Garlic Cheese Bread—All The Best Things in One Easy Appetizer.
Pull-apart bread is basically warm, cheesy garlic bread that’s cut into perfectly pluckable little cubes so that you can eat it with your hands. Stuffed cheesy bread like this makes a killer appetizer for just about any party—the shape of the loaf makes it feel extra perfect for football season—and it also doubles as a jazzed up side dish for simple suppers. Serving this pull-apart cheese bread along with a big bowl of chicken noodle soup, or award-winning chili takes your soup or stew dinner from almost-spartan to downright indulgent.
Wait—Is It Cheesy Garlic Bread? Or Garlicky Cheese Bread?
Well, our pull-apart bread recipe has all of the things! So, it’s hard to know exactly what to call it. Flavored with garlic and butter, it’s true that our pull-apart bread recipe is kind of garlic bread-adjacent, but with lots and lots of (Tillamook, of course) cheese. Here are all of the magical things that flavor our loaf of Tillamook pull-apart cheese bread:
- Cheese! Our cheesy bread gets its warm melty ooze from a combination of mozzarella—the best melter, ever—and cheddar, which we add for a nice hit of sharp, aged-cheese flavor. We love Tillamook Farmstyle Thick Cut Shredded Cheese because they’re the perfect size—not too thin, not too thick—for melting.
- Butter! Use salted butter—it’s bread and cheese, salt just makes it all the better.
- Garlic & onion powder. We love garlic and onion powder—the fine powders blend seamlessly and completely into the melted butter in a way that fresh garlic or onion just can’t compete with.
- Herbs! Thin circlets of green onion and some minced fresh parsley add a touch of green to brighten the pull-apart bread and to echo the flavors of the garlic and onion powder that we’ve stirred into the melted butter.
Make the Best Cheesy Bread on Earth, in 4 Easy Steps.
You’re never more than an hour away from digging into a loaf of cheesy pull-apart bread. Isn’t that a comforting thought?
- Slice the bread. Cutting a grid into the top of a loaf of crusty bread might look like a lot of work, but it’s really easy to do. Just be careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom of the loaf. You want cubes of bread—about one-inch tall—that are still attached to the bread base, with just enough space between the cubes to cram a good amount of cheese, herbs and garlicky melted butter.
- Melt butter. Melt your salted Tillamook butter together with the garlic powder and onion powder, and stir as it melts to make sure that the powders are evenly distributed in the butter. Then, use a pastry brush to brush your onion-garlic butter into every last nook and cranny of your sliced bread.
- Cheese-stuffing! Now, stuff the Tillamook sharp cheddar and mozzarella shreds and herbs into those freshly buttered crannies.
- Pop it in the oven! Give it 30 minutes wrapped in foil, so the cheese can get really melty. Then, bake it for 15 more minutes unwrapped, to let the bread get a little bit crusty and let the cheeses get bubbly.
- Voila! Melty, toasty, garlicky pull-apart cheese bread!
Tools You’ll Need:
- A really good serrated knife makes your life a LOT easier.
- Pastry brush.
- Baking sheet.
- Small saucepan.
More Cheesy Appetizer Recipes:
Because, honestly, all anyone ever wants is hot, creamy melted cheese — ideally with some kind of carb to dip in it. Here are four cheesy recipes guaranteed to win you some seriously rave reviews:
You Might Want to Print Out A Few Extra Copies of this Cheese Bread Recipe.
We’re just going to warn you now—everyone who tastes this cheesy pull-apart bread will want the recipe. Or, they’ll just ask you to make it for them again basically every time you invite them over. Sorry? You’re welcome? Both? Anyway, if you make this Tillamook cheese bread, let us know how it turned out! Snap a photo, and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
