Yakgwa Caramel Cookies: How a Traditional Korean Sweet Became a Convenience-Store Dessert Trend

Yakgwa Caramel Cookies sit at an interesting crossroads: part traditional Korean sweet, part modern convenience-store dessert, and part social media-era snack trend. The idea makes sense once you know what yakgwa is: a traditional confection made by frying a dough of honey and wheat flour in sesame oil, known for its glossy amber look and sweet, spiced character.¹

That old-meets-new appeal is the heart of the trend. In Korea, yakgwa has been reintroduced to younger consumers through formats that feel familiar, portable, and highly snackable: cookies, brownies, doughnuts, cup cakes, and other hybrid desserts. Instead of treating yakgwa only as a ceremonial or nostalgic sweet, brands have been placing it on top of chewy cookies, pairing it with chocolate, and layering it with cinnamon cream, caramel cake sheet, and citrus jam.²³

Yakgwa Caramel Cookies and the Rise of the Hybrid Korean Dessert

Yakgwa Caramel Cookies chewy caramel texture trend

The phrase “Yakgwa Caramel Cookies” captures more than one specific product. It points to a broader dessert direction: traditional yakgwa flavors and textures being blended with modern cookie and cake formats. One clear example comes from GS25’s first products under its own yakgwa brand, “Haengun Yakgwa.” In May 2023, the convenience-store chain introduced yakgwa doughnuts and yakgwa cup cakes, with the yakgwa cup cake built from layers of mini honey yakgwa, cinnamon cream, caramel cake sheet, and yuja jam.³

That caramel layer matters because it shows how yakgwa’s honeyed sweetness can be stretched into a richer dessert profile. Rather than presenting yakgwa as a standalone piece of traditional confectionery, this type of product turns it into a layered bite: chewy, creamy, sweet, spiced, and slightly tangy from the yuja jam. The result fits neatly into the way many Korean convenience-store desserts are designed: compact, visually distinct, and built around textures that shoppers can understand quickly.

CU’s “Iutjip Tongtongi Yakgwa Cookie” became one of the strongest examples of this movement. In the first half of 2023, Newsis named it among the hit convenience-store products of the period, reporting that its initial 100,000-unit batch sold out within five days of release. The series, including brownie yakgwa cookie and yellow cheese yakgwa cookie varieties, reached 2.2 million cumulative sales within three months of launch.⁴

The brownie version sharpened the hybrid formula even further. Hankyung reported in June 2023 that CU’s “Iutjip Tongtongi Brownie Yakgwa Cookie” sold out its first 100,000 units in three days. The product placed CU’s self-developed brownie yakgwa on top of a chewy chocolate cookie and coated the top with chocolate.² That description says a lot about why the format worked: it did not ask shoppers to choose between a Korean traditional sweet and a chocolate cookie. It made both part of the same dessert.

Why Young Consumers Helped Push Yakgwa Cookies Forward

The yakgwa cookie boom was not only about flavor. It was also about who was buying it and how dessert trends were moving. CU’s snack food MD Park Min-su described CU’s yakgwa cookie as especially popular among young customers, saying people in their 20s and 30s made up more than 70% of all buyers.²

That youth-driven interest fits into a wider Korean dessert pattern. In March 2026, EToday described Korea’s dessert trends as moving quickly from yakgwa to tanghulu, Dubai chocolate, Dubai chewy cookies, and Shanghai butter rice cakes. The article framed the market as one where even six months can feel long for a dessert fad, with algorithms and texture becoming major forces behind consumption.⁵

In that setting, yakgwa cookies had several advantages. They were rooted in a recognizable Korean sweet, but they also looked fresh enough for short-form video and social sharing. They had a clear texture story: chewy cookie, sticky honeyed yakgwa, chocolate coating, cream, caramel cake sheet, or other layered elements depending on the product. And they were easy to buy through convenience-store channels, which made the trend accessible beyond specialty dessert shops.

There is also a cultural layer to the appeal. Nongmin Shinmun reported in April 2026 that yakgwa has been reexamined through both younger-generation trends and the broader movement of Korean snacks becoming global. The same article noted that The New York Times introduced yakgwa and the “yaketing” phenomenon in 2023, describing the sweet as an amber, glossy cookie from old Korea whose ginger and honey flavors feel timeless.¹ That outside attention helped position yakgwa not just as a retro snack, but as something that could travel across cultures.

From Yakgwa Cookies to the Next Viral Bite

The success of yakgwa cookies also helped shape what came after. In July 2024, ZDNet Korea reported that CU prepared a new “Iutjip Tongtongi Dubai-style Chocolate Cookie” with kadaif after the previous year’s “Iutjip Tongtongi Yakgwa Cookie” sold 1.2 million units in two months.⁶ Park Min-su said the product was planned after observing Dubai chocolate gaining attention among consumers in Korea and abroad, with the goal of releasing a more differentiated dessert.⁶

That follow-up is important because it shows how the yakgwa cookie was not an isolated hit. It became part of a playbook: take a dessert concept with online momentum, combine it with a texture that Korean consumers enjoy, and package it in a convenient cookie format. EToday later described the 2025 spread of “Dujonku,” a Dubai-style chewy cookie concept, as combining Dubai chocolate flavors with the chewy texture preferred by Korean consumers, spreading through short-form content and wait-line proof posts.⁵

Yakgwa Caramel Cookies Seoul dessert trend

Yakgwa Caramel Cookies, then, are best understood as a sign of how flexible Korean dessert culture has become. Traditional yakgwa brings honey, ginger, sesame oil, and an amber gloss; modern cookie and cake formats bring chocolate, caramel, cream, and chewiness. Together, they show why a centuries-old sweet could become a convenience-store hit and a reference point for the next wave of fast-moving dessert trends.