Christmas Tree Garlic Bread Pull Apart
This Christmas tree pull apart garlic bread recipe is the only one you’ll need for the rest of your life! You can shape it any way you desire; I chose to roll it for this festive look. It is perfect as a centerpiece for your Christmas dinner or a casual lunch to prepare for the whole winter. It tastes like home - an ideal Christmas bread recipe choice for the holidays. Christmas tree garlic bread pull apart is a perfect Christmas recipe for a crowd!
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 egg
- 1 cup milk (lukewarm)
- ¼ cup water (lukewarm)
For Garlic Butter
- 4 oz butter
- 1 handful mint and basil (fresh and chopped)
- 1 garlic bulb (roasted)
Additional
- 1 cup mozzarella (shreaded)
- 5 pieces string cheese
Instructions
- Place all-purpose flour in a big mixing bowl. Add salt, sugar, and dry yeast and mix everything to distribute evenly.
- Make a dent in the middle for an egg, lukewarm milk, and water.
- You can mix it with a wooden spatula or with a mixer with a dough attachment, like I did. If you’re mixing it with a spatula, you need to knead the dough by hand to wake up the gluten. You’re aiming for a soft but not sticky consistency. That’s about 6-7 minutes of mixing with a mixer or 10 minutes by hand.
- * Depending on the type of flour, you may need a tad more to achieve the right consistency. I ended up adding 100 grams more.
- Wrap the bowl in plastic foil and leave it at room temperature for about an hour to double in size.
- When it’s doubled, knead it again for a minute. Swathe it with plastic wrap and let it rise again for half an hour.
- Dust the countertop generously with flour and transfer the dough. With a rolling pin, thin out the dough as much as you can, to about ¼ inches (6-7 mm) in thickness (like for the croissants).
- Make garlic butter by mixing room-temperature butter, roasted garlic, and chopped mint and basil.
- Coat the dough with the butter well. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella all over. Use string cheese or sliced fresh mozzarella and arrange it on the rim of the dough. Do it on the lover half only, so when you roll the dough - the cheese will be in the middle and super stretchy.
- Roll up the dough super thick. Before every roll, pull the dough a bit to thin it out maximally, the same as for croissants. In the end, you will have a large tube.
- Use a very sharp knife to slice it into 1 to 1.5-inch pieces, like cinnamon rolls.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and start arranging. Line up the rolls in the middle of the sheet lengthwise - this will be about six pieces. Then, work on the sides to shape the tree. Eyeball it, as it doesn’t have to be perfect, just cute.
- Use an egg yolk to brush the top of the bread so it can brown up really nicely.
- Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Toss the bread in and bake it for about 30 to 40 minutes, until it is golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.