Cheesy Garlic Herb Salt Bread (Shio Pan)

The Ultimate Savory Bomb: Cheesy Garlic Herb Shio Pan (Salt Bread)

Move over, plain dinner rolls! There is a quiet, crescent-shaped superstar in the baking world that deserves your immediate attention: Shio Pan, or Japanese Salt Bread. Traditionally, this bread is beloved for its incredible texture—crisp, buttery base, soft and airy interior, and a delicious sprinkle of sea salt on top.

But why stick to tradition when you can dial the flavor up to time ten?

I recently took this delicate Japanese classic and transformed it into the ultimate savory indulgence: Cheesy Garlic Herb Shio Pan. Imagine the signature buttery crunch of traditional Salt Bread, but instead of a simple salted finish, the inside is bursting with melted mozzarella and fragrant garlic-herb butter. It’s savory, cheesy, and dangerously addictive.

Here is the blueprint for crafting this absolute savory bomb!

The Genius of Shio Pan

If you haven't baked Shio Pan before, you need to know the secret to its success:

• The Shape: It's rolled into a crescent, similar to a croissant.

• The Butter: A generous slice of cold butter is wrapped inside the dough before rolling.

• The Bake: As it bakes, the internal butter melts, creating a steam pocket that puffs the bread, resulting in a hollow, airy center and a crisp, buttery "puddle" crust at the base.

I took this incredible concept and turbocharged it with flavor.

The Flavor Transformation: Cheesy Garlic Herb

To achieve maximum savory deliciousness, we replaced the simple cold butter with a dynamic duo: Compound Butter and Melty Cheese.

The Power Player: Garlic Herb Compound Butter

First, I mixed soft, high-quality butter with minced fresh garlic, finely chopped herbs (like parsley, chives, and oregano), and a pinch of salt and pepper. This mixture was then portioned out into small, solid chunks and chilled.

Why chill? Just like the original recipe, the butter needs to be cold and solid when rolled into the dough. This ensures it melts slowly, creating the desired air pocket and infusing every single layer with garlic and herb flavor.

The Gooey Goodness: Mozzarella Chunks

Next, small chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese were prepared. These chunks are placed right alongside the garlic herb butter when rolling the dough.

The Result: As the bread bakes, the garlic butter melts and steams, while the mozzarella melts outward, creating a pocket of gooey, savory filling. It’s heaven when warm.

Step-by-Step for the Ultimate Savory Twist:

1. Prepare the Dough: Use your favorite Shio Pan or soft dinner roll dough recipe. After the first rise, divide and shape the dough into small triangles (the base shape for a crescent roll).

2. Fill and Roll: At the wide end of each dough triangle, place one chilled chunk of the Garlic Herb Compound Butter and one chunk of Mozzarella Cheese.

3. Roll Tight: Roll the triangle up tightly from the wide end to the tip, creating a crescent shape, ensuring the butter and cheese are sealed inside.

4. Proof and Top: Let the rolls proof one last time until puffy. Give them a light spray of water and a generous sprinkle of course salt or pretzel salt.

5. Bake to Perfection: Bake until golden brown. The bottoms will be perfectly crisp and buttery!

The Final, Crucial Step: The Butter Brush

As soon as the Cheesy Garlic Herb Shio Pan rolls come out of the oven—while they are still screaming hot—brush them immediately with a little extra melted Garlic Herb Compound Butter! This adds sheen, maximizes the herb aroma, and pushes the savory flavor right over the top.

The result is a warm, crusty, pillowy cloud that, when torn open, reveals a decadent pool of melted garlic butter and strings of gooey mozzarella. Forget your side dish—this is the star of the show. Go try it immediately!

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Cheesy Garlic Herb Salt Bread (Shio Pan)

Created by Sue Mun

Makes 12 salt breads

Ingredients

Tangzhong Starter

• 22 g unbleached bread flour

• 60g water

• 60g milk

For the Enriched Dough

• 7 g active dry yeast

• 120g milk (warmed up to 110F)

• 10g sugar

• 1 egg, room temperature

• the entire cooled down starter mixture from above

• 375g unbleached bread flour, plus more for kneading if needed

• 40g sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 60 g unsalted butter, softened

For the Garlic Herb Butter Filling: (Cut into 12 individual 10g pieces for each salt bread)

• 120g salted butter, softened

• 1 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

For the Topping:

• spray bottle filled with water

• Pretzel salt

• Melted Garlic Herb Butter (make extra from above)

INSTRUCTIONS

Prep the Garlic Herb Butter

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the softened salted butter, minced garlic, and chopped parsley. Once everything is combined and smooth, place the butter onto a piece of parchment and fold the parchment paper overtop the butter and shape into a rectangular butter block/stick. Throw this in the fridge or freezer to harden.

2. Once hardened, cut and portion out the butter into 12 individual 12 gram pieces for each salt bread. Set the butter pieces aside in the fridge until you are ready to use.

Prep the Mozzarella Sticks

1. Cut the mozzarella cheese into 12, 2 by 1 inch chunks. Set the pieces aside in the fridge until you are ready to use.

Make Tangzhong Starter

1. In a small sauce pot, add in the flour, milk, water and whisk to combine until smooth and lump free.

2. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for about 2-3 minutes, mixing with your whisk or rubber spatula the entire time. As it starts to thicken, mix constantly until everything is cooked and thickened. When done, the mixture should be very thick like slime. Pour the mixture into a bowl, cover the surface with plastic wrap and cool in the fridge to cool completely before using. This can also be made the day before.

Make the Dough

1. In a stand mixer bowl attached with a dough hook, add in the warm milk active dry yeast, and the 10g of sugar, mix until the everything is combined. Let the mixture sit in the bowl for about 5 minutes to bloom the yeast. Then add in the egg and the cooled down starter and mix to combine. Add in the flour, remaining sugar, and salt. Mix everything together on low speed for about 5 minutes until they are evenly combined and you end up with a shaggy and tackydough.

2. Add in the soft butter and knead for about 10 minutes. Adding in a little bit more flour if needed if the dough looks a bit too sticky. After 10 minutes, the dough should be smooth and elastic.

3. Shape the dough into a tight ball. Place the dough into a large bowl greased with baking spray. Cover with a plastic wrap or with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm location for about an hour to an hour and a half or until it has doubled in size.

4. Once proofed, divide the dough into 65-70 grams each. Roll into tight balls and cover and rest for 15 minutes.

Shaping, Proofing, & Baking:

1. Roll out the ball into a cone shape thats about 6 inches long. Then using a rolling pin, roll out the fat part of the dough flat. Then gently roll and stretch the dough down until you reach the end of the dough. It will be like croissant shaping.

2. Place a chilled 12g garlic herb butter piece and a mozzarella chunk on the edge of the fatter side of the rolled dough. Then roll up the dough like a croissant. Try to keep everything centered when rolling up the dough. Make sure that the end in tucked at the bottom of the roll to prevent the roll from unraveling when it bakes. It is okay if it the shape looks wonky and chunky from thee butter and cheese. It will all bake fine in the end.

3. Lightly spray your two baking sheets with baking spray. Then lay 6-8 salt bread onto each baking sheet (making sure there is enough space from each salt bread) and spray each salt bread with water using a spray bottle. Proof in a warm spot like your oven with boiling water underneath for steam (you will have to remove this pot when you are ready to bake). Proof for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

4. Generously spray each salt bread with water and lightly sprinkle with pretzel salt on top.

5. Bake at 400F for 12 minutes and then lower the temperature down to 375F and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown all around and on the bottom.

6. Take out of the oven and brush with melted garlic herb butter for a shiny appearance.

7. Serve immediately and enjoy!