Garlic Cheese Pull-Apart Bread

5 from 1 vote

Cheesy Garlic Cheese Pull-Apart Bread made from scratch with fluffy homemade dough, melted mozzarella and cheddar, and garlicky herb butter. Soft, cheesy, and baked until golden — the perfect shareable side for any meal.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Rise time1 20

Total Time2 20

Course: Bread

Cuisine: American

Servings: slices

Calories: 268kcal

Author: Sharon Rigsby

Equipment

9x5 inch loaf pan

Ingredients

Dough

½ cup milk, warm
¼ cup water, warm
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast *see note
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
5 tablespoons butter, softened, cut into small pieces
¾ teaspoon salt

Filling

8 tablespoons salted butter, softened
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Topping

1 tablespoon butter melted
Flakey sea salt for garnish, optional
Chopped parsley for garnish, optional

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the milk, water, sugar, and yeast. Mix lightly with a fork.
Add the flours, butter, and salt, then attach a dough hook. Mix on low until the dough comes together, and then increase the speed by a notch or two.
Knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough comes together around the hook and no longer sticks to the sides. If you need more flour, add two more tablespoons at a time until the dough is no longer sticky.
Remove the dough briefly, spray the bowl with cooking spray, and return the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
While the dough rises, make the filling. Use a fork to mix the butter, garlic, parsley, and garlic salt until combined. Add the cheeses and mix until combined.
Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with baking or cooking spray.
Tip the dough onto a clean surface and cut into 12 pieces.
Roll each piece into about a 4-inch circle. Spread the filling on each circle and fold in half.
Spread more filling on the top of all the circle halves except one.
Stack each folded dough, open side up, in the prepared pan until all are layered in. (Put the one with no filling on the very end so there’s no cheese or filling touching the metal pan ends. Separate the pieces slightly to fill the whole pan. Cover and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes. The dough will go up just past the rim of the pan.
When the dough has almost risen, preheat the oven to 325°F.
Bake for about 40-46 minutes or until the dough is golden brown on top. If the top browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil.
Remove from the oven, place the whole pan on a wire cooling rack, and brush the top with melted butter and garnish with flaky sea salt and parsley, if desired.
Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing the bread from the pan, and enjoy hot.

Notes

If you use dry active yeast, you will need to proof it by letting it become bubbly in the milk/water/sugar mixture before continuing.

You can use all bread flour for a chewier bread or all all-purpose flour for a fluffier, softer bread.

The amount of flour you need will depend on your kitchen, how you measure flour, and humidity/weather. Start with the listed amounts and add two tablespoons more at a time until you get a dough that’s not sticky but still slightly tacky. Don’t over-flour.

If you use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon salt to the dough and filling.

Store leftovers, completely cooled, in an airtight container on the counter for up to 24 hours or in the fridge for up to 4 days.

The bread can be frozen, completely cooled, in a freezer bag up to 2 months.

Nutrition