Party food you can make ahead, freeze and can even be reheated in the microwave! Every piece of bread you pull out of Pull Apart Pizza Bread is like a mini pizza!
Have you ever seen such small, pudgy hands on a fully grown person? Well, I say “fully grown” but I must admit I’m rather vertically challenged. I like to say I’ve been standing in a hole since I was 7. 🙂
Having “Baby Hands” (which is what my friends call me!) is the bane of my life as a food blogger because I love doing “action shots”. I make a conscious effort to try to position my fingers to make them look more elongated in photos (I sort of stretch them out, and I try to get a flattering light on them), but sometimes I’m too flustered to remember.
Like capturing this stretchy cheese shot while the cheese was still warm.
So there you have it. My Baby Hands on full display for you to see and have a giggle over.
“Every piece of bread you pull out is like a mini pizza!”
I seriously considered calling this Crack Bread #2. Because it was inspired by my Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread (“Crack Bread”) and is almost as addictive. I say almost, because I consider Crack Bread to be the original and the best!
Actually, the idea for this pizza version came about from a reader who asked if they could add pizza sauce to Crack Bread. I said it could definitely be done but thought it might be a bit hard to spread the sauce into all the cracks. Another reader suggested using a squeezer bottle which is a great idea!
I considered making a pizza version of Crack Bread but the concern I had was that because the bread used for Crack Bread is a full size loaf, the “cracks” are quite deep so most of the cheese and pepperoni would slide to the bottom.
Don’t get me wrong. It would still be delicious! But I thought that using baguettes / french sticks would be a little more practical for a pizza version. Every piece of bread is like a mini pizza!
As with Crack Bread, this reheats really well, not just in the oven, but also in the microwave! The crust stays nice and crunchy because it gets a thick crunchy crust when it is baked. A key tip is to make sure that you don’t swap out the mozzarella cheese. Because mozzarella re-melts well, unlike many other cheeses.
So you can assemble this, then refrigerate or freeze it and bake when ready. OR you can bake it then refrigerate or freeze it and bake or microwave it to reheat.
It looks innocent enough when you first pull it out of the oven….
….until you start getting stuck into it! (And there you go, my Baby Hands again. Go on, have another giggle!).
If Crack Bread is the head-honcho of the crack bread family, then this Pizza Pull Apart Bread must be his son!
So what do you think of Crack Bread‘s son? How does he compare to the original??
– Nagi
PS I made this bread numerous times to try to come up with the “best” way. I’ve included my thoughts on each way I tried below the recipe. 🙂
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Pull Apart Pizza Bread
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup salted butter
- 1 garlic clove , minced (or 2 if you like really garlicky)
- 1 baguette / french , 60cm / 2 feet long (or multiple short ones)
- 1/3 cup pizza sauce
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (Notes 1 and 2)
- 4 oz / 120g pepperoni , sliced or diced (I used mini pepperoni)
- 1/4 red onion , finely diced (optional)
- 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley , finely diced (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Melt butter with the garlic in it.
- Cut the french stick into 1.5 - 2 cm / 3/5" - 4/5" thick slices (about 25 slices, including ends) and lay them out on a work surface.
- Brush butter on each slice, ensuring to dab some garlic on. Use most but not all the butter.
- Spread a small dab of pizza sauce on each piece of bread, top with onion, cheese then pepperoni (in this order).
- Stack 6 or 7 pieces of bread on top of each other. Then pick up the stack (hold the top and bottom pieces) and place it in a 22cm / 8" square baking dish. (See photos below) (Note 3)
- Brush the top of the bread with the remaining butter.
- Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese is mostly melted. Then remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and crusty (to your liking).
- Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley (if using) and serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Ways I tried making this:
-
“Hasselback” style (almost cutting through to base, drizzling butter, pizza sauce then stuffing it) – because the bread isn’t “compressed” together as much, the cheese pooled in the base and also the bread “bowed” because of the stuffing in the cracks. Didn’t work so great.
-
Using slices instead of grated cheese – easier and neater to assemble but the cheese tended to slide to the base and actually, I thought there was too much cheese so when pieces of bread were pulled out, the cheese and pepperoni would often remain in the baking dish (stuck to the dish or another piece of bread). Grated cheese gave a much better “spread” and light enough so it stays on (most) pieces of bread as you pull it out!
-
The order you put the toppings on matters! I found that putting pepperoni on top of the cheese instead of under it makes the cheese stick to the bread better (i.e. the side with the pizza sauce on it). It took me a few goes to figure that out. If you put pepperoni under the cheese, then quite often the cheese sticks to the adjacent piece of bread, taking the pepperoni with it. Still tastes great! But it means each slice doesn’t look like a mini pizza – you end up with pizza sauce on one side, and cheese + pepperoni on the other side! My other tip is to just scrape the pizza sauce on. Too much pizza sauce prevents the cheese from attaching to the bread.
Hi Nagi, this really looks awesome and am sure it tastes delicious as well. I would just like to say a huge “THANK YOU” to yourself, Mira, Helen Janette, Maggie, Kathleen & Meggan for such a wonderful giveaway. What a lovely start to the year!!!! I enjoy reading & trying all your recipes!!!!
Thank you Mayeshree! I’m so thrilled that one of my readers won!! Thank you for reading, and I am so glad you enjoy our recipes!! 🙂
Hey Nagi, your hand looks great in the shot 😉
The pizza bread idea is genius! I LOVE the whole thing and can’t wait to cook it now! And again on the game day 🙂
It looks like a simple dish but I can see how much effort you put into this! I’d never thought the grated cheese works better than the sliced one for example. Saved and pinned 🙂
Aww Maggie, thanks for being nice about my Baby Hands!! 🙂 He he!!
OMG.! Nagi, you are definitely the QUEEN of pull-aparts . Can you believe this is my third time coming to check this out? Planning on making it when I have all the ingredients. I am making sure my son does not see this today. If not, I will have to abandon other projects to make it . You are AMAZING!!!
Thank you Imma, you are SO sweet!! 🙂
This is STUNNING, Nagi! You never cease to amaze me with your creativity! I’m afraid that I would eat the whole pan myself!
Aww, thanks Marissa!! I’m afraid I’ve overloaded on pizza somewhat over the past week 🙂 This is far too addictive!!
Yum! This is perfect for game day cooking. I immediately thought of your garlic and cheese pull apart bread when I saw the heading for this one!
Thanks Sarah!! Yes, this is definitely Crack Bread’s son!! 🙂
Oh my gosh, you’re so creative. Now on, I’m gonna call you creative genius! This is super awesome, and I can’t wait to try this!
PS: You’re hilarious about your baby hand! 🙂
I’m not genius by any stretch of the imagination, in the kitchen or in any field! I figure if we can’t laugh over our flaws, life would be pretty miserable, right?? 🙂
Nagi, your hands are beautiful!! and no one is looking at them because all eyes are on this FREAKING FABULOUS pull-apart-garlic-pizza-bread!!! OH MY GAWD. I am totally making this next Sunday!! love!
Thanks Alice! But I KNOW my hands are pudgy and abnormally small, and I don’t care except they RUIN food photos!! Hope you do try this, it really is super yum and so easy to make!!
This looks so good, Nagi!! You’re not the only one who lives in a hole. We might see eye to eye when we finally meet in person. 🙂
You’re a shortie too?? Yay!! I’m sick of being surrounded by people that tower over me!! 🙂
Nagi, there is no denying it, you are the QUEEN of Pull Apart. You sure know how to make them look so quick and easy. I feeling confident that I can give it a try – hopefully soon. Beautiful as always!!!!
Thanks Imma! It really is ridiculously easy 🙂
Your photos are so amazing, I hardly notice the size of your creative hands! I’m so excited to try this and love that it’s made with a baguette! Scrumptious!
Thank you Sandra, you’re so sweet! Not my best photo effort but it was YUM so I didn’t mind making this multiple times!!
Great idea Nagi. I know there is someone in my house that would eat this. in a heartbeat
I think I can guess who…..!! 🙂
I don’t know what I love more…your food or your sense of humor!! We’ll call it a tie! Love this, Nagi!
Awww, thanks Annie! You make me feel better about having midget hands… 😉
What e genius idea (as usual) Nagi!!! This pizza pull apart bread looks fantastic! Will be great for a party, too! Will definitely try it! Your baby hands are perfect for the pictures of these cheesy dishes 🙂
Pinned!
You’re so cheeky Mira!! 🙂
oh my gosh, this looks absolutely delish! What a great meal for a Friday night!
Thank you Rosemarie! And YES, I can’t think of a better way than having this on a Friday movie-night-in!! 🙂
Brilliant – Nagi – I love this recipe and such a great way to feed a crowd.
Thanks Rachel!!
Y-U-M! This reminds me of a pepperoni pizza monkey bread I’ve made in the past – but looks like it requires a lot less work and is just as delicious! Perfect game day appetizer 🙂
Oooh….pizza MONKEY bread?? I need to check it out!! 🙂
Nagi…love this!! And I love your little demo at the bottom!!! And you little child hands 🙂 heheh. Pinning! Your recipe not your hands…that would be weird 🙂
Ha ha!! Well, pinning the recipe IS pinning my hands – same thing!! 🙂
Aww…Nagi, you’re ‘baby hands’ are beautiful! I have completely the opposite problem – I have huge hands, so I get called, ‘man hands’. Except they’re a bit on the slender side, so I’ve also been told that I have skeleton hands. Neither is exactly the most feminine of nicknames 😉
In any event, this dish looks incredible! I could seriously eat an entire tray of these! You certainly have a knack for capturing the ooey-gooey goodness in a dish! I would attend a party just for these little beauties 😉
Man Hands, pop over to Australia and come be my hand model!! 🙂
This is an easy yet fabulous recipe, Nagi. We love garlic bread and it is time to take it to the next level. Thanks for the idea.
Thank you Lail! You’re so sweet! 🙂
What can I say here but … pure genius, Nagi!!! Big pat on the back!
I can imagine myself sitting there on the sofa while watching a DVD making my way through a whole stick of this all by myself!
I must admit, they are dangerously addictive…..! 🙂