Pull Apart Garlic Bread is the perfect party snack served among other appetizers that’ll keep those hungry guests satisfied! It’s fluffy with an irresistible butter mixture, garlic, and loaded with gooey cheese. Serve this cheesy garlic bread warm and watch it fly off the table in a matter of minutes!
There’s nothing quite like freshly baked cheesy bread out of the oven, right?! This pull-apart bread recipe can be made using store-bought refrigerated bread dough for added convenience or you can make your own dough ahead of time and store it in the freezer, until ready to thaw, and use in this recipe. I’ve tried both methods and the results were equally delicious and rewarding! Of course, making a loaf of bread from scratch does take a little more time than this homemade bread, Garlic French Bread but it’s totally worth it! Or even our Dutch Oven Bread, homemade and delicious in each bite!
There’s never a shortage of what can be served alongside this homemade cheesy classic garlic bread either. Basil Pesto, Spinach Artichoke Dip, or Rotel Dip with Sausage are just some of the many that come to mind.
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Why You’ll Love Pull Apart Garlic Bread
- The garlic cheese pull-apart bread can be made with any bread dough of your choice, giving you more options when either making your own dough from scratch or when sourcing refrigerated bread dough in store.
- This best garlic bread recipe freezes well for up to 3 months! This is great for making it ahead of time or storing leftovers to be reheated.
- The combination of flavors in this recipe creates a mouth-watering bread that everyone will love! Of course, you can also easily adapt the ingredients too since they are simple ingredients.
🍞🧄 Ingredients:
- Bread dough – You can use a 16 oz. loaf of frozen or refrigerated bread dough for this recipe.
- Butter – salted butter for the best taste but you can use unsalted butter too.
- Italian seasoning – Italian flavors that pairs beautifully with the cheese and garlic in the bread dough.
- Garlic – This is the best part. Garlic cloves that are freshly minced will provide the best flavor to this pull-apart bread.
- Cheese – Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese.
- Parsley – Freshly chopped parsley gets sprinkled on top of the baked bread as garnish.
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Substitutions and Variations
- You could also use store-bought pre-minced garlic, garlic paste, or garlic salt, or even a garlic butter.
- This recipe calls for specific cheeses but it can easily be swapped out for cheddar cheese or any cheese that is good for baking with and that melts well.
- You can use any types of bread loaf dough available to you or on hand. I haven’t specified the type of bread dough to use since most will work, even pizza dough.
- Instead of Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese, use another combination of cheese that you enjoy the most like cheddar cheese.
- Spread a flavored cream cheese spread over the rolled-out bread dough. A herb cream cheese spread would be delicious!
- Consider adding in some crumbled bacon into the filling for a meaty pull-apart bread.
- Instead of store-bought refrigerated bread dough, make your own from scratch!
- If you don’t have minced garlic, use garlic paste, garlic powder, or garlic salt instead. These alternatives will provide a milder taste but will still be delicious.
🔪 Instructions:
Step 1: Allow the refrigerated bread dough to sit for an hour at room temperature, on a lightly floured surface.
Step 2: Roll it out into a rectangle on a well-floured surface to avoid sticking.
Step 3: Brush melted butter or soft butter over the bread.
Step 4: Sprinkle Italian seasoning and minced garlic onto the bread dough.
PRO TIP: While the baking time of this pull-apart garlic bread is only 25 minutes, you must set aside enough time (about 4-5 hours) for preparing the dough which includes allowing the bread dough to sit at room temperature before rolling it, and allowing the stacked assembled bread dough to rise in the baking dish before baking. If you know that you’re going to be rushed for time, consider making this bread the day before serving.
Step 5: Sprinkle the grated cheese over the bread.
Step 6: Slice the prepared bread dough into squares with a pizza cutter and begin to stack the 3″x” squares of dough. Cutting in equal pieces is not too important.
Step 7: Turn the stacks on their sides.
Step 8: Transfer dough pieces into a greased bread loaf baking dish.
Step 9: Cover the baking dish with a light dishcloth and let it stand for 2-3 hours in a warm, draft-free location until the dough rises and fills the entire baking dish.
Step 10: Once the unbaked bread dough has fully risen, brush it with melted butter or olive oil, and cover it with foil.
Step 11: In the center of the oven, bake the covered bread for 25 minutes, removing the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking, until its golden brown.
Step 12: Remove the baked bread and brush melted butter over the top. Garnish the baked pull-apart garlic bread with freshly chopped parsley and a pinch of salt and serve hot!
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: Serve this cheesy pull-apart garlic bread warm out of the oven by itself or alongside a salad or a side dish to pasta!
- You can serve this warm bread alone as a snack or alongside other appetizers such as dipping sauce to make an appetizer board to serve to guests.
- Allow the bread dough to rise up above the top of the loaf pan to make a really puffy loaf that’s easy to pull apart.
Fun Fact
While the exact origin of pull-apart bread is unclear, it’s easy to imagine that such a communal dish could date back a long time as a tasty snack for everyone around the table to dig into! The great thing about pull-apart recipes is the variation – you could slather herb-flavored cream cheese between the unbaked dough stacks, or add finely chopped beef or bacon…the options are endless!
Recipe FAQs
This Pull Apart Garlic Bread can be stored at room temperature for 1-2 days in an airtight container or when covered with plastic wrap.
Yes, you can! This bread freezes well for up to 3 months if you wrap it in aluminum foil and then place it in an airtight container, freezer-safe container, or Ziploc bag in the freezer. I don’t recommend that you freeze this bread for longer than 3 months as it may take on a stale texture. You’ll also want to leave the fresh parsley garnish for serving as it will wilt through the freezing and defrosting process.
When you’re ready to enjoy your pull-apart bread, thaw it at room temperature and then add it to a preheated oven while still wrapped in its aluminum foil for 15 minutes, following step 15 of the above directions onwards.
Absolutely! Most bread lasts in the freezer for 3-6 months, making this an ideal recipe to use in preparation for those busy times ahead, whether it’s the festive season or some other event that you need to cater for.
Assemble your bread by following steps 1-14 above and then wrap your bread in aluminum foil and plastic wrap once completely cooled to store in the freezer for later enjoyment.
Leave the melted butter and fresh herb garnish for after you reheat and serve!
Other Bread Recipes You’ll Love!
If you tried this Pull Apart Garlic Bread Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Pull Apart Garlic Bread
Ingredients
- 16 oz. loaf of frozen or refrigerated bread dough
- ½ cup salted butter melted
- ½ – 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Defrost frozen bread dough overnight and/or once dough is thawed, set out at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
- Grease a loaf pan with butter and set aside.
- Use a rolling pin (or your fingers) to spread dough into a rectangle approximately 9”x12” inches.
- Brush dough heavily with melted butter.
- Sprinkle Italian seasoning over the melted butter.
- Sprinkle finely minced garlic over the dough. (raw garlic will not cook in the center of the bread – if you want a milder flavor, use less garlic, garlic paste, roasted garlic, or even garlic salt. For a stronger garlic flavor, use more garlic.)
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese and grated mozzarella cheese over the dough.
- Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into 12 squares, about 3”x3” each.
- Stack the squares on top of each other, forming a little pile.
- Carefully transfer the stack of dough and lie it on its side in the prepared loaf pan. You can see how the dough slightly resembles a reshaped “loaf”, but the dough will not fill the whole bottom of the loaf pan until it rises.
- Cover the pan with a light dishcloth and set in a warm, draft-free location to rise (the proof setting on the oven works great). Allow the dough to rise until the stacked layers have puffed up to the top of the loaf pan and filled it completely (this could take 2-3 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Brush the risen bread with more melted butter. Cover the loaf pan loosely with aluminum foil.
- Bake the bread (covered) for a total of 25 minutes, removing the foil cover for the last 5 minutes of baking.
- Remove from the oven and brush with any remaining butter. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
- Serve hot straight out of the pan or remove full loaf from the pan and serve.
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Comments & Reviews
Olga says
I am going to do it your way because I like it and my.family goes crazy for garlic bread I think they might like this a lot more.thank you for sharing 💖