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    Home » Desserts/Sweets

    Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    Published 02/19/2019. Updated 02/17/2025

    Jump to Recipe

    Hotteok is a popular Korean street snack. You can make hotteok at home with a few basic ingredients. It’s delicious with lots of healthy seeds and nuts!

    DSC 2737 1 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    Who wouldn’t love biting into a golden fried dough filled with a gooey brown sugar syrup and nuts from a street cart or stall on a cold winter day? Eaten hot off the griddle, hotteok (호떡, hodduk or hoddeok) is extremely popular during the winter months.

    What is hotteok?

    Hotteok basically is a pan-fried yeast dough stuffed with a brown sugar and nut filling. 

    There are many variations, but the classic hotteok we grew up on is made with a simple yeast dough with a brown sugar and nut filling and pan-fried in a little bit of oil. This recipe is my modern take on the classic version.

    The types of hotteok continue to evolve — thanks to street food vendors! It seems like every time I go to Korea I learn about a new variation or two. There are all sorts of different sweet and savory fillings such as red beans, cheese, vegetables, japchae, etc.

    The dough has become very complex, as vendors strive to achieve the best flavor and texture. Many vendors now deep-fry their hotteok. Of course, deep-frying makes everything more delicious, but I prefer pan-frying.

    DSC 2757 1 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    When my daughter and I visited Busan (a southern coastal city) a couple of years ago, we were told that we had to try ssiat hotteok (씨앗호떡). Ssiat means seeds in Korean. The round dough with a simple brown sugar filling was first deep-fried. Then, the lady cut one edge open and stuffed a couple of spoonfuls of the seed and nut sugar mix before folding it to serve in a small paper cup. Delectable! This variation of hotteok created in Busan has become very popular all over the country.

    Hotteok filling

    Ingredients

    • light brown sugar (or a combination of regular sugar and dark brown sugar)
    • cinnamon powder
    • assorted roasted seeds and nuts (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, etc.)

    Having had ssiat hotteok in Korea, I tweaked my classic hotteok recipe to add lots of seeds and nuts to the filling. So, there’s actually a healthy element to this sweet treat! The seeds and nuts give lots of nutty flavors and textures to the brown sugar filling. You can use any seeds and/or nuts you like and adjust the amount to your liking.

     

    DSC 2706 1 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    Hotteok dough

    Ingredients

    • active dry yeast or instant yeast
    • all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
    • sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour/powder)
    • milk (or almond milk) or water
    • salt
    • sugar
    • cooking oil

    The dough is made with wheat flour, sweet rice (glutinous rice) flour/powder, sugar, and yeast. The ratio of flour and sweet rice flour can be varied, depending on preference. While you can make the dough with only all-purpose or bread flour, the sweet rice powder makes hotteok soft and chewy. You can simply use water to make the dough, but milk adds to the flavor. I sometimes use almond milk, which is a good milk substitute for vegan hotteok.

    More Korean Street Food Recipes

    Hobak Hotteok (Sweet Stuffed Pumpkin Pancakes)
    Gilgeri Toast (Korean Street Toast)
    Tteokbokki
    Kimbap
    Mini kimbap
    Dalgona candy

    DSC 2666 e1550636645549 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    For more Korean cooking inspirations, follow along on YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

    DSC 2737 1 300x300 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)

    4.64 from 73 votes
    Dessert, Snack
    Prep Time: 1 hour hour
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    50 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 8
    Print Recipe

    Ingredients

    Yeast for the dough:

    • 1 package active dry yeast (2-1/4 teaspoons) or instant yeast
    • 1/4 cup warm water (no need for water if using instant yeast)
    • 1 teaspoon sugar (no need for sugar if using instant yeast)

    Dry Ingredients:

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
    • 1/2 cup sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour/powder), chapssal garu (찹쌀가루)
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon sugar

    Wet Ingredients:

    • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
    • 1-1/4 cups milk (or almond milk) or water Start with 1 cup and gradually add more) - See note

    Filling:

    • 1/2 cup light brown sugar (or a combination of regular sugar and dark brown sugar, 1/4 cup each)
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
    • 5 tablespoons assorted roasted seeds and nuts (use more or less to taste) (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, etc.)
    • cooking oil for pan-frying

    Instructions

    • Skip this step if using instant yeast. Warm a bowl or cup by rinsing it with warm water. Add 1/4 cup of warm water to the bowl (100 to 110°F ). Stir in the sugar and yeast. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast has foamed and grown.
      DSC 2488 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Sift the flour, sweet rice powder, sugar and salt together. Add the yeast water (or instant yeast), oil, and warm milk (or water) to the flour mix.
      DSC 2528 640x429 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Knead until everything is well incorporated and a smooth dough is formed. The dough should be sticky and stretchy when pulled. Kneading it longer makes hotteok chewier. Using your hand or the stand mix dough hook is much easier for this step.
      DSC 2497 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place and let it rise until it doubles in size, about an hour or longer.
      DSC 2511 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Prepare the filling by chopping the nuts and mixing all the filling ingredients well.
      DSC 2551 e1550637818835 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Bring the dough down by reshaping it into a round. Let it sit for another 20 to 30 minutes until it doubles in size again or longer. You can let the dough sit for hours at this point until ready to use.
      DSC 2681 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Heat a pan with a couple of tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Lightly oil your hands. Tear a big enough piece of the dough to make an about 2.5-inch ball. Flatten the ball into a thick disk, creating a shallow well in the middle. Add about 1.5 tablespoons of the filling and lightly press it down with the spoon.
      DSC 2696 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Carefully gather the edges together, pinching to seal.
      DSC 2699 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Put the sealed side down on the pan, flattening a little by pressing it down with your oiled hand or spatula. Cook for a minute, and then flip over. Press down for a few seconds to flatten. Cook until both sides are golden brown. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
      DSC 2721 600x401 - Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
    • Hotteok freezes well. You can reheat it in a toaster or air fryer and enjoy delicious hotteok any time.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @koreanbapsang or tag #koreanbapsang!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Anonymous says

      January 20, 2025 at 12:14 am

      5 stars
      So So delicious. Followed as directed to the point.

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        January 20, 2025 at 1:54 pm

        Oh so happy to hear that! I’ve been thinking about making hotteok lately and now I’m inspired. Thank you!

        Reply
    2. Smile says

      August 26, 2023 at 4:16 am

      Can I use einkorn flour instead of AP flour? If so what ratio, does the amount of liquid change? Thank you

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        August 26, 2023 at 11:06 am

        Sorry I’ve never used einkorn flour, so I’m not sure about the ratio. Try it with the way you normally replace AP with einkorn flour.

        Reply
    3. Nivedita says

      April 23, 2022 at 10:37 am

      5 stars
      I am so glad I found your website! My family is vegetarian and your Dubu Jorim recipe is now firmly in my 2 week rotation.
      I made these last night and even my nuts and seeds hating child ate two! Next time I plan to try these with sweet rice flour which I omitted this time. Thank you for your clear recipes and beautiful photos!

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        April 25, 2022 at 5:31 pm

        oh awesome!! Yes sweet rice will give you a firmer, chewier texture. Thank you for trying it out and letting me know how it turned out.

        Reply
        • Nivedita says

          July 02, 2022 at 2:35 am

          5 stars
          Hi Hyosun,
          I made this for the 3rd or 4th time today, using glutinous rice flour, as I had once before. At that time I didn’t notice any added chewiness compared to using only All Purpose Flour. Today, I weighed the AP flour instead of measuring the volume. Then, used 1/4C (for proving active dry yeast) + just shy of 1C water for mixing the dough. Glad I held back the last tablespoon or so, because my dough looked wetter than before! I added a tablespoon of flour to adjust the dough slightly. When I went to shape after a couple of hours – oh boy – the wetter dough definitely needed well oiled hands and work surface. But, I actually found it easier to stuff, because it was simple to patch up any holes and in general redistribute dough to avoid thin coverage. Most importantly, I think I finally got the desired soft but chewy texture in the finished hotteok! So delicious!
          I also tried a chocolate chips + almond butter filling in some. Yummy!

          Reply
    4. Nancy Peterson says

      December 20, 2021 at 9:53 pm

      Hi! Looking forward to making these for my Christmas Eve dinner! Can I make the dough a couple days ahead of time? If so, hope do you suggest I care for the dough? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        December 21, 2021 at 1:21 pm

        I never tried it that far advance, but I don’t see why not. Just be sure to tightly close it before placing it in the fridge.

        Reply
    5. Joshua says

      December 03, 2021 at 4:28 am

      I’ve always wanted to try this with peanut butter and honey. Think I’m going to try your recipe and see how it goes with peanut butter. I know Koreans don’t really care much for peanut butter, but maybe I can win them over!

      Reply
    6. Ilona says

      October 30, 2021 at 5:41 am

      Can these be made gluten Free?

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        March 17, 2022 at 12:48 pm

        Yes! Simply use gluten free flour.

        Reply
    7. Corina says

      August 15, 2021 at 2:42 pm

      5 stars
      I absolutely loved these!

      Reply
    8. Abbigail says

      June 17, 2021 at 4:34 am

      5 stars
      Hi Hyosun,

      I am dying to try this recipe!!! I have two questions, if i can not find Sweet Rice Flour what can I use as a substitution?
      I do not have the round spatula, would a normal be okay to use?

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        June 17, 2021 at 10:17 am

        You can simply omit it. Yes, you can use a normal spatula. Enjoy!

        Reply
        • Aden says

          November 23, 2021 at 5:48 am

          5 stars
          Hello. How many gram per package of instant yeast?

          Reply
          • Hyosun says

            November 24, 2021 at 2:08 pm

            Mine is 7 grams.

            Reply
    9. Joyce Ann Rosauro says

      June 08, 2021 at 9:00 am

      5 stars
      This is now my go-to Hotteok recipe. So yummy!

      Reply
    10. Gayathri Prabhu says

      April 25, 2021 at 10:20 am

      5 stars
      Thank you Hyosun for the awesome and easy recipe. The hotteok turned out yummy, my daughter loved it. I skipped the sweet rice flour. Can we use plain rice flour instead of sweet rice flour?

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        April 25, 2021 at 2:21 pm

        Hello Gayathri! Great it turned out well for you! Definitely you can. The texture will be slightly different. The sweet rice gives a bit of elastic/sticky chewiness, and the plain rice flour will give more of crispiness. Let me know how it turns out if you try.

        Reply
    11. Jane Metzger says

      January 08, 2021 at 5:45 pm

      Could this be the same that I had in Seoul years ago. What I had was cooked in a little mold pan and they were little round balls. Yes, it was street food for the winter time and they were delicious.

      Reply
    12. Heather says

      January 01, 2021 at 1:25 pm

      5 stars
      Thanks for the recipe! These were great! My sister and I made them for New Year’s Eve (we’ve never actually had hotteok, but they came out looking like the photos), and we couldn’t be happier! We had to use all purpose flour for them (I didn’t have any rice flour), but they were really good. I can’t wait to make them again with rice flour!

      Reply
    13. Ron Morissette says

      October 08, 2020 at 10:18 pm

      I’m gonna make it tomorrow for breakfast so I’ll let you know when we’ve tried them

      Reply
    14. Bernadette says

      October 06, 2020 at 12:03 am

      5 stars
      I made this last week and it was great! It’s my first time making it. Everyone said it was better than the restaurant made.

      Reply
    15. Sunny says

      June 25, 2020 at 12:01 am

      Hi! I made these! They were so good!
      If I freeze the leftover hotteok, do I need to let it thaw first before reheating? Or I reheat them directly out of the freezer. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        June 25, 2020 at 12:58 am

        Great! Glad they came out well for you. I’d leave them out on the counter for 30 min or so before reheating, but not absolutely necessary depending on how you’re reheating.

        Reply
    16. Nyeon Ju woo says

      June 21, 2020 at 12:24 pm

      I’ve your recipe all of them(awesome)
      Than’s again

      Reply
    17. Hodduk4eva says

      May 24, 2020 at 2:15 am

      Try mozzarella cheese and honey as a filling. Heaven sent. They do this in Korea now too.

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        May 24, 2020 at 11:38 am

        Sounds great! I should try it too.

        Reply
    18. Mario says

      April 30, 2020 at 1:57 am

      Hi!
      Can flour be replaced (gluten allergy)?

      Reply
      • Elisa says

        June 19, 2020 at 9:22 pm

        We are GF as well. Have you found a good GF flour?

        Reply
    19. Anne says

      April 21, 2020 at 7:35 am

      5 stars
      My daughter made these and they were out of this world!!
      She made some with the traditional filling from the recipe above but also made some with chocolate (we are in Switzerleand… that was a must!) and with sweet red bean paste.
      They all turned out absolutely scrumptious….Thank you

      Reply
    20. Jun says

      April 05, 2020 at 9:44 pm

      5 stars
      They came out perfect. I had a flash of my childhood with that sugary goodness.

      Reply
    21. Sofi says

      March 29, 2020 at 8:40 pm

      5 stars
      I’d never tried hotteok before, and I wanted to see what they were like, so I tried this recipe out. I realized after I get back from the store that I had rice flour, not sweet rice powder, but I decided to add it anyway. The texture was nice and springy! The dough was really loose when I started filling it, so oiled hands were definitely necessary, but it still shaped just fine. They turned out golden and crispy and gooey and sweet! Delicious!

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        March 29, 2020 at 11:06 pm

        Awesome! It sounds like you had just right consistency of the dough. So happy to hear it turned out delicious for you.

        Reply
      • Alex K says

        April 26, 2020 at 4:24 pm

        From what I read, “sweet rice flour” is called glutenous rice flour in America. I had to order on Amazon. I am about to make a batch. Wish me luck! 🙂

        Reply
        • Hyosun says

          April 27, 2020 at 1:41 am

          Yay good luck! Yes it is, and those names are used interchangeably.

          Reply
    22. Emma says

      January 03, 2020 at 8:53 pm

      5 stars
      Very good! This was such an amazing recipe. I really enjoyed it.

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        January 15, 2020 at 9:17 pm

        Awesome! So happy to hear that.

        Reply
    23. Ashley says

      November 10, 2019 at 1:32 am

      Do you have one with a honey filling? They were my absolute favorite when I was in Korea

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        November 10, 2019 at 9:45 am

        You can swap some sugar with honey. It probably wasn’t 100 percent honey.

        Reply
    24. Kara says

      November 03, 2019 at 3:28 pm

      Hi Hyosun. What adjustments should I make to the dough if I want to use a savory filling? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        November 03, 2019 at 3:40 pm

        Hi Kara!
        Nothing! there’s not much sugar in the dough to make it sweet for the savory filling.

        Reply
        • Kara says

          November 03, 2019 at 4:49 pm

          Thank you Hyosun! I plan to stuff it with Japchae. By the way, I (fairly) recently made your Bulgogi recipe. Words cannot describe how delicious it is. Thank you for the hard work and love you put into all of your recipes!

          Reply
    25. Kara says

      October 30, 2019 at 11:17 pm

      Hi Hyosun. What adjustments should I make to the dough if I want to use a savory filling? Thank you!

      Reply
    26. Liliane says

      September 30, 2019 at 10:08 am

      5 stars
      Loved the addition of rice flour! It makes the hotteok slightly chewy. I usually never put seeds in my filling, but this will change because I fell in love! Thank you for the recipe.

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        October 01, 2019 at 12:44 am

        Hi Liliane! Great! Happy to hear you fell in love with this hotteok. We love it too!

        Reply
    27. zero says

      February 23, 2019 at 1:02 pm

      Yes! We love heottok. We used to have shop nearby that made them, but they are now sadly closed. Thank you for this recipe!

      Reply
    28. Emily says

      February 22, 2019 at 9:44 am

      Does deep frying vs pan frying change the texture? What is the difference in texture and flavor between the two options? Thanks! Looks so yummy!!!

      Reply
      • Chloe says

        April 26, 2020 at 6:11 am

        Hi Hyosun. How much instant yeast should I use? I bought 500gm instant yeast in a packet. No idea of how much to use.
        For dough, can I use the mixer using the dough hooks?

        Reply
    4.64 from 73 votes (58 ratings without comment)

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    Hi! I'm Hyosun, and I am a Korean-American mom of two wonderful grown-up children. Here, you will learn how to cook Korean dishes the way we Koreans traditionally eat at home. Read More...

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