Cheonan walnut pastry shop with cooler-bag red bean butter

What is Cheonandang Dandae Branch like?

Cheonandang Dandae Branch (천안당 단대점) is a hodu-gwaja (walnut pastry) specialty shop near Dankook University's Cheonan campus, at 177 Manghyang-ro, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, Chungnam, South Korea. It's open daily from 07:30 to 20:00, and easy payment and parking are available.

Snack time, everyone! 😋 I had business in Cheonan, and of course I stopped for Cheonan's ultimate soul food: hodu-gwaja! Out of all the walnut pastry shops around, the one I picked was Cheonandang Dandae Branch, near Dankook University's Cheonan campus!

Getting there and the exterior

The shop sits on a big road with a large wooden sign reading "Original Traditional Walnut Pastry Cheonandang Dandae Branch," so it was easy to find even on my first visit. They also offer nationwide courier delivery. A huge notice on the front glass says "We make everything with 100% Korean wheat," and my trust shot up before I even went in! I could feel from the entrance why so many people recommend it for walnut pastries near Dankook University.

How much are the walnut pastries at Cheonandang Dandae Branch?

The plain hodu-gwaja (100% Korean wheat) starts at 15 pieces for ₩5,000, the red bean butter version is 16 for ₩10,000, and the new Lotus walnut pastry is 15 for ₩8,000. At the counter there was an easy-to-read menu and a poster for the new item, and I was shocked at how friendly the plain pastry prices are.

• Plain walnut pastry (100% Korean wheat): 15 for ₩5,000 / 30 for ₩10,000 / 45 for ₩15,000 / 60 for ₩20,000
• Red bean butter walnut pastry: 16 for ₩10,000 🧈
• Lotus walnut pastry (NEW): 15 for ₩8,000 ☕

Trendy red bean butter and coffee-scented Lotus walnut pastries... how could I not buy them? I think these unusual menu items are why this place is so hot among the college students nearby!

What else does Cheonandang Dandae Branch sell inside?

Besides the automatic walnut pastry machine, the shop also sells small goods, drinks and healthy snacks. Inside, the smell of sweet, nutty pastries baking filled the whole place. On one side, a big, hygienic automatic machine was getting ready to run, and boxes were stacked up in neat, sharp lines.

There was also a certification panel showing it's a partner shop for the premium walnut pastry launch agreement among Cheonan City, the Rural Development Administration and a farming association, and I thought, "Okay, this place is the real deal."

And the owner has a good sense for the space! On one side they sell cute little items like checkered pouches, tote bags and hair ties. Browsing was surprisingly fun. The fridge was packed with milk, coffee and drinks that go perfectly with walnut pastries, and they also sell healthy snacks: whole-grain chips, nurungji (scorched rice) chips and black bean yeot (Korean taffy).

Does the red bean butter walnut pastry melt when you take it out on a hot day?

Cheonandang Dandae Branch double-packs the red bean butter walnut pastries in a silver cooler bag, so the butter didn't melt while I was on the move. After you order, the owner carefully puts everything in a pretty, fresh orange shopping bag. It says "Korean Cheonan Premium," so it looks really classy as a Cheonan souvenir or a gift for friends!

When the weather warms up, a lot of people worry the red bean butter will melt. Cheonandang Dandae Branch thoughtfully double-packs it carefully in a silver cooler bag. Thanks to that, the butter stayed fresh and neat all the way home or to my destination with no worry about melting. I was so touched by the care in even the small details!

Opening the red bean butter walnut pastries the second I got in the car

Cheonandang Dandae Branch's signature is the red bean butter walnut pastry, split open and sandwiched with thick butter. I couldn't wait and opened the box right when I got in the car! Just look at how gorgeous these look. 🥺

The moment I opened the box, the packed-full look made me gasp. Every single pastry had a thick, generous slab of quality butter tucked neatly inside! It wasn't a half-hearted imitation; you could see with your own eyes that each one was split open and sandwiched with plenty of butter.

I took one bite in the car... wow, this is seriously insane. Soft, moist bread made with 100% Korean wheat, sweet smooth red bean paste, and then the soft, nutty butter wrapping around the whole mouth. It's the absolute peak of "sweet, salty and nutty"!

Plain vs. red bean butter vs. Lotus walnut pastry: taste comparison

Of the three kinds at Cheonandang Dandae Branch, the plain one suits gifts for elders, the red bean butter is best chilled, and the Lotus goes well with coffee. I opened the packages as soon as I got home, and probably thanks to the 100% Korean wheat and Korean red beans, the dough itself is super soft and not dry at all!

• Plain walnut pastry: The red bean paste isn't too sweet and is soft, and big walnut pieces are studded throughout, so the chew is fantastic. I think it'd be perfect as a gift for elders too.
• Red bean butter walnut pastry: Do I even need to describe the combo of nutty, salty butter and sweet red bean... it melts in your mouth. Eat it chilled and it's twice as good!
• Lotus walnut pastry: The surface is covered in fragrant Lotus crumble, so it's just right as a dessert with coffee. A direct hit on younger tastes!

Maybe they use good butter, because it wasn't greasy at all and tasted clean, and on the drive home from the car my hand kept reaching in without me noticing. (Popping them in one by one while driving is a lot of fun. 🚗)

Keep the red bean butter walnut pastry in the fridge and eat it cold

As it says on the box, if you refrigerate it and eat it cold, the butter's firm, crisp texture comes alive and it tastes much better, so if you buy some, I highly recommend putting it in the fridge for a bit and enjoying it chilled!

Cheonandang Dandae Branch red bean butter walnut pastry, bite by bite

At Cheonandang Dandae Branch, the flavors of the red bean butter walnut pastry come in this order: castella-like batter, cold crisp butter, fine Korean red bean paste, then whole walnut. I couldn't resist the sweet, nutty smell in the car and took the box out of the silver cooler bag. I carefully peeled the seal on the lid, and the moment I opened it, exclamations burst out.

My first impression of the red bean butter walnut pastry, appearing beyond the neatly arranged wax paper, was truly overwhelming. They boldly split the soft dough at the center of each pastry and slipped a whole thick slice of white, quality butter right in. Thanks to the cold packaging, the butter hadn't melted and held sharp edges, so it looked extremely fresh. With reverence, I picked one up and sent it straight into my mouth.

Dough and butter

The dough is what the teeth meet first, and probably because it's 100% Korean wheat, it had none of the dry, crumbly feel typical of ordinary walnut pastries. After passing through the fluffy, dense, castella-like shell, you get a pleasant crunch into cold, soft butter. The moment this butter meets the warmth of your mouth, it melts moistly and starts coating the whole dough with its nutty flavor.

Korean red bean paste

Just as the butter's richness spreads, the very fine-textured red bean paste comes in with weight. What surprised me was the level of sweetness! It's a different league from cheap, sugar-drenched red bean filling, with the subtle, deep flavor and refined sweetness of Korean red beans. The sweetness of the beans gently wraps the saltiness of the butter, which could otherwise get greasy, creating a perfect "sweet, salty and nutty" balance.

Whole walnut

The peak of this flavor is the walnut. When I split one in half and looked at the cross-section, big, plump whole walnut pieces were embedded between the red bean paste, showing off their presence! With each bite, among the soft bread and melting butter, it's the one thing that crunches crisply, and that nutty texture lifts a dessert that could have been one-note, like a stroke of genius.

Could we finish a whole box without getting sick of it?

We never got tired of the red bean butter walnut pastries from Cheonandang Dandae Branch; my family and I finished a whole box in the car in no time. Chatting cozily with my family in the car as we ate the box I'd packed up, I truly couldn't stop and cleared it in a flash. Why do people come all this way and line up to buy them, why do so many people give Cheonan walnut pastries a thumbs up? Every one of my taste buds is now convinced. 👍🤍

Thanks to the cleanness that comes from good ingredients, I could enjoy it perfectly down to the last bite without getting tired of it. It's a dessert with a magic that keeps your hands moving! 👍🤍

Usually when you eat dessert, it gets cloying or your mouth gets dry, right? But maybe because Cheonandang Dandae Branch uses good Korean ingredients and top-quality butter, the aftertaste was amazingly clean and mild. ✨

The castella-soft bread texture, the subtle, not-too-much sweetness, the gentle saltiness of top-quality butter, and the powerful nuttiness of big whole walnuts! These four flavors came together in my mouth like fireworks of taste going off. 🎉

Would I go back to Cheonandang Dandae Branch?

Cheonandang Dandae Branch is a walnut pastry shop near Dankook University where everything satisfied me, from the plain pastries made with Korean ingredients to the trendy red bean butter. The tidy box packaging and reliable cooler packing mean long trips are no worry, and the taste suits everyone from kids to grandparents, so if you're ever in Cheonan, I appoint it a must-visit stop! Next time I plan to order nationwide courier delivery by phone and send a box to my parents' home too.