Christmas Tree Pull Apart Bread
This festive appetizer is perfect for Christmas day. Soft garlic bread is wrapped around mozzarella cheese, which gets warm and melted when baked in the oven. Serve with marinara sauce or eat as is. Either way, it won’t last long! If you know me, I don’t always have a ton of time to make bread, so I’ve added a couple tricks to make this bread rise in half the time. You can make this bread in roughly 1 hour.
Garlic bread is one of my favorite breads to eat. Add cheese to it and I’m sold! This Christmas Tree pull apart bread is a fun appetizer to make for the holidays. It can serve as an appetizer, or even a light dinner – just make two! Soft, pillowy bread is wrapped around mozzarella cheese, then baked until golden brown. A garlic butter is brushed over the golden brown rolls, then served with marinara sauce. If you choose to make this for a dinner, it can be a fun twist on pizza night.
The details
making the dough
This recipe uses instant yeast, which means you don’t need to activate the dough. I still prefer to add the yeast first, followed by the warm liquid and sugar source (in this case, honey), but you don’t need to allow it to sit for 5 minutes to activate it. Just add the remaining ingredients.
Mix the dough on low speed until combined, then increase to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes. Of course you can also do this by hand, just knead the dough for 10 minutes instead of 5. Place the dough in a greased bowl, then cover with plastic wrap.
First rise
Okay, if you know me, I always am chasing my three boys around the house, so I have little time to actually make bread. This is why I’ve come up with a way to make the bread rise faster, and it still tastes just as good and comes out ultra light and fluffy.
Preheat the oven to 100F, then turn the oven off. Place your dough in the warm oven and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
rolling and shaping
You will need 25 pieces of dough to make this Christmas tree pull apart bread. Cut 25 pieces of dough and divide your mozzarella cheese sticks into 25 pieces. Place a piece of mozzarella cheese in the center of the dough, then pinch the seams to seal. Gently roll the dough into a ball to seal the bottom of the dough.
Place the dough in a Christmas tree shape on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Start with one piece of dough at the top, then add one piece of dough per row until you reach 6 pieces of dough. the final 4 pieces of dough are for the tree stump. Cover with plastic wrap. It’s ready for rise 2!
second rise
Just like the first rise, you will preheat the oven to 100F. Turn oven off, then place dough in the warm oven. This time the bread only needs 15 minutes to rise. Remove from the oven and turn your oven back on to 350F. Allow the oven to preheat, while the dough rises for a few more minutes.
baking and finishing the dough
Before baking the Christmas tree pull apart bread, brush a beaten egg over the dough. This helps it get a golden brown color when baked. Once baked, brush the garlic butter spread over the dough. Serve with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese if you’d like.
If you make this Christmas Tree Pull Apart Bread, let me know what you thought below in the comments and ratings. Make sure you find me on instagram and youtube for more fun behind the scenes!
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Christmas Tree Pull Apart Bread
- Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
- Yield: 25 1x
Description
This festive appetizer (or make it a dinner for a fun twist on pizza night) is perfect for Christmas day. Soft garlic bread is wrapped around mozzarella cheese, which gets warm and melted when baked in the oven. Serve with marinara sauce or eat as is. Either way, it won’t last long!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed to 110F
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- Cheese Center
- Mozzarella Sticks, cut into 25 pieces
- Egg Wash
- 1 egg beaten
- Garlic Butter
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook attachment, or a large mixing bowl, add yeast, honey, milk, flour, salt, egg and softened butter. (You may also mix in a large bowl by hand, if you do not have a stand mixer) Mix on low speed to combine ingredients, then increase to medium speed and knead bread for 5 minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl. Spray the top of the dough with nonstick spray. Cover with plastic wrap.
2. Preheat oven to 100F. Once the temperature has reached 100F, turn oven off. Place dough in warm oven and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 25 pieces. Place a piece of mozzarella cheese in the center of each dough ball, then pinch edges of dough together. Flip dough over so smooth side is on top. Place your hand over the dough in a cupped position, and gently roll the dough into a smooth ball. This helps seal the underside of the dough.
4. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, arrange dough balls in a Christmas tree shape. Begin with one dough ball at the top, then increase by one for each row until you have 6 pieces of dough. The remaining 4 pieces of dough are for the tree stump. Cover the Christmas tree with plastic wrap.
5. Preheat oven to 100F. Once the oven reaches this temperature, turn oven off. Place Christmas tree bread in warm oven. Allow to rise for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.
6. Preheat oven to 400F.
7. Brush the Christmas tree bread with egg wash. This helps the bread achieve a nice golden brown color.
8. Place in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
9. Meanwhile, make the garlic butter. In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for garlic butter. Brush over Christmas tree.
10. Serve with marinara sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 12
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
What is the size of the final tree shape? What is the size of each roll? I.e. 1 inch? 2 inch? How close do you place each dough ball on the pan before baking? Thanks.
Karen,
To be honest I don’t know the exact size of the final tree shape. I can tell you that you should have 25 pieces of dough that are roughly equal. They don’t have to be exact. I had a few that were slightly larger than others. You’ll start with 1 at the top, then 2 in the next row, 3, 4, 5, 6. The remaining 4 pieces are for the Christmas tree trunk. Just place them in the center at the bottom. Place the rolls directly against one another. Don’t squish them together, but you don’t need any extra space between the rolls.
Hope that helps! Reach out if you have any more questions.
-Jolene