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Pizza Pull Apart Bread is everything you love about pizza in one irresistible, sharable appetizer! Made with store-bought bread dough, plenty of gooey cheese and pepperoni, each bite is packed with that classic pizza flavor everyone loves!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This pull apart bread is one of those recipes that everyone naturally gathers around, making it a fun addition to game day or movie night! Using a loaf of frozen bread dough makes prep so easy while still giving you that soft, fluffy, homemade bread texture. It’s easy to customize with your favorite pizza toppings and perfect for serving with warm pizza sauce for dipping! So…gather your friends and family and dig right in!
Ingredients Needed
The full list of ingredients and amounts are in the recipe card below, but I wanted to draw attention to a few of them along with some substitutions:
- Bread Dough – I like to use the Rhodes frozen bread dough loaves (comes in the orange bag in the freezer section of the grocery store); you could also use a homemade dough.
- Minced Garlic – Use freshly minced garlic or jarred minced garlic (jarlic as I like to call it!). If you don’t have any, you could use 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder instead.
- Mozzarella Cheese – I prefer shredding my own cheese (as it makes it super gooey and yummy) vs buying pre-shredded cheese, but either works great!
- Pepperoni – The Hormel Pepperoni Minis work so great for this recipe! However, regular pepperoni slices work well too – you’ll just want to quarter them so you get a piece in each bite!
How to Make Pepperoni Pizza Pull Apart Bread
Be sure the bread dough is completely thawed before starting. Then you’re off to the races…
Start by making the flavorful melted butter that’ll be between each of the layers. You’ll combine melted butter and the seasonings in a small bowl and set aside.
Then you’ll roll the thawed dough into a large rectangle. You want it to be about 12 x 15 inches, though it doesn’t need to be perfect!
Pour the melted butter mixture over the dough and spread it all the way to the edges of the dough.
Top the seasoned butter with the mini (or regular) pepperoni and the shredded mozzarella cheese. I recommend shredding your own cheese as the packaged shredded cheese has anti-caking agents added (which are totally fine but don’t allow the cheese to melt quite as nicely!).
Kitchen Tip!
Feel free to add other favorite pizza toppings here!! Just don’t get too crazy with them….don’t add more than 3/4 cup (total) of toppings, whether that’s cooked Italian sausage, diced onions and peppers, etc.
Now cut the rectangle into 15 pieces and carefully stack them up into a greased loaf pan.
Cover the loaf pan and let it rise for about an hour. One hour at room temperature or 30 minutes in a warm place will be enough if you want to speed things up!!
Then preheat the oven and bake until golden brown on top! If it’s browning before the center is ready, you can cover the loaf with foil until the inside is done. An easy way to know if it’s done is to use an instant read thermometer poked into the center of the loaf. It’s done when the loaf is 190F or above.
Frequently Asked Questions
You probably could…but the result will be a very different texture. It won’t be as tender and fluffy as a bread dough will be. The flavor of canned biscuits will also likely be overpowering to the pizza flavors.
If you have leftovers, let them cool then store in an airtight container or resealable baggie. Then when ready to reheat, either wrap them in foil and bake or microwave a couple slices at a time until warmed.
You could piece this together (stop before step 8), then cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. When ready to enjoy, let it proof in a warm place for 1-2 hours and bake!
If You Love Pizza Pull Apart Bread, You’ll Also Love…
- Hot Pizza Dip
- Pizza Braid
- Pizza Sliders
- Stuffed Crust Pizza
- Pizza Pasta Skillet
- Pizza Stuffed Chicken
Pizza Pull Apart Bread
Equipment
- 1 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (or 8.5 x 4.5)
Ingredients
- 1 loaf frozen bread dough 1 pound, thawed
- 1/4 cup butter melted, salted or unsalted
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 1/2 cup pepperoni minis or quartered pepperoni slices
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- pizza sauce for dipping optional
Instructions
- Start by making sure your bread dough is completely thawed.1 loaf frozen bread dough
- In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, parmesan cheese, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.1/4 cup butter, 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Place the thawed bread dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a 12×15 inch rectangle.
- Spread the melted butter mixture over the dough.
- Top with the pepperonis and shredded mozzarella cheese.1/2 cup pepperoni minis, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 3 columns (about 4 inches wide) and 5 rows (about 3 inches tall).
- Stack the rectangles and place them in a greased loaf pan.
- Cover the pan with a clean towel or lightly cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. If you're in a hurry, 30 minutes should be just fine.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from the pan and serve warm with pizza sauce for dipping.pizza sauce for dipping
