Happy Monday friends!  What better way to start the week than with a loaf of ooey gooey cheesy rosemary pull-apart bread?

You might remember my (sweet) pumpkin pull-apart bread that I made way back in Fall, and this is similar but savoury!  Everything is better with cheese, and our little rosemary plant stayed strong all through the Winter, so I decided to combine the flavours!

This bread is best served warm, and is a lovely complement to soup on a chilly night!  Word of warning...try not to eat it all yourself, or you'll end up with a tummy ache. (Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything....)

Cheesy Rosemary Pull-Apart Bread

recipe by: Kelsey
Yields: one 9x5 loaf

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sugar, divided

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/4 cup hot water

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary

Filling:

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 garlic gloves, minced

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I used Old cheddar for more kick)

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, yeast and hot water.  Stir and set aside for about 10 minutes to allow yeast to activate.  (If this mixture doesn't get nice and puffy then your yeast might not be good anymore, and it means your bread won't rise!)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the rest of the sugar, salt, milk, and melted butter, eggs, rosemary, and yeast.

Use a wooden spoon to gradually stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time.  Keep stirring until the dough comes away from the edge, at least a good 2 minutes (it will feel like longer!).  The dough will be a bit sticky, but that's good!

Place the ball of dough in a large greased bowl, and cover it with a clean dish towel.  Let rise in a warm place for an hour, or until doubled in size.

Deflate the dough, and knead in a tablespoon or two of flour depending on the stickiness of the dough.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

Mix together melted butter and garlic, and set aside.

Roll dough out on a floured surface to create a rectangle about 12"x20"  This will be a bit hard since the dough doesn't want to stretch easily.  You'll get there!  

Spread garlic butter mixture onto the dough, be generous with the butter.  Sprinkle evenly with cheeses.

Cut dough into 6 short strips (I like to use a pizza cutter!), stack them on top of each other, and then cut into 4 or 5 more strips depending on how wide you rolled your dough (see photos below for clarification).  

Carefully stack strips into a greased 9"x5" loaf pan.  If it's a really tight fit, then leave out a few strips, and bake them in a mini loaf pan.   Let dough rise for another 30 minutes.  

Sprinkle a bit of extra cheese on top if you'd like, and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.   If your loaf starts getting super brown before the 30 minutes are up, place a piece of tinfoil over the top of the loaf to keep it from getting any darker. Let cool slightly, and serve warm!

Happy Bread Making!

-Kelsey