Ridiculously Good Pull Apart Garlic Bread
Pull Apart Garlic Bread made with ultra soft roll dough then lathered in garlic butter in vertical layers in a loaf pan before getting sprinkled with shredded parmesan is so good it’s caused strife in my house. This is an easy recipe with a dough you can make up to 4 days ahead of time and pull it out of the fridge whenever the garlic bread siren calls.
| Taste | Texture | ||
| Garlicky, buttery, cheesy | Soft |
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 15 minutes | 1 hour 45 minutes | 1 loaf (8 servings) | Easy |
Why You’ll Rush to Make Garlic Pull Apart Bread
- Fast and Easy: This recipe requires minimal shaping. Pretty much you only need to divide the dough and flatten the pieces to make this work. I make both Soft Garlic Bread Rolls or Potato Garlic Knots, but if I were in a hurry, I’d make the pull-apart bread instead because both the other recipes take a little more effort to shape.
- No Mixer Needed: You can absolutely mix this dough by hand.
- Pull Apart Goodness: The various pans I’ve made in testing this recipe have never made it onto a serving dish. They have all been eaten straight out of the pan, standing at the counter by my family or my students. First you get drawn in by the fascination of the bread pulling apart piece by piece, then you stay for the big garlic cheese bread flavor.
- Vampire-Slaying: This is garlic bread for garlic lovers. Your house will absolutely smell like a pizzeria while this is in the oven and you will keep away all the vampires who would dare to come near with all the garlic in here!
Ingredients for Homemade Pull Apart Garlic Bread
Garlic Bread Dough
- Water
- Instant yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Whole milk: keeps the crumb of the rolls softer than ones with water alone
- Butter: adds flavor and fat and tenderizes the dough
- Large egg: enriches the dough and makes it more elastic
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
Garlic Butter and Topping
- Butter
- Olive oil
- Fresh garlic, smashed in a mortar & pestle or grated
- Red pepper flakes
- Ground black pepper
- Salt
- Grated parmesan
- Paprika
- Italian seasoning
Equipment Needed
- Loaf pan
- Flexible dough scraper
- parchment
- Bench scraper : makes for easy dividing of the dough into balls
How to Make Easy Pull Apart Garlic Bread
- Make the Dough: Dissolve the yeast and a pinch of the sugar into the warm water in a little cup. Set aside until foamy. Meanwhile warm the milk with the butter until the butter melts. Add in the sugar, salt, and egg, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt and break up the egg. Add the milk mix and the foamy yeast to a mixing bowl with the flour. Stir everything to create a shaggy dough.
- Knead the Dough: Use a flexible dough scraper to scrape underneath the dough and then bring the bottom side of the dough towards the center of the bowl (the folding process in the pictures above is from my Overnight Pizza Dough, but the idea is identical). Turn the bowl and stretch and fold the dough over on itself about 20 times to knead the dough into a smooth but sticky dough. Cover the dough to rise for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Make the Garlic Butter: Smash the garlic in a mortar & pestle or grate it with a fine Microplane grater. Smoosh the garlic and olive oil together along with the rest of the garlic butter ingredients. You can do this with either a fork or a hand mixer.
- Prep the Pan: Line the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with a piece of parchment . Smear a tiny bit of the garlic butter along the short sides of the pan.
- Shape the Garlic Bread: Scoop out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Flatten the top of each piece into a rough triangle. Dip each piece of dough into the garlic butter and stand it up inside the pan. When you’ve placed all the pieces, fan out the pieces so that they cover the bottom of the pan. Top with cheese, paprika, and Italian seasoning. Save any extra garlic butter. Cover the bread for 30 minutes.
- Bake the Bread: Towards the end of the 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C). Bake the bread for 30-33 minutes until it is golden brown and starting to get crusty around the edges. You’ll notice close to being done that almost all the butter will have absorbed into the loaf. If you have an instant read thermometer , the center of the bread should read 195-200 F when its done. Brush the bread with any extra garlic butter when it comes out of the oven.
How to Get the Best Flavor in Your Parmesan Garlic Bread
- Smash or Grate: There are plenty of ways to break down garlic, but you’ll get the most flavor out of it if you smash it into a paste in a mortar & pestle with a pinch of salt. The mechanical pressure of the pestle grinding against the mortar will bruise up the cells in the garlic, releasing more essential oils in the garlic. A close second is to grate the garlic on a fine Microplane .
- Use Good Cheese: Skip the pre-grated, pre-shredded cheese here. Use a nice parmesan chunk with the rind on it and grate it yourself!
Fun Variations for Garlic Pull Apart Bread
- Garlic Herb and Cheese Pull Apart Bread: Chop up a handful of parsley or fresh dill or both. Add this to the garlic butter.
- Vampire Destroying Garlic Bread: Add a whole tablespoon of minced garlic.
- Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread: Shred 1/2 cup of mozzarella or fontina cheese. Place the cheese in between the layers of bread and add the parmesan for the top.
- Garlic Bread Breakfast Sandwich: Make a fried egg as you like it along with a couple pieces of salami. Sandwich the egg and salami between two pieces of the garlic bread and a couple slices of your favorite cheese. Absolutely dip this sandwich in tomato sauce!
More Garlic Bread Variations to Bake
Pull Apart Garlic Bread
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings (2 pieces each) 1x
Description
Ultra soft buttery garlic bread baked up into cheesy pull-apart bread for more fun. This bread is so good, you can serve it straight out of the pan eating it standing up around the counter.
Ingredients
Scale
Soft Roll Dough
- 2 Tablespoon warm water (30 mL)
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup milk (118 mL)
- 2 Tablespoons butter (28 g)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (228 g)
Garlic Butter and Topping
- 3 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature (42 g)
- 3 Tablespoon olive oil (45 mL)
- 2–3 cloves garlic (use 2 for a milder flavor)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Measure out the sugar, then sprinkle a pinch of it into a small bowl with the warm water and yeast. Stir to dissolve, then set aside for about 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
- Heat the milk in a small pan until you see bubbles at the edges. Cut up the 2 tablespoons of butter, then stir it into the hot milk to melt along with the rest of the sugar. When the butter is melted, crack in the egg and beat everything into a smooth mixture.
- Measure the flour into a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer, then make a well in the center. Pour the milk/butter mixture into the well, then the yeast mixture.
- Stir the ingredients with a wooden spoon to make a shaggy dough.
Shaggy dough - For kneading, by machine, switch to the dough hook on a stand mixer and let the mixer run on low speed until you get a smooth, sticky, elastic dough, about 5 minutes To knead by hand: Scoop under the dough with a flexible dough scraper . Fold the dough from the bottom of the bowl over itself towards the center of the bowl. Turn the bowl and repeat this step about 15-20 times to create a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Don’t be afraid of the stickiness of the dough. Most of the stickiness will go away after the dough has risen.
Elastic dough after kneading - Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can cover the dough and place it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It’s actually easier to work with the dough when it’s cold!
Make the Garlic Butter
- Smash the garlic in a mortar & pestle or grate it with a fine Microplane grater. Smoosh the garlic and olive oil together along with the rest of the garlic butter ingredients. You can do this with either a fork or a hand mixer.
Prep the Pan
- Line the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with a piece of parchment .
- Smear a tiny bit of the garlic butter along the short sides of the pan.
Shape the Garlic Bread
- Scoop out the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 16 pieces.
- Flatten the top of each piece into a rough triangle.
- Dip each piece of dough into the garlic butter and stand it up inside the pan. Alternate the points of the triangles from side to side so that the bread isn’t lopsided when it bakes. When you’ve placed all the pieces, fan out the pieces so that they cover the bottom of the pan. They will look like an accordion’s bellows.
- Top the dough pieces with cheese, paprika, and Italian seasoning.
- Save any extra garlic butter. Cover the bread for 30 minutes.
Bake the Bread
- Towards the end of the 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
- Bake the bread for 30-33 minutes until it is golden brown and starting to get crusty around the edges. You’ll notice close to being done that almost all the butter will have absorbed into the loaf. If you have an instant read thermometer , the center of the bread should read 195-200 F when it’s done.
- Brush the bread with any extra garlic butter when it comes out of the oven.
- Serve hot with marinara sauce.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 33
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
