Need a Korean Dessert? Try this Easy Baked Yakwa!

Korean dessert pastry Yakwa or Yakgwa

When it comes to Korean desserts, sadly, there are very few that you can make at home without a lot of fuss. So I was extra excited when I heard that there was a new baked version of Yakwa/Yagkwa – the Korean dessert that is traditionally fried and coated in ginger honey syrup. I always thought that it would be a very interesting recipe to explore but somehow I never got around to it until now. Frankly, I think I had this underlying doubt that this baked Korean dessert was probably going to be nowhere near as good as my original fried Yakwa-or Yakgwa. There’s also a fun story I have about the history of this Korean dessert and more – read my Story of two Korean sweets.

To be honest, the original fried Yakwa version is quite labor intensive and is virtually impossible to make on your own unless you are ambidextrous or have 4 hands and was also able to handle two separate tasks of frying and dipping all simulateneously! So I said,  if I could find a baked version that was almost as good as the fried Yakwa, I would be so happy because then I would have a go-to Korean dessert to serve at my dinner parties or to bring to a potluck.

Now, I said “easy” on the title but coming up with the right recipe for this decadent Korean dessert was not at all an “easy” task for me. After many trials and using my husband (remember he grew up with my mother-in-law’s famous Yakwa) as the taste guinea pig all this week, I think I’m happy with the result. It is not exactly what I was hoping for but we decided this recipe tastes good in its own way. Since it’s baked, it is drier but crispier, less rich but also lighter in taste. In terms of calories, this baked Yakwa recipe is a healthier and lighter version and in terms of cooking and clean up, it is – oh, oh, so much easier.

Talking about clean up… ahh…OK, you can feel.. a story coming up, right?? Yes. Here it is.

While in Korea, around Chuseok, my sister #3 and I started a Yakwa business for a short while. People who bought it loved it and we got more orders but my sister and I had too many other things going on (like my cooking classes) and we also realized that we really made no money making Yakwa so we decided to close shop after that season. But I totally nailed my Yakwa making skills down to a science because of it!

Anyway, after we were all done, I ended up with about 9 litres (2.4 gallons) of used frying oil!! The problem was that I didn’t know how to dispose it – I knew I couldn’t just pour it down the sink…So I saved it in bottles until many months passed and it was time for us to leave Korea.  I asked around about what to do with the used oil and someone told me that you could make soap from used cooking oil!! Wow! What a fantastic idea!

So after first confessing to my husband  that I had hidden over 2 gallons of oil and I told him that I needed his help in making it into soap otherwise the oil will have to go with us to the US!!!

hahaha.. just kidding…yeobo!  (FYI – Yeobo (여보) =  honey/darling in Korean)

Well, after hearing my husband’s grumbling and lamenting about how come he ended up with a wife who just doesn’t stay still and always creates extra work, he started researching feverishly about how to make soap at home with used frying oil. Because he was not working at that time, I knew he had the time to do it but I had no idea he would get so deeply into it – which was a total surprise to me. 

I mean this is a man who only knows how to make ramen, curry rice and coffee. He is great at washing dishes but has no interest in cooking or anything crafty.

But, funny thing,  I saw that he was totally in his science geek mode (he is an Electrical Engineer), calculating the amounts and why this will work or not work. He calculated and recalculated for 2 days before he settled on a recipe. So long story short, imagine my husband and I, two science PhDs, looking down at the bucket of oil and caustic soda, trying to figure out how to make soap from the recipe (because it was not working well); arguing with each other one moment – when it wasn’t working and then so excited the next moment – when we finally got it to harden into soap!! But wait, that’s not all…so it turns out we ended up adding too much caustic soda and when my husband washed his hands with the soap he said it hurt his hands! Yikes!! Oh dear…

So, we let it sit for weeks and then gave to my mother-in-law. And she told me that it makes the best laundry soap, so it was all good!

Right, let’s get back to baking some yummy Yakwa. I ended up with 2 different versions: one that is quite crispy and another one that is softer and crumblier. I will introduce the crispy one here. Will do another post next about the crispy version.

Easy Baked Korean Dessert – Yakwa

Servings: 60-70 pieces (1 inch squares)   Time:  Prep 25 min + cook 33 min      Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups medium protein flour or pastry flour (all purpose is OK)
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soju
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbs melted butter or vegetable oil (for brushing the top)
• 2 Tbs chopped pine nuts (as topping)

Ginger Honey Syrup

• 1 cup rice syrup (jochung 조청) – if not available, you can substitute honey
• 1 cup honey
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger (more if you like ginger)

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
2. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Add sesame oil to flour mixture. Mix with your hands by rubbing the oil flour mixture until oil is evenly distributed.
4. Separately mix soju and honey. For pictures of steps 1 -4, refer to my original Yakwa post since this part is identical.
5. Add soju honey mixture to flour. Gather pastry into a ball. (Do not overwork the dough otherwise it will become tough). This should feel and look like pie crust dough except it is less fatty.

   Korean honey pastry dough for Yakwa

6. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick rectangular shape about 1 inch x 1 inch. Rolling the dough too thick will make the baked Yakwa too hard. Cut the dough into 1 inch wide strips and then cut the strips at an angle to make diamond shapes or straight to make squares. It’s up to you.

   cutting dough for Yakwa

    Pierce holes in the center using a chopstick or a fork.

   Korean honey pastry (Yakwa) in baking pan

   This will help Yakwa cook evenly and also absorb the yummy syrup later on.

7. Lay out the Yakwa squares onto a pan.
8. Brush the top of each Yakwa piece generously with butter or oil.

   Yakwa brushed with butter for baking

9. Bake at 250°F (125°C) for 15 minutes.
10. While Yakwa is baking, make the syrup by mixing the rice syrup, honey and water in a sauce pan or frying pan. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, turn the heat off and add the chopped ginger, mix and set it aside.
11. Chop a handful of pine nuts and that should yield about 2 Tbs.
12. Raise heat to 300°F (150°C) and cook for another 10 minutes.
13. Finally, raise temperature to 350°F (175°C) and cook for about 7-8 minutes depending on how thin your Yakwa is. It should be nicely browned but take care not to over cook because it will be too dry.

    Yakwa baked in oven – ready to go into syrup

14. When Yakwa is nicely browned, take out of the oven and immediately add it to the syrup.

    Korean Dessert Yakwa soaking in honey ginger syrup

    Let it sit in syrup for at least 30 minutes or for an hour or more. You can even leave it in syrup overnight. The longer they sit in syrup, the more it will absorb and will get softer. Unlike the fried yakwa where you only need to soak for couple minutes, baked yakwa needs to soak in syrup longer.

15. Take Yakwa out from the syrup when it is to your liking and sprinkle with chopped pine nuts.

Enjoy!

Freeze Yakwa for storage

Yakwa will not spoil easily since it is coated with syrup and has little moisture. You can leave it at cool room temperature for few days, even a week but do store covered. For longer storage, you can freeze Yakwa and it will still taste fresh when defrosted.

Perfect companion for Yakwa

My husband loves having Yakwa with coffee. I love having Yakwa with dry salami! Yes, I know my sisters call me crazy but try it if you like sweet and salty. This is usually served as a Korean dessert but it can also be a snack. Or.. even breakfast?? No.. don’t eat it for breakfast..  you need more fresh fruit, veggies and protein for breakfast.

Yakwa makes a great Korean dessert gift!

Korean Yakwa dessert pastry styled and boxed

Use mini paper liners that are usually used for chocolates and Yakwa can be boxed beautifully in gift boxes.

Hope everyone has a great Mother’s Day weekend! 

Be good to your Mother~

❤️ JinJoo

Korean Dessert - Easy Baked Yagkwa/Yakwa

2016-05-06 19:08:33

Yields 60

Easy version of Korean dessert Yakwa which is baked instead of fried. Not as rich but certainly delicious in its own way. Lighter, healthier and easier to make!

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Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

35 min

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1. 2 1/4 cups medium protein flour or pastry flour (all purpose is OK)
2. 1/4 cup sesame oil
3. 1/4 cup soju
4. 1/4 cup honey
5. 1/8 tsp salt
6. 1 tsp baking powder
7. 1/4 tsp baking soda
8. 2 Tbs melted butter or vegetable oil (for brushing the top)
9. 2 Tbs chopped pine nuts (as topping)

Ginger Honey Syrup

1. 1 cup rice syrup (jochung 조청) – if not available, you can substitute honey
2. 1 cup honey
3. 2 cups water
4. 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger (more if you like ginger)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
2. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Add sesame oil to flour mixture. Mix with your hands by rubbing the oil flour mixture until oil is evenly distributed.
4. Separately mix soju and honey. For pictures of steps 1 -4, refer to my original Yakwa post since this part is identical.
5. Add soju honey mixture to flour. Gather pastry into a ball. (Do not overwork the dough otherwise it will become tough). This should feel and look like pie crust dough except it is less fatty.
6. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick rectangular shape about 1 inch x 1 inch. Rolling the dough too thick will make the baked Yakwa too hard. Cut the dough into 1 inch wide strips and then cut the strips at an angle to make diamond shapes or straight to make squares. It’s up to you.
7. Pierce holes in the center using a chopstick or a fork.
8. Lay out the Yakwa squares onto a pan.
9. Brush the top of each Yakwa piece generously with butter.
10. Bake at 250°F (125°C) for 15 minutes.
11. While Yakwa is baking, make the syrup by mixing the rice syrup, honey and water in a sauce pan or frying pan. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, turn the heat off and add the chopped ginger, mix and set it aside.
12. Chop a handful of pine nuts and that should yield about 2 Tbs.
13. Raise heat to 300°F (150°C) and cook for another 10 minutes.
14. Finally, raise temperature to 350°F (175°C) and cook for about 7-8 minutes depending on how thin your Yakwa is.
15. When Yakwa is nicely browned, take out of the oven and immediately add it to the syrup.
16. Let it sit in syrup for at least 30 minutes or for an hour or more. You can even leave it in syrup overnight. The longer they sit in syrup, the more it will absorb and will get softer. Unlike the fried yakwa where you only need to soak for couple minutes, baked yakwa needs to soak in syrup longer.
17. Let it sit in syrup for at least 30 minutes or for an hour or more. You can even leave it in syrup overnight. The longer they sit in syrup, the more it will absorb and will get softer. Unlike the fried yakwa where you only need to soak for couple minutes, baked yakwa needs to soak in syrup longer.
18. Take Yakwa out from the syrup when it is to your liking and sprinkle with chopped pine nuts.

Notes

1. Freeze yakwa for longterm storage. Great with coffee. Will stay fresh at room temp for several days . Enjoy!

By JinJoo Lee

Kimchimari http://kimchimari.com/

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