Starting from a simple rosemary-infused homemade dough, this rosemary garlic pull apart bread is shaped and assembled with butter, garlic, cheese, and herbs. Baked until golden brown and served pull-apart style, this flaky and flavorful bread is completely irresistible. Just wait until you smell it baking! Truly a favorite.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
Have you ever tried my everything bagel pull apart bread? It is, without a doubt, one of the best bread recipes to come out of my kitchen. I wanted something equally as snack-y and satisfying for this holiday season, so I swapped in some everyday foolproof ingredients like rosemary, butter, and parmesan cheese.
I don’t think a finished recipe has ever disappeared faster in my house. (And I make chocolate chip cookies on the regular.)
One reader, Brie, commented: “Just made this recipe for the first time and followed it exactly. ABSOLUTELY perfect and delicious! I tented with foil at 18 minutes left and the color and texture were perfect. I’ll be making it again. โ โ โ โ โ “
One reader, Vic, commented: “This is the second bread recipe I’ve ever tried and the first recipe I’ve ever made from Sally’s Bakingโit turned out great! Picture perfect. All the times were bang on for me, instructions were super clear and easy to follow. Partner and I plowed through most of the loaf for dinner last nightโoops. ๐ โ โ โ โ โ “
One reader, Jennifer, commented: “Amazing bread. I’ve made this ten times already, different cheeses, all perfect! Perfect recipe as is! Thank you! โ โ โ โ โ “
Tell Me About This Rosemary Garlic Pull Apart Bread
- Flavor: Cheesy & garlic, rosemary & herb, salty & butteryโall packed inside the homestyle goodness of from-scratch bread. This recipe has a range of some of the BEST flavors around.
- Texture: In addition to the irresistible flavor, this pull apart bread’s texture is definitely something to write home about. The exterior is golden crisp right out of the oven, sealing in a soft and flaky center. The assembly and shape allows for many little peaks and valleys, so you have a lot more texture than, say, dinner rolls or sandwich bread. I’m happy to report that we’re almost nearing croissants in terms of flakiness. (!!)
- Ease: Many pull apart bread recipes use a loaf of bakery bread from the store and while that’s certainly easy and delicious, this recipe utilizes a 9 ingredient homemade dough. If you’ve ever been nervous to bake bread, this recipe is a great starting point. Shaping is pretty simpleโthe loaf can look messy going into the oven. If you’re new to baking with yeast, review my Baking with Yeast Guide. Lots of helpful information there!
- Time: There’s no arguing that homemade bread takes time, but the results are always so worth the commitment. Luckily this recipe yields 1 simple loaf and once you get the assembly process down, it moves pretty quickly. Set aside at least 4 hours from start to finish, but keep in mind most of that time is hands off as the dough rises.
Looking for rosemary & herb dinner rolls? You will love these herb skillet rolls.
How about a sweet version? I have a recipe for Maple Walnut Pull Apart Bread in my New York Times best-selling cookbook,ย Sallyโs Baking 101!
Video Tutorial: How to Make Rosemary Garlic Pull Apart Bread
Let’s Review the Pull Apart Bread Dough
I don’t want to stand in the way of you and this carb-y perfection, so I’ll try to keep this short. This pull apart bread starts with homemade dough. You need 9 simple ingredients including: yeast, sugar, milk, butter, salt, egg, flour, rosemary and garlic powder. Sugar feeds the yeast, while milk hydrates it and gives the bread a softer texture (as opposed to water). Butter, salt, rosemary, and garlic powder add flavor. Egg contributes to the rising and provides more texture and structure.
- Weโre using a superior yeast: Platinum Yeast from Red Star. This is an instant yeast that strengthens the dough and provides extra volume to the final product. Itโs my preferred yeast for any and all bread bakingโI use it exclusively in my kitchen because itโs always a guarantee. We only need 2 teaspoons of dry yeast which is a little less than 1 standard packet.
How to Assemble Pull Apart Bread
There are a billion ways to make and assemble pull apart bread. I use a rolling pin and biscuit cutter for my everything bagel pull apart bread and while you can definitely use that same method here, I opted for something even easier today. You won’t have leftover dough scraps this way.
- Divide dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Flatten into 4-inch circles. They don’t need to be perfect.
- Spread garlic herb butter on top. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Fold the circles in half and arrange upright in a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
*You don’t need a rolling pin, but you could certainly use one if you want.
Pull Apart Bread Step by Step Photos
When you get started, use these helpful photos as your guide.
Make and knead the dough, referencing my How to Knead Dough tutorial as needed. After the dough rises, punch it down and divide into 12 pieces.
Flatten the dough rounds and spread each with garlic herb butter.
Sprinkle with cheese and fold in half to resemble a taco.
Note: I love cheesy bread, but I appreciate that it doesn’t overpower the rosemary in this recipe. If you’re looking for a heavier cheesy flavor, you will love my homemade cheese bread or asiago-crusted skillet bread.
Why fold the circles in half? Folding the dough circles in half gives the bread a solid base where no butter/cheese can seep through. I had so much trouble with a similar recipe when I tried to arrange buttered squares of dough in a loaf pan. The butter leaked everywhere and the bread was a greasy mess. While some butter melts around the sides here, the bread’s base is pretty solid.
Line folded circles in a greased loaf pan.
Allow to rise until puffy, then bake until golden brown.
This bread fits the bill for a snack, appetizer, or alongside dinner. You can slice the loaf or tear off pieces. Whenever or however you serve it, I’m confident every lucky taste tester will beg for seconds. If you love the garlic and herb butter flavors in this recipe, try these pizza pull apart rolls or this homemade garlic bread next. And if you’re craving sugar, this homemade monkey bread is equally mouthwatering and perfectly acceptable for breakfast. ๐
Print
Rosemary Garlic Pull Apart Bread
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Make a flavorful pull apart bread using this delicious rosemary-infused yeasted dough. You can use your favorite cheese in the filling. I love and usually use shredded parmesan.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 teaspoons Platinum Yeast from Red Star*
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (180ml)ย whole milk
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed*
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried)
Filling
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, extra soft (see note)
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- 2ย garlic cloves, minced orย 1/2 teaspoonย garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (95g) shredded parmesan, mozzarella, or white cheddar cheese (or your favorite shredded cheese)
Optional Topping
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted
- coarse or flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Make the dough:ย Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Or, if you do not own a stand mixer, a regular large mixing bowl. Heat the milk on the stove or in the microwave until warm to touch, about 110ยฐF (43ยฐC). Pour warm milk on top of yeast/sugar. Whisk gently to combine, then loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. The mixture will be frothy after 5-10 minutes.
- If you do not have a mixer, you can mix the dough together with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in this step. Add the butter, egg, flour, salt, garlic powder, and rosemary. Beat on low speed until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. If the dough isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add a little more flour, a Tablespoon at a time. Dough will be soft.ย
- Knead the dough:ย Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If youโre new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your fingerโif it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a โwindowpane testโ to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until itโs thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- 1st Rise: Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl (I use nonstick spray to grease) and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place in a slightly warm environment to rise until doubled in size, around 60-90 minutes. (If desired, use my warm oven trick for rising. See my answer to Where Should Dough Rise?ย in myย Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- As the dough rises, prepare the filling in the next step and grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- Make the filling: In a medium bowl, mix the soft butter, rosemary, parsley, garlic, and salt together. If the butter is soft enough, you can just mix it all together with a spoon or fork. You can use an electric mixer if that’s easier too. Cover tightly and set aside until ready to use. (Don’t refrigerate unless making well in advance. It’s easiest to spread on the dough when at room temperature. If refrigerated, let it come to room temperature before spreading on dough pieces.)
- Assemble the bread:ย Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide it into 12 equal pieces, each about 1/4 cup of dough and a little larger than a golf ball. Using lightly floured hands, flatten each into a circle that’s about 4 inches in diameter. The circle doesn’t have to be perfectly round. I do not use a rolling pan to flatten, but you certainly can if you want. Spread 1-2 teaspoons of filling mixture onto each. Sprinkle each with 1 Tablespoon of cheese. Fold circles in half and line in prepared baking pan, round side up. See photos above for a visual.
- 2nd Rise: Coverย with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rise once again in a slightly warm environment until puffy, about 45 minutes.
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position then preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC).
- Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes. If you find the top of the loaf is browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil. (Don’t be alarmed if there’s melted butter around the sides of the bread as it bakes, it will seep into the bread before it finishes.) Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack. If desired, brush with melted butter for topping and sprinkle with sea salt.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and serve warm.
- Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Since the bread is extra crispy on the exterior, it will become a little hard after day 1. Reheat in a 300ยฐF (149ยฐC) oven for 10-15 minutes until interior is soft again or warm in the microwave.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Freeze baked and cooled bread for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator and warm in the oven to your liking. The dough can be prepared through step 4, then after it has risen, punch it down to release the air, cover it tightly, then place in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Continue with step 5. To freeze the dough, prepare it through step 4. After it has risen, punch it down to release the air. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in a freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months. When ready to use, thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator. Then let the dough sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before continuing with step 5. (You may need to punch it down again if it has some air bubbles.)
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Large Glass Mixing Bowl with Wooden Spoon /ย Silicone Spatula |ย 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Cooling Rack | Flaky Sea Salt
- Yeast: I always use Platinum Yeast from Red Star, an instant yeast. If using active dry yeast, the rise times could be slightly longer. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Flour: Feel free to use the same amount of bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. You can also try swapping out 1 cup of flour for whole wheat flour. Do not replace all of the flour with whole wheat flourโjust 1 cup.
- Extra Soft Butter for Filling: Have you ever read my page about room temperature butter? Room temperature butter for baking should still be cool to the touch. You want room temperature butter for the dough. However, for the filling, you want extra soft butter so you can easily spread it onto the flattened dough without tearing the dough. Feel free to microwave it for 10-15 seconds to help it get extra soft.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I followed the directions exactly and it just wasn’t very good. I feel like there was just a little too much bread in the loaf pan and maybe it would have been better with only about 3/4 as much so that it would be a little less dense. Also, I used freshly shredded mozzarella and if I ever make this again, I will at least double the amount I used because it wasn’t enough. This was just kind of dry and half of the loaf wasn’t even touched at a big family meal.
Hi! Im making a triple batch of this for a large party, I only have one loaf pan so I am trying to decide if I could use a casserole dish? Would that work?
Hi Payton! We haven’t tried it ourselves, but you could make two batches and line them up side by side in a 9×9 inch baking dish, or three batches for a 9×13. Let us know what you try!
Hello! I want to use this recipe for a high school lab for thanksgiving next week, but it has to bake in 20 minutes. Have you tried baking this in muffin tins? I’m wondering if we fold the circles in half once more, then shape it into a muffin cup, if the bread would bake faster… thoughts?
Hi Mel, we haven’t tried baking this bread in a muffin tin, but the bread would definitely bake faster if you do it that way. If you decide to try it, let us know how it goes!
extremely and ridiculously delicious, easy to make. i used fresh sage and thyme with a variety of italian shredded cheeses.
This is delicious and fun to eat, too. I put it on the dinner table and everybody pulled apart what they wanted.
Would you have nutrition info available? Made this last night and we loved the fresh garlicky-cheesy goodness. I normally use the speed fan in my oven, but if doing this, recommend taking off a few min from baking time and brushing with topping to keep top soft or not using the fan at all. Will absolutely be making this again though.
Hi Joy! We donโt usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
could i use a different yeast as red star is not available at my location
Absolutely, any instant yeast will work well here – see Notes after the recipe!
With your recipe and video as well you made it so easy to understand the process. Thank you My family and I enjoyed your bread.
Hi Sally. I’ve been using this recipe for a while now (I’ve made a few changes recently) Itsa fantastic recipe as is.
Something that has helped me: I roll the dough out into a rectangle and put the butter and cheese directly on the dough. I then cut it into 12 equal squares (ish) and proceed with your process. Works fine.
This week I did bacon cheddar and chive ….yum.
I don’t have a loaf pan, but I do have a 9-inch round cake pan. Would this work okay or no? I really want to try this out as it sounds like it would go well with the chicken alfredo I’m planning on making for dinner.
Hi Sean, we’re sure you could, but we haven’t tested it ourselves. Let us know if you try!
Amazing bread, Iโve made this 10 times already, different cheeses, all perfect! Perfect recipe as is! Thank you!
Messed up the timing with a meeting and ended up doing the second rise on the counter after making circles, so there was less final rise in the pan, but still absolutely delicious.
I just made this today and it turned out absolutely divine! I made adjustments to suit my families dietary needs and it still came out perfect. Incase anyone here doesn’t/can’t consume dairy or eggs – I used oat milk in place of cow’s milk, and 1 tsp bicarb powder to a Tbs of water as a leavening agent instead of the egg – this makes it airy and fluffy. One of the best loaves of bread I have ever made.
Thank you for the recipe. I will be making this again ๐
can i bake it in a 4×8 pan instead if i dont have the bigger size
Hi Madison, that will be a bit too small for this bread, but you can assemble it until the pan is filled (for example, with about 10 folded dough circles rather than 12) and discard the leftover dough. Let us know if you try it!
it turned out great! i did 10 circles instead of 12
Good evening! LOVE this recipe and have made it many times. If I’m taking it as a host gift, what are the best re-heating instructions? Thanks in advance!
Hi Lauren! Reheat in a 300ยฐF (149ยฐC) oven for 10-15 minutes until interior is soft again or warm in the microwave.
can i use 1% milk instead of whole milk?
You can, yes, but we prefer whole milk for best texture.
This bread is the best bread Iโve ever had
I just made 2 loaves 3 days ago and my family loves it. We finished the whole loaf in a day. The second day I pulled apart a slice and microwaved it. It turned out soft and delicious too.
Family had requested it and Iโm baking it again today. Dough is waiting for the second rise now!
Thank you for your delicious recipe!
We’re so happy this bread was a hit for your family, Jayne!
Just made this recipe for the first time and followed it exactly. ABSOULTEY perfect and delicious! I tented with foil at 18min left and the color and texture was perfect. Iโll be making it again.
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
I went overboard with the garlic since me and my family loveees garlic, but the bread turned out phenomenal.
The entire house also smelled divine
This is the second bread recipe Iโve ever tried, and the first recipe Iโve ever made from Sallyโs Baking Addictionโit turned out great! Picture-perfect. All the times were bang on for me, instructions were super clear and easy to follow. Partner and I plowed through most of the loaf for dinner last night, oops ; )
Really looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
If I have someone in my family who doesn’t like cheese, would adding some extra butter to the filling be a good substitute? If yes, how much, and if no, what else would you recommend? Appreciate the help in advance!
Hi Saige, You can omit the cheese with no other changes.
I made this today – the first bread I ever made. The instructions are so well written even I managed as a noob and it turned out awesome. Delicious too!
This went so fast at our Easter dinner! I should have made two! Thanks for the recipe!
Should I expect the dough to rise much after prepping through step four and then refrigerating overnight? I let the dough come to room temperature before continuing the step five. Itโs been an hour, but the dough does not appear to be rising anymore. Is it OK to go ahead and put it in the oven or should I wait longer?
Hi Susan, no, it won’t rise much during that time. The dough will rise again after you assemble it, in step 8. It will be just a little puffyโdoes yours look that way? You can see the photos in the post as an example. If so, then you’re good to go ahead and bake!
Can i start the dough then refrigerate over night then assemble the next day
Hi Richard, see Notes after the recipe for overnight instructions (in the Make Ahead Instructions section).
The best bread I EVER had!!
Always a hit!
Iโm wondering if it would make the bread soggy if I wrapped it right after baking to take to a party.
I think it would be ok to wrap in a clean dish towel. I wouldnโt recommend a plastic wrap because the bread would sweat
made this today and even though i was working long, it was definitely worth it! i love how the instructions are so clear and elaborate, will definitely make more of your recipes sally!!
This is the best bread I ever had! It was so soft and cheesey. I did have to work for a long time but it was definitely worth it. I have made this bread many times before and I am making it again!