Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread – Rolled-up pizza dough layered with Parmesan cheese and melted garlic butter. It’s a savory monkey bread that’s completely and utterly delicious!!
My parents were here to visit us this past weekend with 1 goal in mind: Manhattan clam chowder. It’s a “fall classic,” so to speak, in my family and we decided this year that we’d make it at our house.
In years past, this soup’s annual appearance was always at a family party at my aunt and uncle’s Fire Island beach house but things are admittedly a little wonky in the family relations department since my grandma passed in June. Things like this happen in times of family loss, don’t they?
Nonetheless, this past weekend was a spectacularly laid back one filled with a fantastic Yankees game on TV on Saturday, tons of coffee drinking (as per usual), my mom reminiscing over her mother’s and grandmother’s recipes, my dad on the hunt for a walking stick in the woods on our property, Wilma chasing the turkeys out of the yard, and lots of cooking.
Pull Apart Bread Recipe Ingredients
This bread happened in the course of Saturday’s waning afternoon light while the soup was finishing on the stove and the Yankees were into the 4th hour of their almost 6 hour game. The ingredients are all pantry staples and it’s definitely an easy pull apart bread recipe to make.
Here’s what you’ll need (keep scrolling down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and set of instructions):
- instant yeast
- warm water – between 110° F and 115° F
- extra-virgin olive oil
- table salt
- all-purpose flour
- salted butter, melted
- dried parsley flakes or finely chopped fresh parsley
- Italian seasoning
- fresh garlic
- grated Parmesan cheese
How to Make This Pull Apart Bread
While this looks like a laborious recipe, it actually can be made pretty quickly, especially with a helper or two on hand.
My mom and I sat at our circa 2002 Ikea kitchen table where I plucked golf ball-size pieces of dough out of the dough container and she rolled them in melted butter mixed with minced garlic and dried parsley and Italian seasoning. It was a nice division of labor.
We piled the garlicky, herby, buttery dough balls up in the Bundt pan and sprinkled the top with some Parmesan cheese.
The dough will go through a second quick rise and then it will go into the oven where it puffs up even higher while baking.
Set out in the center of the table, we marveled at this bread: how easy it was to make, and how fun and rustic it was to pull apart during a family meal.
Wait. Isn’t this Just Monkey Bread?
Well, in a way, yes. It’s kind of a savory monkey bread recipe.
Some pull apart bread, like this cinnamon sugar pull apart and this gooey, cheesy garlic pull apart bread are made with horizontally stacked layers of dough.
But this version is more like monkey bread in that dough balls are stacked together in a Bundt pan. And it actually reminds me a lot of what my garlic knots would look like if they were baked together in a pan.
Can you Use Store Bought Pizza Dough?
Yes, of course you can! Just make sure the dough is at room temperature before you start to cut it into pieces.
What to Serve this Bread With
There are endless possibilities for what you can serve this bread with. It would be perfect dipped in one our favorite tomato soupor this broccoli cheddar soup.
If soup isn’t your thing – and really, how could it not be? – I implore you to make this garlic parmesan pull-apart bread with your next batch of Sunday spaghetti and meatballs,an easy to makepenne alla vodka,our go-to weeknight one pot creamy sausage pasta, this outrageous eggplant parmesan, or if you want to really indulge, thisfettuccine alfredo.
You get my point. Just go and make it!
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Active Prep Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours
Bake Time: 28 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 58 minutes
Garlic parmesan pull apart bread is a fun side dish recipe to make for all kinds of meals. We love it with saucy pastas but it also is perfect for dipping in soup. It's like a savory monkey bread with layers of garlic butter pizza dough and parmesan cheese and I know it will be a big hit with your family!
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ tsp (1 packet) instant yeast (see Note below)
- 1 1/3 cups warm water, between 110° F and 115° F
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp (¼ cup) salted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes or 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ¼ tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, stir together the yeast and water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes until yeast is somewhat dissolved. Mix in the olive oil, salt, and flour. Using the dough hook, knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until elastic. (Alternatively, you can mix the ingredients in a large bowl then knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is elastic, 7-10 minutes.) Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours, or until it has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, parsley, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic. Set aside.
- Gently push the air out of the dough. Tear off a golf ball-size piece of dough, roll in the butter mixture, and place in the bottom of a Bundt pan. Repeat this process until you have one layer of dough balls. Sprinkle on ⅓ of the Parmesan cheese. Continue layering the dough balls and cheese until you have 3 layers. (Note: We ended up with only 2 layers but the bread still turned out fine.) Cover the pan with a clean towel or plastic wrap and allow the dough to double in size, 20-30 minutes.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes then invert the pan onto a large serving plate and let the bread fall out of the pan.Serve hot.
Notes
Instead of making your own pizza dough, you can certainly use store-bought pizza dough if you wish. Just be sure to allow it to come to room temperature before you start cutting it into pieces.
adapted from Pastry Affair
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