Garlic Pull-Apart Bread

After enjoying our annual late-lunch/early-dinner Thanksgiving meal, my family decided to watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix. And wow. I can’t say that I was too shocked at what I learned about the internet and social media, but it really opened my eyes to how manipulative it is. I grew up in the age of social media, and I’ll be the first to admit that I definitely spend way too much time on Instagram—pick your poison, I guess. If you haven’t already watched the film, I highly recommend doing so.

On a lighter note, here’s a super delicious garlic pull-apart bread! My first idea for our “grains” item for Thanksgiving was to put a spin on stuffing, but I decided that garlic bread might be better. I used some of my proudly grown herbs—parsley and green onion—and used both fresh garlic cloves and garlic powder (because who doesn’t love garlic?).

This pull-apart loaf features a twist on my buttery soft dinner roll recipe. The layers are flattened into irregular rectangles, slathered with garlic and herb butter, sprinkled with parmesan cheese, and baked in a butter-greased loaf pan. The result is an irresistibly tasty loaf of 16 thin, garlic-buttery “slices” as a stand-alone side dish.

Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
Prep Time: 45 mins
Inactive Prep time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 40 mins
Yield: 16 "slices"

Ingredients
For dough:

• 300 g all-purpose or bread flour
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp dry active yeast
• 1 large egg
• 160 g warm milk of choice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

For filling:

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Optional:

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  
  

Directions
For the dough:

1. Add flour, sugar, salt, yeast, egg, and milk to a medium bowl. Using a mixer with a dough hook on low speed, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it forms a smooth ball.
2. Add the softened butter in small increments while kneading on low speed. It will resist coming together at first, but keep mixing. Knead for 5-10 more minutes until it comes together in a smooth, non-sticky ball.
3. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

For the filling:

4. Add all filling ingredients to a bowl. Use a fork to incorporate the herbs and salt into the butter and set aside.

To assemble and bake:

5. Liberally grease a 9x5 loaf tin with butter and set aside.
6. Punch the dough down and divide into 16 pieces. I prefer them slightly uneven.
7. Using a rolling pin, roll out each piece of dough into a small rectangle, about 2x4 inches.
8. Place a small scoop of the butter filling on one side of a dough rectangle. Spread the filling into an even layer.
9. Stack a second rectangle on top of the first and repeat step 8 until you get to the last one. If there is any butter filling left over, spread on top of the loaf after placing in the tin.
10. Carefully transfer the dough to the greased loaf tin. If there is any butter filling left over, spread on top of the loaf after placing in the tin.
11. Optional: Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.
12. Cover with a towel and let rise again for 1 hour until nearly doubled in size.
13. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
14. Bake loaf for 40 minutes and is golden on top.
15. Carefully remove from pan onto a cooling rack, let cool for 10 minutes, and serve! Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Per “slice” using cashew milk and with parmesan: 110 calories: 15.2 g carbs, 4.5 g fat, 2 g protein