One of my favorite (and most popular) recipes here are the breakfast bagel bombs, but this pull apart bread is going to give those a run for their money.
Before I dive in, I have to give MEGA credit where it is due. I came across the recipe for everything bagel pull apart bread over at Sally’s Baking Addiction (a phenomenal blog, by the way) and I just had to try it with my own spin.
With this recipe, we’re not going to use any yeast at all. The original recipe is a true bread loaf with rising required, but we’re skipping all that!
That means no waiting around- we can just whip up the dough, form our loaf, and bake it.
Start to finish, you can have this recipe completed in about 45 minutes total!
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With that light & airy texture, nobody would ever know that this isn’t “real” bread. It looks, and tastes, just like a regular loaf of bread!
What’s in the dough?
We’re not using any yeast, so what exactly is this bread made out of? The ingredients are quite simple:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Light Butter (or any butter)
- Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- Baking Powder
- A little bit of sugar & salt
This is a similar concept to the “2 ingredient bagels” that utilize flour + Greek yogurt, but I wanted these to be a little bit softer and more buttery. So, we’re changing up those ingredients slightly, but still SO simple!
The addition of a small amount of sugar substitute (or regular sugar) might seem odd, but trust me on this one. This won’t taste sweet at all, but it will really help the texture of the bread.
The Cheesy Filling
The best part of this recipe is the cheesy filling in the bread. When you pull a piece off, it’s going to taste like a deliciously cheesy everything bagel.
Just look at that gooey cheese!
The cheese filling is a very simple combination of cream cheese, butter, mozzarella cheese, and seasoning.
You can use cream cheese on its own if you wanted to bring the calories down a little bit, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
The added butter really helps the final product as it melts right into the bread, and the addition of the mozzarella cheese helps the texture significantly. I mean, who doesn’t want a cheesy pull when they take their piece?
For the cream cheese, I used a Greek Whipped Cream Cheese. Many people haven’t ever heard of that, which is totally fine!
This product is very similar to low fat cream cheese, so any cream cheese you’d like will do just fine.
I recommend a whipped cream cheese if you can help it, but it’s not necessary. By using whipped cream cheese, it allowed me to just add all my ingredients to a bowl and mix ’em up with a silicone spatula- super easy. If you use regular cream cheese, you’ll want to let it soften at room temperature and then use an electric hand mixer to smooth out the cheese mixture.
Assembling the Bread
There’s really no wrong way to make pull apart bread. If you wanted to go “monkey bread” style, you certainly can.
Check out my Soft Pretzel Skillet for another way you can form the bread, if you need an alternative.
For this one, we’re simply going to be cutting circles out of our dough, spreading some of the cheese on them, and putting them into a small loaf pan.
This dough will be pretty delicate, so I prefer to work with only my hands. If you prefer to use a rolling pin, you can, but I flattened this dough out with just my hands (as you can probably tell by the fingerprints all over it).
As long as you lightly flour both sides, you should be just fine! Get it down to about 1/4 inch or so, then cut out as many circles as you can. In my case, I was able to cut out about 8 from this dough.
I don’t have any kind of pastry cutters, so I just went with a paper cup. Just press down and twist a little bit, and it should cut perfectly!
You can use a glass, mug, jar lid… whatever you have!
Once you cut out as many circles as you can, you’re going to have scraps left over. I formed the scraps back into a ball of dough, flattened it out, and was able to get 2 more circles out of that. I still had a tiny bit left over, but keep scrolling to see what I did with the leftover dough.
Take each circle and spread some of your cheese on it. I was pretty generous with my cheese, but you can use as much, or as little, as you’d like. In my eyes, more is always better. The recipe makes plenty that you don’t need to worry about running out.
All that’s left to do at this point is fold it “taco style” and add it to a small loaf pan. Squeeze as many of those suckers in there as you can! 10 was the perfect fit for mine.
Once they’re all set in the pan, you sprinkle everything seasoning on top and it’s ready to bake!
For everything seasoning, I always buy mine from Trader Joe’s. You can make your own as well, or you can buy a big batch on Amazon.
After 30 minutes, the loaf is ready to go. Remove it from the pan and get to pulling!
Since I didn’t spread cheese in between each “taco” within the pan, every piece you pull has cheese on one side. This makes it much easier to pull apart and eat so your hands don’t get absolutely covered in cheese.
What to do if you have any leftover dough
Depending on how thick you make your circles, you may find that you have a little bit of dough leftover with no more room in your loaf pan. Sometimes mine will fit perfectly, other times I’ll have a tiny bit leftover.
In those cases where I have leftover dough/cheese, I make bagel bites!
It actually reminded me of those “Bantam Bagels” that Starbucks carries. Shoutout to my fellow Shark Tank fans if you know of those bagel bites from the show!
All I did was form a dough ball, flatten it out, add a tiny bit of the cheese that was leftover, and closed it up. I sprinkled some seasoning on top and baked it alongside the loaf of bread for 30 minutes, and it came out amazing. These are very similar to my grilled cheese bites, so be sure to check those out too!
Looking for more breakfast?
As Ron Swanson once questioned: “Why do people eat anything besides breakfast food?”
Leslie said it best: “People are idiots, Ron.”
But you are not an idiot, and you love breakfast food. If this pull-apart bread doesn’t quite do it for ya, here are some other go-to breakfast recipes for ya:
- Breakfast Bagel Bombs
- French Toast Pigs in a Blanket
- Soft Pretzel Biscuits
- 2 Ingredient Protein Bagels
- Protein Cookie Dough Parfait
- Apple Pie Overnight Oats
Everything Bagel Pull Apart Bread
This recipe makes a great appetizer or party snack- if you're willing to share, that is. It's soft, cheesy, and just flat-out delicious. Plus, there is no yeast required to make this bread!
Ingredients
Ingredients for Bread
- 180g All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 24g Granular Sugar Substitute
- 56g Light Butter (I use Country Crock)
- 150g Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- Everything Bagel Seasoning (for topping)
Cheese Filling
- 175g (6oz) Cream Cheese (see notes below for which kind to use)
- 1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 28g Light Butter (I use Country Crock)
- 56g Shredded Mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Prep the cheese filling by adding all ingredients to a bowl. If using a whipped cream cheese, you'll be able to mix it up no problem with a silicone spatula . If using a solid cream cheese, use an electric hand mixer to mix until you have a spreadable cheese. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add together all of the dry ingredients for the bread dough. Don't add any everything seasoning- that is for topping at the end. Mix those up to avoid clumping.
- Add the butter and Greek yogurt to the dry mixture, and then mix it up until a dough forms. It may take a few minutes to fully come together, and you can use your hands to fully form the dough into a ball.
- Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle some extra flour on top, and then use your hands to press down the dough into a thin sheet, about 1/4" thick. You can use a rolling pin, but I prefer to press down using my hands since it is a delicate dough.
- Using a cup, mug, or anything else circular, cut circles out of your dough. I was able to cut about 8 circles, then I formed the scraps back into a sheet to create 2 more circles for a total of 10. When you only have a little bit of dough left, you can simply shape it into a circle rather than try to cut it out.
- Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray. Take each dough circle, spread cheese mixture on it, fold it taco-style, and add to the loaf pan. Squeeze them in tight to fit all of the dough into the pan. See photos above on what this process looks like.
- Top with everything bagel seasoning, then bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Carefully remove from the pan, then dig in!
Notes
- You can use any cream cheese you want here- I used a "whipped Greek cream cheese" because it's got a bit of extra protein, and the whipped variety makes it easy to spread. If you use a regular cream cheese, I recommend letting it sit at room temperature to soften before mixing.
- "Light Butter" refers to a butter spread with half the calories of regular butter. You can look for any brand at your local store, use regular butter, or any other fat source. Something like coconut oil should also work.
- How you season the cheese is up to you, but I found this combo of Italian seasoning & garlic powder to be perfect. But feel free to experiment!
- You don't have to include the sugar substitute in the bread, but it really helps the texture. Since we're not using yeast, we need a little assistance from science. Regular sugar works too! Don't worry, it's a small amount.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Servings Serving Size 1/6 of Loaf (rough estimate)Amount Per Serving Calories 250Total Fat 12gCarbohydrates 26gProtein 12g
Tracy
Friday 16th of April 2021
Could you make this the night before and bake it in the morning?
Matt
Friday 16th of April 2021
Great question- I don't see why not! I would just be sure to keep it covered to prevent the dough from drying out at all, but I would imagine it will bake up great the next morning.
Janis B
Thursday 25th of March 2021
How is this bread once it’s cooled? I’d like to make a day ahead and take to a picnic. Will it keep that long?
Matt
Friday 26th of March 2021
I'll be honest: mine didn't last very long! I'd say we ate it all within 3 hours or so, but it held up great the entire time. The benefit to it being warm is that the cheese stays nice and melted, but once cooled it's more similar to a bagel with cream cheese. It won't dry out or anything, so I think you'll be A-OK!
Priscilla Cervantes
Wednesday 20th of January 2021
Best thing to make if you love everything bagel seasoning. This is way healthier and better than eating a bagel with cream cheese. I loved the recipe and I will continue to make it more and more for my family.
Kim G
Wednesday 16th of December 2020
I was waiting for this!!! It came through my email and I promptly gathered all the ingredients.... The only thing I did not have was the whipped cream cheese so I substituted laughing cow cheese.... It turned out fantastic!!!! I thought it was going to be reminiscent of two ingredient dough but it truly isn't It is so "real" bread like!!!! Yet another fantastic recipe that you have created
Kristin
Thursday 17th of December 2020
Such a good idea! I'm going to try that too. I can't wait to make this.
Matt
Thursday 17th of December 2020
I bet it was AWESOME with that cheese! I love that stuff. I'm so glad you enjoyed this, Kim! :) It definitely isn't just a bagel in loaf form- I wanted to switch it up a bit. Really happy to hear it worked out.