Cheesy, Garlicky Pull-Apart Christmas Tree Bread
Serves 1
Directions
- 1Welcome to day 4 of the 12 days of bread mist, where we are making a cheesy, garlicky, pulled-apart dough ball Christmas tree.
- 2On a floured work surface, stretch your pizza dough out to a rectangle shape (8.5 x 11.5 inches).
- 3Cut the pizza dough into 30 equal pieces (18g each).
- 4Mix together the garlic herb cheese with some mozzarella cheese.
- 5Roll the cheese mixture into 30 cheese balls (roughly 10g each).
- 6Flatten a piece of dough to accommodate the size of the cheese ball, close the dough around the cheese, and pinch to seal.
- 7Repeat to assemble all the dough balls, and then arrange them on a tray lined with parchment paper in a Christmas tree shape (7-6-5-4-3-2-1 formation for the tree and remaining for the trunk).
- 8Cover the dough with a clean tea towel and leave it to rest for about half an hour while the oven preheats to 220C/430F.
- 9Use an apple corer or cut by hand to create pepper ornaments from red and yellow bell peppers.
- 10Brush the dough balls lightly with an egg wash (1 small egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water).
- 11Scatter a bit more mozzarella cheese over the dough balls.
- 12Place the pepper ornaments on top of the dough balls.
- 13Bake on the lowest rack for 22-30 minutes, or until light golden brown.
- 14While the bread is baking, mix together cool melted butter, finely chopped herbs (like flat leaf parsley), minced garlic, and grated Parmesan cheese to create a cheesy garlic butter.
- 15Once the Christmas tree bread is out of the oven, place the star-shaped yellow pepper on top.
- 16Spoon the cheesy garlic butter over the tree, making sure to spread it over every dough ball using a pastry brush.
- 17Serve immediately with warm pizza sauce for dipping.
Ingredients
- 1 LB/500g/16oz pizza dough
- Flour
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 150 g/5.2 Oz garlic herb cheese spread
- 150 g/1.5 cups/5.2 oz grated low-moisture mozzarella cheese
- 58 g/ 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
- 40 g/ 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped herbs of choice (flat leaf parsley)
- 1 small egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese
- 0.5 red bell pepper
- 0.75 yellow bell pepper
Equipment
dough scraperpizza wheellarge baking traynonstick parchmentclean tea towelapple corerpastry brushsmall bowl
Tips
- For a different presentation, you could shape the dough in a wreath formation.
- If you're preparing ahead, wrap the dough tightly with plastic wrap or reusable wrap before refrigerating to prevent it from drying out.
- Use a cookie cutter or cut by hand to make different shapes for the pepper ornaments.
- Ensure the melted butter is cool when mixing with cheese and herbs to prevent the cheese from melting prematurely.
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