Crispy bottoms and butter holes: An innocent-looking pastry is going viral

Move over, trendy pastries like crookies, brookies and Dubai chocolate — there’s a new bakery item in town: salt bread.

Unlike trends that involve shoving one pastry into another, salt bread’s virality is rooted in simplicity, capturing attention with little other than butter and a bit of salt. Shio pan, or Japanese salt bread, is the beloved bakery staple that has quickly gained traction and spread from Japan throughout Asia over the past decade.

Mochi salt bread from Leftie Lee's in Avondale Estates. (Courtesy of Leftie Lee's)

Why is salt bread so popular?

At first glance, salt bread looks like any other roll, something ordinary and easily passed over in search of flakier or more colorful pastries. Someone unfamiliar with salt bread might even suspect a major baking error, seeing a questionably smooth croissant that entirely missed the lamination process, adorned with only a few flecks of salt acting as its saving grace. The Bake in Duluth said it well in a social media post: “Looks Innocent. Tastes Criminal.”

Atlanta-area bakers Vivian Lee (owner of Leftie Lee’s in Avondale Estates) and Lydia Huh (owner of Butter and Bean in Duluth) shared their perspectives on salt bread’s recent surge in popularity.

“The way I explain salt bread to people who’ve never tried it before is that it tastes like a soft croissant. The dough itself is also a bit sweeter, having more sugar in the recipe than a croissant,” Lee said.

“A lot of people tend to really like that sweet, salty flavor and soft, crunchy texture, all in one bread,” Huh said.

Within the past few years, salt bread migrated to the United States, spanning from the West Coast in bakeries like Los Angeles’ Out of Ordi to Justin’s Salt Bread in New York. Recently, it has debuted in a handful of Asian bakeries in metro Atlanta.

Japanese salt bread is usually served plain, with three variations depending on dough strength: hard, with the chewy texture of a bagel; semihard, with a fluffier interior; or soft, like milk bread. They are often offered with jam and enjoyed with a cup of tea.

Korean bakeries took salt bread (called sogeum-ppang) to another level with a focus on the milk bread texture.

“The Korean style is a bit more of a softer, richer dough, containing milk, which makes it a bit fluffier. And they have a lot of different fillings and varieties,” Huh explained.

While there are dozens of salt bread variations, all have a few signature characteristics that define the pastry.

All salt bread has a butter hole, a cavity left behind in the baking process after a triangular strip of dough is wrapped around a piece of butter. (Courtesy of Lydia Huh)

Butter holes, crispy bottoms and salty finishes

A butter hole (yes, that is the technical term) is evident in all salt breads. It’s achieved by rolling a stick of butter into an elongated triangle of yeast-leavened dough that melts during the baking process, similar to the way chocolate is added to a croissant.

Unlike chocolate, the butter completely melts away, creating a cavity as it is absorbed into the dough. The butter gives the salt bread its signature crispy fried bottom that’s similar to a croissant, achieving the same effect without the time-consuming step of laminating layers of butter into the dough. Finishing salt is sprinkled on top to accentuate and balance the rich buttery flavor.

The combination of yeasted bread and buttery pastry puts salt bread in a hybrid category, making it feel both unique and familiar.

A variety of sweet and savory versions of salt bread from Butter and Bean in Duluth. (Courtesy of Lydia Huh)

Atlanta bakeries offering salt bread

Salt bread was an easy hit for Pastries A Go Go, where it seamlessly integrated into their menu of breakfast items alongside classic staples like croissants and biscuits.

“It’s approachable,” said Adriana Park, owner of Pastries A Go Go.

Park took over the decades-old legacy restaurant in 2024 and began to incorporate new items within her second year of ownership, but she prefers not to rely on viral hype to get people into the restaurant. She only offers salt bread as a special to her regulars.

Pastries A Go Go owner, Adriana Park holds a plate of assorted cookies and a Bacon and Eggs Biscuit with home fries at her location in Downtown Decatur. Pastries A Go Go sometimes offers salt bread as a special. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Huh, owner of Butter and Bean, recently started to offer salt bread by preorder, announcing specials via Instagram. There, customers can find flavored salt bread that goes beyond the plain version that has grabbed so much attention online.

As an experienced cake baker, Huh found salt bread to be highly versatile, allowing her to innovate with new flavors like toasted coconut cream cheese topped with coconut flakes. Other popular flavors include savory and sweet green onion cream cheese, as well as roasted corn whipped cream, topped with roasted corn.

Leftie Lee’s Bakery in Avondale Estates has regularly offered traditional salt bread since 2024. They recently unveiled a unique variation stuffed with mochi, available on weekends.

“It’s salt bread with mochi, a sweet rice cake stuffed with sweet red bean paste, baked inside. The mochi melts a bit as it bakes and leaves behind this really nice chew with a sweet and salty element. It really takes the already delicious salt bread and kicks it up a notch,” Lee explained.

Even though Leftie Lee’s will be converting to a wholesale and catering business near the end of July, she says she will continue offering salt bread along with other bakery items, with ordering done via email.

Toasted coconut cream cheese salt bread from Butter and Bean in Duluth. (Courtesy of Lydia Huh)

Laylo Cafe in Chamblee, known for beautifully ornate mousse cakes resembling knitted balls of yarn and ribbon-shaped croissants, recently started offering salt bread on weekends. Duluth’s Confections Bakery has sold Japanese salt bread in its three locations since August of 2025. Soon’s Bakery in Suwanee offers a variety of salt bread sandwiches with fillings ranging from savory options like scallion cream cheese to sweeter ones like cinnamon.

Newly opened Breadville, also in Suwanee, offers plain salt bread along with half a dozen fillings like egg salad, corn cheese or matcha cream. Rendezvous Cafe in Cumming offers original and chocolate versions of salt bread. But Bread Museum in Duluth may have one of the most interesting variations — sogeum-ppang filled with mentaiko, which is fish roe in a creamy, slightly spicy sauce.