This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast. A few readers requested savory football food recipes and snack-style pull apart bread came to mind first. After weeks of brainstorming, asking your suggestions, and a little recipe testing… I baked the BEST PULL APART BREAD you will ever eat. If you have ever tried these pizza pull apart rolls, you know that’s a bold statement. This loaf-style pull apart bread is prepared with easy homemade bread dough, garlic herb & mozzarella cream cheese filling, and everything bagel seasoning on top.
My assistant said “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” Our friend said “This stuff is dangerous.” Another friend said “Alert me when you publish the recipe so I can make it.” And then “Get this away from me because I can’t stop eating it.” And, finally, I said: “This is another example of why I love carbs.”
Pull Apart Bread Dough
The everything bagel pull apart bread begins with homemade dough. A lot of homemade yeasted bread recipes yield 2 or more loaves, but I only wanted 1. It required a little testing, but I found the perfect ratio of ingredients. Pull apart bread dough combines 7 simple ingredients: sugar, milk, butter, salt, egg, flour, and yeast. Here’s the purpose and importance of each:
Sugar feeds the yeast. Only 1 Tablespoon in the recipe. Milk hydrates the yeast and gives the bread a softer texture (as opposed to water). Butter and salt give the bread flavor. Egg contributes to the bread rising as well as providing texture/structure. Flour is the structure of the bread. Yeast makes bread… bread!
Let’s Talk About the Yeast
We’re using a superior yeast: Platinum Yeast from Red Star. Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Yeast is an instant yeast that strengthens our dough and provides extra volume to the final product. It’s my preferred yeast for any and all bread baking—I use it exclusively in my kitchen because it’s always a guarantee!! If you don’t have Platinum, Red Star Active Dry or Quick Rise Yeast works too! If using active-dry, your dough may take a little longer to rise. We only need 2 teaspoons of dry yeast which is a little less than 1 standard packet. The dough rises twice. During the first rise, get your everything bagel goodies prepared.
Homemade Everything Bagel Seasoning
Everything bagel seasoning is so easy. You can buy it from the store or mix it up at home with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried minced onion, dried garlic flakes, and coarse sea salt or flaky sea salt—the same seasoning I use for homemade everything bagels and these everything biscuits. Other uses for everything bagel seasoning: sprinkled on hummus, homemade cheese bread, scrambled eggs, toast, fish, chicken, homemade soft pretzels, soft pretzel rolls, cornbread, salads, guacamole, pizza, and more!
Garlic, Herb, & Mozzarella Cream Cheese
We’re combining, butter, cream cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, garlic powder, and your choice of fresh or dried herbs. This mixture will be spread on top of the dough before it’s shaped in the pull apart style. The first time I made this everything bagel pull apart bread, I skipped the mozzarella cheese. It was good. When I added the cheese, it was GREAT. Much more of a stretchy cheesy pull apart style. After the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out. Spread on the cream cheese mixture.
How to Assemble Pull Apart Bread
There are a billion ways to shape/assemble pull apart bread. King Arthur Flour has a blog post about different ways to shape pull apart bread that I found interesting. This particular way doesn’t require a ruler, strict measurements, or any precise measuring: What to do with the leftover dough scraps? Scroll down to below the recipe. I have something AWESOME you can make. The results are unbelievable!! Here are all the filled circles folded in half and lined up in the loaf pan: Let the assembled pull apart bread rise for about 45 minutes, then sprinkle with our everything bagel seasoning. Look at how puffy it got: Bake until golden brown, then pull it apart and dig in! This pull apart bread hits the spot. It’s:
Buttery Salty Bagel-y Flaky Cheesy Garlicky Soft in the center Crisp on the edges Fun to eat Fun to share So addicting it’s scary!!
With make-ahead and freezing instructions, there are so many ways you can prepare this pull apart bread ahead of time. Or if you have a few hours one day, make it all in one go. Truly one of the best savory snacks we’ve had and I guarantee you’ll say the same after 1 bite. See more below the recipe!
Leftover Dough
Since we’re using a cookie cutter for shaping this pull apart bread, we’re going to have some dough scraps leftover. The dough scraps are topped with the herbed cream cheese mixture so WHY NOT shape into a ball, then roll it out to make pizza? Pizza on top of a tender and flaky homemade garlic herb cream cheese dough. This pizza might even be better than the everything bagel pull apart bread itself!! Since the dough is covered with the wet cream cheese mixture, you’ll need extra all-purpose flour on hand. Using well floured hands, peel the scraps off the counter and shape into a ball. This will be messy. Add more flour to the dough as needed (I probably added about 1/2 cup of flour) and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. It’s still going to be a little wet; thats ok. Flatten it out with floured hands or a floured rolling pin as best you can. Top with pizza toppings and bake in a 475°F (246°C) oven for 15-20 minutes or until browned to your liking. I used homemade pesto, mozzarella cheese, caramelized onion, halved baby tomatoes, and when it came out of the oven, I topped it with our everything bagel seasoning. 🙂 In partnership with Red Star Yeast.
