cheesy pull apart bread

Pinned n tested — cheesy pull apart bread

From Jenni Bell [in reference to this blog]: “Please, please post a pintest-ing thing at least once a week. And please, please, extra please…tell me if you smelled like a butter cookie all day after trying this one.” The idea to even post about smelling like a tasty butter cookie came from her. And yes, yes I did smell like a butter cookie all. the. day. long. *inhale* Here’s the Pinned-n-Tested part for this week: Cheesy Pull Apart Bread.

I love bread. I don’t eat as much bread as I would like (because of the small country thing) which means that when I do eat bread anymore it needs to be delicious–NOT filler, NOT mindless chewing–it has to be delicious. So when this picture and tutorial popped up on Pinterest, I wanted to try it.

It looked like a fabulous combination of flavors. And it looked simple.

I used a Great Harvest loaf of 7-grain bread instead of sourdough (personal preference).

[But I wouldn’t do it again–the 7-grain was too heavy. I’ll use a white bread to let the flavors take center stage and the texture from the bread be a supporting role.]

I tweaked the ingredient list a bit after making it once. For one thing, the cheesier the better. I left the mushrooms completely out of it the second time. They made the bread soggy and that’s just not a texture I’m fond of.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 unsliced loaf sourdough/artesian bread
16 ounces Provolone cheese, thinly sliced
[if you have Mozzarella cheese in the fridge, use Mozzarella]
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup finely diced green onion
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbsp diced fresh garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the loaf lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. Cutting the bread the second time can be a little tricky. If you have an electric knife this would be the perfect time to use it. If you don’t, it will still work. Be deliberate about cutting.

Place loaf on a foil-lined baking sheet.

“Stuff” cheese slices between cuts of bread. Tear the cheese pieces if they don’t quite fit.

Combine the melted butter, diced green onions, fresh thyme, and garlic. Drizzle over bread. Wrap the loaf with foil and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Make sure the cheese is melted.

Useful tips:

1–you really do need to “stuff” the cheese into the bread–not a big deal

2–make sure the cheese is thoroughly melted (this is the cooking you do after the foil is removed)

3–it was filling–to the ‘I’m-not-eating-the-rest-of-dinner’ kind of filling. It would be a great side dish for soup.

4–leftovers weren’t tasty (even when I tried to reheat it in a toaster oven to maintain crispiness) — it was soggy

And there you have it.

Pinned and Tested.

Here’s the bread right out of the oven: