Garlic Rosemary Pull Apart Bread

The Origin Of Monkey Bread

Monkey bread has various other names in the US such as bubble bread, pull apart bread, and plucking cake. However, it’s first name arany galuska, and it came from Hungary. Hungarian immigrants in 1880’s brought this sweet treat to the United States where it did not become a statement until Hungarian and Hungarian Jewish bakeries started selling it in the mid 1900’s. The cinnamon sugar dessert gained popularity when Betty Crocker published a recipe in 9172 referring to it as Hungarian coffee cake. Read more about it here.

How to Make This Garlic Rosemary Pull Apart Bread Recipe:

What is Rosemary Pull Apart Bread Made Out Of?

One of my favorite recipes, this savory pull apart bread recipe uses a basic, white bread dough for the base. The layers that enable it to be pull apart are filled with butter and parmesan cheese. However, that butter is packed with fresh garlic and rosemary. The perfect bread to serve for any holiday dinner like Easter or Thanksgiving.

Make the Bread Dough:

This dough is a sweetened and enriched dough which means it contains both fat (milk, eggs, & butter) and sweetener (sugar). However, what’s really important is warming the milk before mixing in the yeast because active dry yeast specifically needs to be activated with warmth to work and allow for proofing. It also can’t be too hot or else you will kill the yeast which occurs at 120*F. Use a mixer to make kneading the dough much easier than hand kneading, and mix until it passes the windowpane test. The windowpane test demonstrates the gluten development in dough (explained more below).

Why we knead bread:

Flour is composed of starch and protein, and the proteins are called glutenin and gliadin which are long and tangled. Together, glutenin and gliadin form gluten. Kneading rubs these “subproteins” together to stretch them out, line them up, and cross-link themselves to create a net that helps retain gasses during the proofing stage. Kneading also incorporates oxygen in the dough which helps yeast breath and produce carbon dioxide. The windowpane test proves if you have developed enough gluten strands for proper structure to help retain those gasses for the final rise. 

Test for the windowpane by taking a small portion of dough and roll into a ball. Stretch it out gently starting in the middle. Stretch it into a square and until the center is a thin film. If your dough easily stretches thinly without tearing, then the dough is strong enough and enough gas can be retained in the network of gluten strands. If it rips easily, then you need to develop more gluten strands by more kneading/mixing. You should also see the network of gluten strands. It’s called the windowpane test because light should be able to pass through like through a window.

why we proof bread dough:

Proofing dough leads to light and fluffy bread instead of a dense brick. After all that work of mixing and providing a GREAT net of gluten strands, the dough needs a break. During that break the yeast activates, eats the carbohydrates, and releases carbon dioxide which leads to rising. That net you just weaved kneading is now doing its job. The amount of time it takes to proof will depend on your environment. The warmer it is, the faster it will proof; the colder, the longer. See my tips for speeding up proofing times if your environment is not ideal. Allow this dough to proof until doubled in size.

Make the Rosemary Garlic Butter

While you’re waiting for the bread to proof, mix up that butter! Always use fresh rosemary and garlic since anything else will be quite bitter. Finely chop the rosemary and mince the garlic or press through a garlic press. Mix in with the softened butter with a little bit of kosher salt but only if you’re using unsalted butter. When your dough is ready, portion into 42g portions, and roll into tight balls with your hands. Cover when not in use.

Roll Out and Spread with Butter

With an unfloured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out one of the balls until about 6-7″ long. Make sure the thickness is even throughout, and this rolling will naturally make it wide enough, so no need to roll in any other direction except up and down. Slather on some butter topped with cheese and flaky salt then fold in half taking the bottom curve and matching with the top curve. No need to match perfectly.

Once folded in half, you’re going to spread with butter, cheese, and salt again on the top you just folded over but half of the amount you just spread on the whole thing. This extra layer of butter will further help the pull apart aspect as well as hold all the layers together. Repeat for all the balls of dough and start neatly stacking the layers on top of the buttered layers. Transfer this stack with the crease side down into your loaf pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake the Rosemary Pull Apart Garlic Bread

Brush with an egg wash, and bake for half an hour rotating halfway through to promote even baking. Naturally butter melts and you will see it bubble and potentially leak out, so bake your loaf pan on a sheet pan to prevent a mess on the bottom of the oven. Once done, (internal temp should be at least 190*F) brush with any leftover, melted butter spread. The melted butter collects at the bottom of the loaf pan so remove the loaf right away to prevent soggy bottoms. Serve warm or at room temperature and enjoy this herby bake.

Troubleshooting Garlic Rosemary Pull Apart Bread:

• My balls of dough keep shrinking when I roll them! This is a natural part of working with bread and gluten strands. I usually roll a few inches longer than needed to account for the shrinkage. However, if it’s giving you an incredibly hard time, put to the side, covered, and come back to it in a few minutes; sometimes dough just needs a rest.
• The dough isn’t enough to fill my pan! This can happen if rolled the balls into too long ovals making them too thin to fill up your loaf pan, and that’s okay! Fill any extra space with folded over tin foil, and it will bake just fine.

Something else going wrong? Reach out and we will troubleshoot together!