Tear And Share Cheesy Garlic Bread
Soft & fluffy tangzhong bread rolls, stuffed with creamy mozzarella, covered in a herby garlic butter & topped with grated parmesan. The ultimate pull apart cheesy garlic bread!
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The Secret To Super Fluffy Bread Rolls
The secret to the softest, fluffiest bread rolls is using a tangzhong. This is an Asian technique where a portion of the flour & liquid in a bread recipe is pre cooked in a saucepan, to make a thick paste (like a roux). This paste is then cooled down & incorporated into the dough with the other ingredients.
To make these bread rolls even fluffier, we are making them with half milk & half water, plus we’re using butter & egg to enrich the dough. All of these techniques combined makes the softest bread rolls ever!
Garlic Butter
This garlic butter is super easy to make & only contains four ingredients. Butter, grated garlic, sea salt & chopped parsley. Simply melt the butter then mix in the garlic, salt & parsley.
We then use the warm butter to brush over the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven, which gives them a hit of flavour & a shiny glaze. Plus, there’ll even be enough garlic butter left over to dip the bread in!
The Cheese
For the ultimate cheese pull, I’d recommend using a low moisture mozzarella. This can be purchased as a block & is ideal for stuffing into bread rolls. Regular mozzarella contains a higher amount of moisture & can leak out of the dough balls & make them soggy.
Feel free to use a different cheese if you would prefer. A mature cheddar or a brie would work well.
To make this bread extra cheesy, we’re also grating parmesan over the top before serving. Again, any cheese can be used instead. Parmesan works great but something like a gruyere would work as well.
Using Milk Powder
For this recipe, we’re using a small amount of milk powder in the dough. This helps improve the colour of the bread as it cooks as well as making the bread softer & more tender. This is entirely optional & can be left out if preferred. The bread will still turn out great!
Stuffing The Dough
Shaping & stuffing this dough is super easy! Once the dough has been portioned into 12 pieces, all we need to do is flatten each one down slightly, place a cube of mozzarella into the middle then fold the dough around it. Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball then pop into a grease baking tin & leave to prove.
The dough will prove & bake into each other so don’t worry about shaping them perfectly!
The Window Pane Test
The best way to assess the gluten development in your dough is by using the windowpane test.
Here, you take a small piece of dough & stretch it between your fingers. If it stretches thin enough so that you are able to see through it, enough gluten has been developed. If it tears, more kneading is required.
How To Reheat
Although this bread is best eaten fresh, if you happen to have any leftover, store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, either wrap the baking tin with foil & place into a low temperature oven (around 160°c/320°f) for 10-15 minutes. Or, place the bread onto a plate & microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm.
Equipment Used
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More Recipes
Tear And Share Cheesy Garlic Bread
Equipment
- Digital Scales
- Digital Food Probe
- Stand Mixer
- Dough Scraper
- Metal Bench Knife
- 8" x 12" Baking Tin
- Pastry Brush
- Palette Knife
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 20 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 40 g Whole Milk
- 40 g Water
The Dough
- 380 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 85 g Whole Milk
- 85 g Water
- 7 g Dried Active Yeast
- 8 g Maldon Salt
- 15 g Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Milk Powder
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 30 g Unsalted Butter At Room Temperature
To Stuff
- 120 g Low Moisture Mozzarella Cut Into 12 Equal Pieces
Egg Wash & Topping
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tsp Cold Water
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 tsp Black Sesame Seeds
Garlic Butter
- 100 g Unsalted Butter Melted
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- Pinch Maldon Salt
- 1 tbsp Flat Leaf Parsley Finely Chopped
To Finish
- 20 g Parmesan
Instructions
- First, make the tangzhong.To do this, place the flour, milk & water into a small saucepan & whisk to combine. Cook over a low heat until you have a thick paste, stirring constantly with a spatula. Transfer to a bowl & leave to cool to room temperature.
- Next, place the milk & water into a jug & warm in the microwave to 38°c/100°f (alternatively you could heat this up in a saucepan then transfer to a jug), then whisk in the yeast & leave to go bubbly, 5-10 minutes.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt, sugar, milk powder, egg, oil & the cooled down tangzhong. Give the activated yeast a whisk then add to the bowl. Using the dough hook, knead the dough on a medium speed until smooth & starting to come away from the sides of the bowl, around 5 minutes.
- With the mixer still going, add in the butter a small amount at a time, incorporating each piece fully before adding more. Once all the butter has been incorporated, keep mixing until the dough passes the window pane test, 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm or a tea towel & leave to double in size at room temperature, 1-1.5 hours.
- Grease a 8" x 12" baking tin with butter or oil.
- Once risen, knock the dough back then transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Using a metal bench knife, portion the dough into 12 equal pieces. They will weigh around 60g each.
- Take a piece of dough & flatten slightly. Place a piece of mozzarella into the centre then fold the sides over. Flip the dough upside down & use your hands to shape into a ball. Place seam side down into the baking tin.
- Repeat with the remaining dough. In your baking tin, you should have four rows of three dough balls. Make sure that they are spaced equally apart.
- Cover the tin loosely with clingfilm & leave to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (350°f/320°f).
- Once the dough is well risen, whisk together the egg & water for the egg wash. Brush this all over the top of the dough then sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
- Mix together the melted butter, garlic, salt & parsley then brush a generous amount over the bread, whilst it's still hot.Leave to sit for a couple of minutes then grate over the parmesan.Allow to cool slightly then serve.To remove the bread from the tin, run a palette knife around the outside & in between each bun. You will then be able to pull the bread out with your hands.
