This Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread is EPIC! “Crack bread” is an appropriate name for this because it’s garlic bread – on crack…..
It’s basically a cheesy garlic bread, but so much more fun AND delicious! Cheese, garlic and bread – in pull apart bread form. You can’t go wrong. Guaranteed to be the most popular thing at any gathering you take it to!
A CHEESY PULL APART GARLIC BREAD
“You will never be able to look at garlic bread the same again….”
If you haven’t tried this Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread before, let me warn you now: garlic bread will never be the same again. It’s like a pull apart bread, but tastes like garlic bread plus you have the mozzarella cheese which stretches wonderfully as you pull bits off.
This is INSANELY delicious. I especially love the way the bread is cut into diamond shapes so you can tear bite size pieces off. Every piece is garlicky and buttery and oh-so-cheesy…….
“Kids go NUTS over this…. and adults turn INTO kids when they get stuck into this!!”
This is one the kids go NUTS over, don’t say I didn’t warn you! And grown ups turn into little kids when they get stuck into this. I made this for a dinner and let me tell you, it took 5 hands about 30 seconds to demolish this!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST CHEESY BREAD IN THE WORLD!
Best bread – The best bread to use for Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread is crusty sourdough or another dense type of bread, but it works well with plain crusty loaves as well.
The reason it works better with sourdough is because the bread is denser so the bread tends to hold together better when you pull bits off. But believe me, there is no compromise on flavour if you use other types of bread! In fact, in the photo I chose to use a crusty Vienna loaf because it was on special.
Best cheese – I really recommend using mozzarella cheese for this, you want it to stretch and pull when you tear the pieces off.
Other flavourings – I kept the flavours quite simple, going for a garlic bread with cheese, but you can go really wild with the flavours for this! Ranch dressing, kick of chilli, other herbs – the possibilities are endless!
When it comes out of the oven, it’s all golden, crusty and buttery on the inside and you know that’s just the start of the eating experience that’s about to commence….
….then the devouring begins…. that cheesy pull! That buttery, garlicky bread!! And yet, and yet, there’s even more to come….
THE BASE IS THE BEST BIT!!
Everybody goes so nuts over the cheese bits that you pull out, but my favourite part is the base of the bread. All the butter and cheese drips to the bottom and it bakes so nice and crispy…..
PULL APART BREAD for parties!
This is a great centrepiece for a dinner that could just be accompanied by a fresh salad to make a complete meal. Or as a fabulous appetiser or party food – think game day!
It’s by far the most requested party food by my family and friends. I usually make it at home then take it to the venue and bake it there. The best way to make ahead is to use softened butter instead of melted butter and slather it into the cracks, then stuff with cheese. Wrap and bake before serving.
But you can even bake it in advance then reheat quickly in the microwave as long as you use a crusty sourdough. The crust gets so crusty when you bake it, it stays crusty even if you reheat it in the microwave.
Go forth and enjoy! Make this cheesy garlic bread once, and you’ll be asked to make it again and again and again…. – Nagi x
CHEESE and GARLIC CRACK BREAD
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Cheese and Garlic Crack Bread (Pull Apart Bread)
Ingredients
- 1 crusty loaf , preferably sourdough or Vienna
- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (or other melting cheese)
Garlic Butter
- 100 g / 1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter , softened
- 2 large garlic cloves , minced
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley , finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Combine butter, garlic and salt in a heatproof bowl and melt in the microwave. Stir through parsley.
- Cut the bread on a diagonal into 2cm/1″ diamonds but do not cut all the way through the bread.
- Use your fingers or a knife to pry open each crack and drizzle in a teaspoon of butter and stuff in a pinch of cheese. This might sound like a bit of an effort, but I promise you it is worth it! You don’t need to be super neat, it’s nice to have some of the butter drizzled over the crust.
- Brush surface with remaining butter.
- Wrap with foil and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese has mostly melted, then unwrap and bake for 5 – 10 minutes more to make the bread nice and crusty.
- Serve immediately. (See note 1 for best make ahead methods)
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
Yesterday, today, tomorrow… #HardLifeOfDozer
I’m having people over for diner tomorrow and will be making this. How do I prepare in advance? Do I cut it, stuff it and only cook it before eating? Or is it fast enough to make on the spot while my guests are over?
Hi Kim! I would stuff and wrap, then bake it when ready to serve! 🙂
Hi i love bread and cheeze, tell to ask u this. I would like to take to a potluck party. But by the time i get there and potluck started were tlking 3 hrs. Now they dont have a place to put this in a oven. U said serve immediatly. Or am i just out of luck on this one, sounds good though, please help
Sorry Cecilia! I really recommend serving this warm so you get the GOOEY CHEESE! 🙂 N x
I have done this. Baked at home. Taken to work for brunch party and rewarmed it by leaving it foil wrapped and placed in a crockpot. Not quite as crispy but it still totally disappears in just a few minutes.
Woah! I didn’t know that would work, thank you for letting me know! And glad to hear it disappeared in MINUTES!!! 😉 N x
Hi Nagi! I have a question, although dumb: do you think it would turn out somewhat good if I used baking paper? I don’t normally use tin foil – my brother does – so I didn’t even notice we’re out ? I promise my friends I’d make this this week, as this is the last week we’ll see each other (we are graduating) Any help?
Hi hun! I think it will work ok! Double wrap it though 🙂 The purpose of the foil is to protect the bread during the first baking stage so it doesn’t burn to a crisp before the cheese melts inside. So if you use a double layer of baking paper, that should work just fine! PS That’s not a DUMB QUESTION at all! It’s a very good question actually, and I am sure other readers will benefit from it. And congrats on graduating!!! N x
Can I pre make this the night before then put it in the fridge and bake the next day? Looks amazing
YES YOU CAN! 🙂
Omg, so good!!! Dipped it into Costco’s lobster bisque. Felt like I was in San Francisco on the warf. Delicious?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Christie! Love the idea of using lobster bisque dip! N x
Hi,
This photo/recipe is being used by a FB page that has been a thorn on the side of me and many of my fellow bloggers. They keep stealing our photos and recipes, and while they have been suspended before because of the many DMCAs, they are back at it again. Please file a takedown with FB, maybe they’ll get the message this time and stop this.
This is the page: Un-millón-de-Recetas-839891779453046
Thanks, and regards,
Clara
Reported. 🙂
Hi Clara, thank you so much for letting me know. Makes me so cranky!!! I will report them 🙁 Grr! Thanks again Clara! N x
This one is gorgeous. Bookmarked. Going to try this soon 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Thank you Kushi! I do hope you love it! 🙂
Hi, I had some difficulties baking the thing, but probably bcs I didn’t read the whole recipe with tips on the end ? Successfully burned 2, but made 1 to die for! Thx for sharing and have a great day ?? Regards, Martina
YAY! So glad the 3rd one worked out for you, it’s INSANELY addictive isn’t it???
Made this for New Year’s Eve and now making for a party tonight. When asked what I should make everyone said the same thing “the cheesy bread!!!!!!!” I also love that I can make ahead and toss on the oven at a later time.
Glad to hear that you’re in love with this as much as I am Lindsey!! 🙂 N x
Hey? I justt love too cook and bake, can i bake perfectly everything in a convection microwave or in an OTG? Like baking cakes and breads? And lasagna?
Hi Hira! I’m terribly sorry to say this won’t work in a microwave – it doesn’t crispy and and foil can’t be used in microwaves!
looks really yumm… thanks for sharing the recipe.
No worries! I hope you try it!! 🙂
I made two of these a year ago when we had the family (15 of us) over for a home made pizza night. We are doing pizza night again tomorrow and everyone is asking me to make this again! It’s great!!!
PERFECT for pizza night ? 15 in the family??? I can’t even imagine the carnage as everyone dove into it???
Just tried this with a tiger loaf and it was yum can’t wait to try it with other ingredients like chicken etc. It was so easy to make…next recipe is nachos cheese sauce ummm
Oooh….I LOE the nachos cheese sauce!!
I just made this and added pepperoni – with marinara to dip on the side. My mom and dad couldn’t stop eating it. Thank you for this wonderful recipe and I am excited to use more of your recipes!! 🙂
OMG – you made a pizza version. RIPPER!
I absolutely loved this recipe! I made it for a party and it was super quick and easy to make for all of the people.
YESSSSS! So glad everyone enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know Alison!
Hi!
This looks incredible! Can’t wait to try it…one question, how many tablespoons is 3.5 ounces?
Hi Kelly! 7 tablespoons will do the trick.
So I’ve found that for softer bread, it’s best to half freeze the bread. It makes it much easier to cut without it falling apart :}
Thanks for the tip Chai! I’ve tried it with soft bread and find that the crust broke, as per a comment from a prior reader. 🙂
We tried this and the flavor was amazing, used the same bread as directed. The pieces were really hard to pull out, I’m thinking maybe we didn’t make the cuts deep enough? I tried to go as deep as possible without it breaking apart but was maybe too conservative. Has anyone else had this happen? Was there something else we could have botched? The tops of chunks pulled off and we were left with the bottom half of the loaf as one big chunk.
Hi Frances!! So glad you loved the flavour! Do you have a fan forced or convectional oven?? It sounds like it didn’t get hot enough inside. 🙂 Hot bread tears so easily so it shouldn’t fall apart when you pull the pieces out! 🙂
We made this as part of our Christmas Eve appetizers this year and it was a super hit. Loved it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Joan!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. 🙂 And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Hi Nagi
I wanted to make this for some friends but i will not have an available oven my friend says he has a turbo broiler. Can i use that instead? Thank you in advance
Hi Angela! I’m sorry but I don’t think a broiler will work for this 🙁