What is a pull apart bread? If you’ve ever had a bread like monkey bread, it’s a bread that’s designed to be torn and shared. Well this cheesy garlic bread is just that, but also stuffed with cheese and garlic butter. I think I would pour garlic butter on my life if I could. It makes most things just taste better.
This bread will be soft and flavorful. It’s got cheese, but not so much it feels like a mozzarella stick. No shade to mozzarella sticks, I love them! Sort of like a cheesy bread appetizer that’s baked in a loaf format. If you want a slightly more cheesy filled bread, I’d recommend my Cheese Stuffed Pretzel Buns.
Baking Tips
If you have extra cheese, sprinkle it on top of the loaf prior to baking. Cheese is a really personal choice and you can use pretty much any cheese. A cheese that’s melty will give you more cheese pull action while something sharper will add a little more flavor. You can also use a mix of cheeses! I strongly suggest not using pre-shredded bagged cheese. It doesn’t have the same melting texture as a block you shred yourself.
Additionally, don’t use garlic powder or garlic salt for the garlic in this pull apart bread. I’d also advocate to not just jarred minced garlic. There is almost no better smell in the world from freshly minced garlic. Sometimes when I have time, I peel whole heads of garlic and store them in a mason jar in the freezer. I use this garlic rocker to mince my garlic and it’s so great. Don’t get the plastic handled one, I had that and it broke pretty quickly but this one is perfect.
Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread Key Ingredients
- Butter – Because I didn’t want this to be overwhelmingly butter forward (is that a bad thing though haha), I used oil in the dough but butter in the filling. I used salted butter but if you only have salted, I’d add about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp to the garlic butter before using it on the dough.
- Cheese – You really can use whatever cheese you love in this, but I would recommend a melty cheese like cheddar, Monterey jack, pepper jack, etc. I tried this with an herbed cheddar, Monterey jack and fontina.
- Buttermilk – I first tested this with milk, and the bread turned out lovely enough but I wanted it to have just a little more flavor. I swapped the milk for buttermilk and the result was fantastic. So, can you make this with regular milk? Yes, it will be perfectly fine but if possible use buttermilk.
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Ingredients
- 300 g AP Flour 2½ cups
- 7 g Instant yeast 2 tsp
- 18 g Sea salt 1 tbsp
- 6 g Granulated sugar ½ tbsp
- Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
- 1 large Egg room temperature
- 2 Garlic cloves minced
- 135 g Buttermilk ½ cup + 1 tbsp, room temperature
Filling
- 4 Garlic cloves minced
- 56 g Salted butter 4 tbsp, softened
- 100 g Cheese 3-4oz, grated
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached, add flour, yeast, salt, sugar, egg, oil, minced garlic, and buttermilk.
- Mix dough on low until it is smooth and elastic. Dough should be tacky but not be overly sticky. 10-15 minutes.
- Remove dough from bowl, shape into a ball and lightly grease your bowl. Place your dough ball back in the bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for 60-120 minutes or until doubled in size.
- While your dough is proofing, in a small bowl take your 4 cloves of minced garlic, and softened butter and mix together to create a soft spreadable paste. If you haven't grated your cheese, also do this.
- Line a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment and set aside.
- When the dough is ready, punch down and remove from bowl. Divide the dough into 10 equal portions.
- Take each piece and flatten down into about a 4-5 inch rounded square.
- Spread some of your garlic butter over the dough and sprinkle cheese over half.
- Fold your dough in half and place upright in your loaf pan with the folded edge at the bottom (like an upright V).
- Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces, placing each next to the last in your pan until the pan is full.
- Cover your loaf pan and let rise for about 30-45 minutes.
- While your dough is proofing, preheat your oven to 350°F.
- When the dough has puffed up in size, place into the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 25-30 minutes. The top will be a golden brown and an internal temperature reading will read at least 190°F.
- Remove your dough from the pan and onto a wire rack to cool. Let cool for at least 30 minutes until eating. Store in an airtight container for about 2 days, after that the bread will start to dry out and be a little stale. Enjoy!
