my country is very coarse… so it didn’t melt well :(
    it was crunchy :D nevertheless I really loved’em.
    oh and I made the soy bean sprout side dish, it was so delicious and it went well with the steaks I made :)
    Thank you so much for these wonderful recipes. They’re very easy to follow and awesome to taste
    Noah

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments
      Posted June 30th, 2011 at 10:42 am | or create a profile.

      ” vanilla ice-cream and strawberries”
      sounds great!

      “.. so it didn’t melt well”
      then cook it over very low heat and if possible, close the lid of the pan. The filling will be melted.

      “I made the soy bean sprout side dish, it was so delicious and it went well with the steaks I made”
      Agree with u!

  7. kurokokoro Phoenix, Arizona joined 3/10 & has 6 comments
    Posted June 25th, 2011 at 2:29 pm | or create a profile.

    I made this recipe a while ago and I LOVED it!!! I wouldn’t share with anyone. I plan on making them again when my sweet tooth is calling. Thanks for the great recipe! I love the show!!!!

  8. Parasite8 Canada joined 6/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 19th, 2011 at 11:01 pm | or create a profile.

    This is awesome!!! I’ve been looking for this recipe since I visited Korea over 10 yrs ago. It was my favorite food!! I was only able to find package version but prefer to make it from scratch. Thank you. Now that I’ve discovered your site, I’m going to look for the Korean buns (I think it uses Mochi flour)

  9. pammy north carolina, united states joined 6/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 17th, 2011 at 11:51 am | or create a profile.

    thank you so much for this recipe! :D Both my korean and american friends love it when I make this for them. ^^

  10. Cotton Candy Lover Singapore joined 6/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 14th, 2011 at 11:21 am | or create a profile.

    Hey Maangchi and Everyone,

    When I saw “invent your own fillings with your favorite ingredients!”, I decided to try using Gula Malaka (Palm Sugar) for the filling and it turned out super duber nice!! Ate just one tonight, the leftover will be my breakfast tomorrow.. ((:

  11. leo malaysia joined 6/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted June 8th, 2011 at 12:40 am | or create a profile.

    i dont have cinnamon powder.it is ok not using it??

  12. Drew North Carolina joined 6/11 & has 3 comments
    Posted June 7th, 2011 at 10:55 am | or create a profile.

    These were fun to make although I pressed the sugar in too hard on my first one and ended up with a cinnamon and sugar ball. Once I got the hang of it, the rest were easy. My vegetarian daughter had me make some with cooked broccoli and cheese and they turned out great.

  13. Charmaine Singapore joined 6/11 & has 18 comments
    Posted June 4th, 2011 at 11:04 am | or create a profile.

    Hello. Erm, is it alright to use raising flour to make the dough?

  14. AngelFrances Malaysia joined 5/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted May 19th, 2011 at 9:52 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi,
    I tried your Hoddeoks and its wonderba. The filling just melt in my mouth and sweet sweet sweet !!!! and yummmy !!! I ate two pieces right on and my stomach is so happy with it. ^o^ Just forget the diet. Thanks for sharing the great simple recipe. Muuuaacchhh !!!

  15. aobaob Lincoln, NE joined 4/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted April 23rd, 2011 at 11:45 pm | or create a profile.

    I had tried to make all kind of bread dough countless time in the past. It didn’t turned out right. I wasn’t sure why. So, I didn’t expect my dough to turn out any good this time. But I just wanted to keep on trying…

    I followed your steps… and OMG, my dough was fabulous!! I stuffed it with my left over baked chicken and cheese… it was really good. I loved it! Thank you so much!

  16. mokpochica Michigan joined 1/09 & has 89 comments
    Posted April 18th, 2011 at 9:36 pm | or create a profile.

    I made these together with my daughters today after watching your video. They were very impressed with the video and said 3 times “She is very smart”. Since they turned 4 they have become more and more interested in helping out in the kitchen. It’s very cute. And they make great observations. Today when we were making the dough for hoddeok, one of the girls said, “It smells like 빵!” I was glad we watched the video today because I didn’t have any walnuts at home, but you suggested sesame seeds and I love them that way. Delicious!

  17. JamieF New Zealand joined 1/11 & has 120 comments
    Posted April 15th, 2011 at 11:12 pm | or create a profile.

    I just made these – they are super easy to make and so delicious! The cinnamon goes so well with walnuts!

  18. motzmart New York City, New York joined 2/11 & has 11 comments
    Posted April 15th, 2011 at 5:17 pm | or create a profile.

    hi…. i am here again…. i made my Hoddeok filling with msahed bananas, brown sugar & a sprinkle of cinnamon…. like it…. it is actually better to cook it at low heat with lid for the insides to cook better coz sometimes when i make this recipe, the inside is still kinda doughy….
    (**hard to flattened with some banana filling in it) and of course you need to watch over it…. a few times i get the other side perfectly cooked and once i flip it i tend to forget about it… then the other side burnt… anyways eating it is the best part… love the gooey-ness of the banana & brown sugar & a kick of cinnamon.. haha… thanks for sharing this recipe… i keep on experiment unusual more fillings.. i might try more fruits and share pics here..

  19. lindsey.kim joined 6/10 & has 10 comments
    Posted April 14th, 2011 at 11:54 am | or create a profile.

    I’ve made mine with chocolate chips and marshmallows…DELICIOUS!

  20. aroco017 joined 3/11 & has 4 comments
    Posted April 10th, 2011 at 11:24 am | or create a profile.

    Dear Maangchi,

    I absolutely love hoddeok, I treat myself to it every once in a while when I am walking around. I decided to try to make it myself! Thanks again for the wonderful recipe. Feel free to check out my attempt, http://farmeggs.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/hoddeok-sweet-pancake-with-a-brown-sugar-and-peanut-filling/

    Have a great day,
    Anna

  21. motzmart New York City, New York joined 2/11 & has 11 comments
    Posted April 3rd, 2011 at 12:04 pm | or create a profile.

    i just made this awhile ago…. love it… super tasty… i was thinking that i made a mistake but after cooking it…. YummmM!!! i didn’t any cinnamon or walnuts… just brown sugar.. but i know it’ll taste better if it has cinnamon in it… :0 thank you thank you for the recipes… i might start making baechu kimchi tomorrow… hope it’ll be a success…. and also kaktugi…. :)

  22. Ikkin-bot edmonton joined 9/10 & has 27 comments
    Posted April 2nd, 2011 at 1:53 pm | or create a profile.

    I just made Hoddeok again, but I switched up the filling and used lotus seed paste! It was great. Not as good as the original, but very good.

    Adventure: http://ikkin-bot.blogspot.com/2011/04/cooking-korean-redue-hoddeok-kinda.html

  23. maggs UK joined 1/11 & has 4 comments
    Posted March 8th, 2011 at 4:54 pm | or create a profile.

    Today was pancake day so i decided to make these instead of my usual pancakes!
    I had to make them with gluten free flour as my friend has coeliacs and i found the dough a little sticky for the filling but i managed to make them.
    Picture of the first two here:
    http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l132/maggotgroves/DSCF0153.jpg

    They tasted really good and not too sweet, just right.
    Thanks for another really easy but tasty recipe

  24. nikujaga Singapore joined 2/11 & has 7 comments
    Posted March 7th, 2011 at 10:53 pm | or create a profile.

    Hey Maangchi!! I’ve tried your hoddeok recipe again and I’m back here to share the joy of my success!! This is my second attempt and god, it sure is awesome! I’ve found out what went wrong thanks to BxlSprout and Reinier :D I used instant yeast instead of dry yeast and through google, I find that less of instant yeast is to be used as compared to dry yeast, and there’s no need for warm water :D
    the hoddeok dough is chewy and there’s a very fragrant prata taste to it haha!! (look up roti prata if you haven’t tried one, it’s as sinful as it’s yummy) On top of the cheese and traditional filling, I’ve made one with nutella (as suggested by one of the comments in your youtube video). They’re all delicious and I’m now bloated from eating 3 of them! Thanks a lot Maangchi, for sharing such a great Korean recipe with us :)

    Rene

  25. Misdommingas AK joined 2/11 & has 2 comments
    Posted February 28th, 2011 at 2:29 pm | or create a profile.

    I nearly cried when I found this recipe! I remember walking with my twin sister with our mother through the markets in Seoul and eating one of these. Since coming to the US through adoption, I have never forgotten these tasty snacks that our mother always bought for us. The taste and smell brings back many good memories of my mother.

    Thank you, Maangchi for this recipe!

    ChaMee Ahn
    (my Korean name)

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments
      Posted February 28th, 2011 at 3:13 pm | or create a profile.

      ChaMee, nice meeting you through my website! I’m so touched by your story that it makes me cry now! Your mom would be proud of you if she knew you were making your own hoddeok and thinking about her.

      • Misdommingas AK joined 2/11 & has 2 comments
        Posted March 3rd, 2011 at 7:33 pm | or create a profile.

        Thank you, Maangchi! Maybe one day, I will be able to make hoddeoks for her too. :)

        I brought hot Hoddeok’s to my sister and the look on her face was priceless. My husband loves the hoddeok’s and told his parents about it in Spain. When we visit them this fall, I’ll be making hoddeok’s for his family. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!

        ChaMee

  26. nikujaga Singapore joined 2/11 & has 7 comments
    Posted February 9th, 2011 at 4:52 am | or create a profile.

    Hey Maangchi! :D seeing those delicious looking hoddeoks made me want to try this so much!! I followed exactly the amounts and the time given in your recipe and found that the dough of hoddeok has a beer taste. Could i reduce the amount of yeast or the time taken for it to rise? And i guess I was too greedy trying to overstuff those hoddeoks haha. A couple of them exploded! >.<

    • BxlSprout Brussels, Belgium joined 5/10 & has 46 comments
      Posted February 10th, 2011 at 2:28 pm | or create a profile.

      Hi Nikujaga, I’m not Maangchi but I have some ideas while she is away. A beer taste means the dough overproofed, I see you’re in hot humid Singapore so all yeasted doughs will rise faster. It’s a good idea to watch the dough, not the clock, and wait till it looks big and sponge-y like Maangchi’s does. Experiment with using a pinch more salt to slow down the fermentation of the yeast. If that doesn’t work, you could try reducing the yeast very slightly, combined with the slight increase in salt. When there is less baker’s yeast, and particularly in a tropical environment, the dough will pick up wild yeasts in the air: not a bad thing, sourdoughs are wild yeasts too; but then check if your dough turns a funny colour (pinkish, say) or smells bad. If so, it picked up a ‘bad’ yeast and you should throw the batch out. If you use the baker’s yeast amount in the recipe, though, there will be so much ‘good’ yeast fermenting the dough the ‘bad’ yeasts will be crowded out. That’s why reduce fermentation time, then slightly increase salt, and only if those don’t work use slightly less baker’s yeast along with the salt increase. Don’t worry though, it’s a very unusual occurence to pick up a real ‘bad’ yeast–I lived in subtropical Asia 5 years and have been fermenting breads and tempeh for decades–be confident, try! Your nose will tell you if by very small chance you got a weird yeast. It wouldn’t make you sick to eat it either, you’d try a bite and it would taste off and you’d throw it out. Relax and enjoy hoddeok in Singapore!

    • Reinier Rotterdam, The Netherlands joined 2/09 & has 101 comments
      Posted February 12th, 2011 at 7:55 am | or create a profile.

      If i may…. If you stick to the recipy it shouldn’t have a beer taste, maybe try a different brand of yeast? Don’t use brewing yeast!
      Overstuffing is okay! Usually the last one gets the left over stuffing :)

  27. Nephry Germany joined 1/11 & has 9 comments
    Posted February 6th, 2011 at 8:15 pm | or create a profile.

    Oh my god these are the best pancakes I’ve ever had! All my friends loved them, thank you so much for the recipe! :)

  28. Carlashi03 Philippines joined 2/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 4th, 2011 at 4:02 am | or create a profile.

    Yay! just finished cooking my very fist korean pancake!!! waaaaah. Im so glad most of the people at home liked it! I plan on making another one with different filling, probably some ground meat. Do you have any suggestions, Maangchi?

    Anyway, ur such an angel! I love you! I’ve been longing to taste hoddeok until I bumped into your website! This site is really cool! Come to Philippines! hahaha

  29. grzegorz1014 Berkeley, CA joined 2/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 3rd, 2011 at 6:53 pm | or create a profile.

    OMG!!!! YES!!! The first time I went to Korea was when I had a 12 hour lay over from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. I walked around in the freezing cold in Seoul, saw these and didn’t know what it was…just knew it was 1000 Won. IT WAS SOOOO GOOD. I can’t believe I stumbled upon a recipe for this on your website. I LUV U!!!

  30. mokpochica Michigan joined 1/09 & has 89 comments
    Posted January 8th, 2011 at 10:07 pm | or create a profile.

    I ran out of white flour the other day when I made these so I used half white and half whole wheat. They turned out great!

  31. Tae Cha NW IN. joined 12/10 & has 1 comment
    Posted December 9th, 2010 at 1:40 pm | or create a profile.

    Does this have another name when filled with (hodeok) sweet beans?

    Tae

  32. Kayla Baltimore, Maryland joined 11/10 & has 21 comments
    Posted November 28th, 2010 at 3:56 pm | or create a profile.

    I made these on a really bad day and it made everything so much better. It’s funny how cooking and sharing food with family can improve your mood, but for me it does. The first few I made looked kind of sad, but once I got the hang of it they came out great. I made some with cheddar, some with the traditional filling, and some with shredded sweetened coconut.

    Thank you, Maangchi, for a recipe that brightened my day!

  33. Yummy601 joined 11/10 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 8th, 2010 at 10:00 pm | or create a profile.

    Hello! I made this tonight and it came out great. Thanks for the great recipe! I have a question though, are you suppose to use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar? The fillings in my hoddoek was not like syrup, the sugar was still kind of hard… Did I not cook it covered for long enough? I let them cook covered for about 30-60 seconds. Does the type of brown sugar make a difference? I remember my mom making these and the inside was syrup like, kind of gooey. Your help would be much appreciated!

  34. borrower2 Tennessee joined 11/10 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 5th, 2010 at 12:03 am | or create a profile.

    I just finished doing my Happy Dance! I was so excited about finding your receipe for Hoddeok. We spent 3 years in Korea and I used to love to stop and eat these at the market. Sitting around the iron griddle that the ahjooma was cooking them on. I have so many good memories of Taegu, Korea and this is one of the best ones. We always sat and ate them on the spot while they were hot. So this week-end my grandson is going to eat his first Hoddeok. Thank you for all the hard work on your site!!! I love it.

  35. mirenski Philippines joined 10/10 & has 3 comments
    Posted November 2nd, 2010 at 9:43 am | or create a profile.

    Oh my goodness! This looks soooooooooooooooo yummy! I have to try this real soon!

    ♥ Miren

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