This cheese stuffed garlic pull-apart bread is the best combination of savory and cheesy goodness. Its soft and fluffy texture compliments the melty cheese filling so beautifully. Baked to golden-brown perfection and coated in a flavorful garlic butter topping, this pull-apart bread is utterly delicious!
What Makes this Pull-Apart Bread Recipe so Good?
- Pillowy soft and fluffy bread filled with a melty mozzarella cheese filling
- Fragrant herb garlic butter coating that enhances to flavors of the mildly sweet bread and savory cheese filling
- So easy to make
How to Make Cheese Stuffed Pull-Apart Bread from Scratch
Pull-apart breads are so fun to make and equally as fun to eat. This recipe does not skim on flavor and overall deliciousness. We are working with a soft bread base filled with mozzarella cheese and finished with a hearty coating of garlic butter. To make this recipe you will need:
Key Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour
- Active Dry Yeast
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Egg
- Whole Milk
- Unsalted Butter
- Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese
- Garlic
- Fresh Parsley
Tips for Making the Best Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
- Use a Good Quality Melty Cheese – a good quality cheese will enhance the overall flavor and texture of the filling. I used mozzarella cheese but any good quality melty cheese like gruyère, fontina, or provolone will work as well. Also, full-fat, whole-milk cheese works best here.
- Properly Enclose the Cheese Filling – to ensure that the cheese filling does not leak out as the bread bakes, make sure to enclose the outer dough around the filling and pinch it close into a smooth ball.
- Coat the Bread in Garlic Butter Straight from the Oven – while the bread is still warm, generously coat in the garlic butter topping for the most delicious and fragrant treat. The heat from the rolls will help release the fragrant aroma from the garlic in the topping.
How to Store
Pull-apart bread is best eaten the day it is baked. Leftovers stored in an air-tight container will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator or 1-2 months in the freezer. When ready to serve chilled or frozen bread, reheat to your likely in a toaster/conventional oven. I do not recommend reheating in the microwave, as the bread may become hard if overheated.
Recipe Notes and Tips
For the best outcome, I highly recommend using a kitchen scale. A kitchen scale allows for weighing your ingredients which will yield more consistent results.
Pull-apart bread may be made in advance and baked the next day. To make the bread in advance, place the individually filled bread dough into a greased baking dish, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge overnight. When ready to serve, brush the chilled bread dough with egg wash and bake until golden brown. Coat warm bread in garlic butter topping before serving.
For the best cheese flavor and texture, use good quality melty cheese like whole-milk mozzarella, gruyère, fontina, or provolone cheese. You can also use any combination of these cheeses.
Looking for More Bread Recipes, Checkout the Links Below:
PrintCheese Stuffed Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
This cheese pull-apart bread is the best combination of savory and cheesy goodness. Its soft and fluffy texture compliments the melty cheese filling so beautifully. Baked to golden-brown perfection and coated in a flavorful garlic butter topping, this pull-apart bread is utterly delicious!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 9 Servings 1x
Ingredients
Cheese Stuffed Pull-Apart Rolls
- 2 1/4 Cups (293g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Plus More as Needed
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons (18g) Granulated Sugar, Divided
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons (5g) Active Dry Yeast
- 3/4 Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Large Egg (56g) Room Temperature, Whisked
- 1/2 Cup (118ml) Whole Milk, Warmed to 100-110F
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) Unsalted Butter, Melted, Room Temperature
- 2 Heaping Cups (254g) Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
Garlic Butter Topping
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) Unsalted Butter, Melted, Room Temperature
- 1 Large Garlic Clove, Grated
- 1 Teaspoon Fresh Parsley, Finely Chopped
- Salt to Taste
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the warmed milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Next, whisk in the yeast and cover the bowl with a large plate or clean kitchen towel. Set aside for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture has a foamy, bubbly appearance with a fermented aroma.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and remaining sugar. Set aside. Using a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, mix the egg and butter into the activated yeast at medium speed to combine.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix all of the dry ingredients into the liquid mixture until a shaggy-looking dough forms. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and knead the dough for 6 minutes.
- The dough should be soft and tacky to the touch. If the dough is too soft and overly sticky, mix in additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it is more manageable to work with. For soft and fluffy bread, take care to not add too much flour.
- Transfer the dough into a large greased mixing bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place the bowl in a warm part of the kitchen and allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
- Generously grease a 9-inch baking dish. Set aside. Gently deflate the dough with a fisted hand, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a generously floured surface and sprinkle some flour on top of the dough. Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, flatten into a disk about 3.5-4 inches and fill the center with 2 heaping tablespoons (1 oz) of cheese. Enclose the filling with the outer dough and pinch shut to form a ball. Transfer the filled dough to the prepared baking pan pinched side down and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough and cheese.
- Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and place the pan in a warm part of the kitchen to rise for 25-30 minutes or until doubled in size. During the last 15 minutes of the second rise, preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown in color.
- Make the garlic butter coating by whisking together the melted butter, parsley, garlic, and salt. Use a pastry brush to coat the warm rolls in the garlic butter before serving.
Notes
- If you are not using a scale to measure the ingredients, make sure to use the spoon and level method for measuring out the flour with standard measuring cups.
- Pull-apart bread is best eaten the day it is baked. Leftovers stored in an air-tight container will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator or 1-2 months in the freezer.
- For the best cheese flavor and texture, use good quality melty cheese like whole-milk mozzarella, gruyère, fontina, or provolone cheese. You can also use any combination of these cheeses.
- Generously coat the bread in the garlic butter topping while it is still warm. The heat from the rolls will help release the fragrant aroma from the garlic in the topping making for an extra flavorful and delicious treat.
Steph
Thanks for the recipe! I used Gruyère and the rolls are beyond fabulous.
nourished endeavors
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Kia
They came out perfectly! So delicious!
nourished endeavors
I’m so glad you like the recipe! Thank you!
Natalie K.
So delicious and so soft! I halved the size of each ball so I would have 18 pieces since I was serving a larger crowd, and that worked out great with same temp/time in the oven.
nourished endeavors
Thank you, Natalie! So happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe!