Cheesy, Garlicky Pull-Apart Christmas Tree Bread

Name: Cheesy, Garlicky Pull-Apart Christmas Tree Bread
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean, European
Ingredients: 1 LB/500g/16oz pizza dough**, fully proofed so it’s nice and stretchy; Flour for your work surface; Extra virgin olive oil to line the tray; 150g/5.2 Oz garlic herb cheese spread (I use Boursin); 150g/1.5 cups/5.2 oz grated low-moisture mozzarella cheese; 58g/ 1/4 cup salted butter, melted; 40g/ 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 2 garlic cloves, finely minced; 2-3 tablespoons finely chopped herbs of choice - I used flat leaf parsley but rosemary or basil would be great mixed in too!; Egg wash (1 small egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water); Sprinkle of low moisture mozzarella cheese, grated; 1/2 red bell pepper; 3/4 yellow bell pepper

11 steps

Prep:30minCook:25min

The perfect Christmas appetiser! Cheesy, garlicky dough balls are baked together in the shape of a Christmas tree. This is sure to be a hit with any crowd!

Updated at: Fri, 13 Dec 2024 09:45:04 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Unbalanced

Nutrition per serving

Calories304 kcal (15%)

Total Fat18.3 g (26%)

Carbs26.5 g (10%)

Sugars1.8 g (2%)

Protein10.1 g (20%)

Sodium561.6 mg (28%)

Fiber1.1 g (4%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

10 servings

500gpizza dough

fully proofed so it’s nice and stretchy

Flour

for your work surface

Extra virgin olive oil

to line the tray

Instructions

Step 1

**I used the pizza dough recipe from my upcoming cookbook 3 Doughs 60 Recipes, but you can use the pizza dough recipe I’ve shared on here, store bought pizza dough or another pizza dough recipe if you have one you like!

Step 2

On a floured work surface, stretch your pizza dough out to a rectangle shape (8.5 x 11.5 inches). Cut into 30 equal sized pieces (18g each) - it's easiest to cut in a 5x6 grid using a dough scraper for pizza wheel.

Step 3

Mix together the soft cheese and mozzarella. Use clean hands to really squish it together - roll into 30 cheese balls (roughly 10g each).

Step 4

Line a large baking tray with nonstick parchment and brush over some olive oil.

Step 5

Flatten a piece of dough to accommodate the size of the cheese ball. Close the dough around the cheese ball and pinch to seal. Repeat to make all the other dough balls.

Step 6

Place onto a tray. I did 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 formation, then used the remaining dough balls for the trunk. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest at room temperature while your oven preheats. If you want to put in fridge to bake the following day, that’s totally fine - just be sure to wrap tightly with plastic wrap or reusable wrap so the dough doesn’t dry out.

Step 7

Preheat oven to 220C/430F.

Step 8

The pepper ornaments are optional. I used an apple corer to make these and it worked perfectly. If you don’t have a tool like this, you could cut them by hand (I’d just do triangles for ease) or just skip them completely. I cut the star by hand from a yellow pepper.

Step 9

Brush the dough balls lightly with the egg wash, scatter over an extra bit of mozzarella cheese (this guarantees a good cheese pull!). Place the ornaments on top and then bake on the lowest rack of the for 22-30 minutes or until turning a light golden brown.

Step 10

While it’s baking, mix together cool melted butter, your choice of herbs, garlic and grated Parmesan. Make sure the butter is not hot as it will melt the cheese.

Step 11

Spoon the garlic butter over the tree once it’s out of the oven. Use a pastry brush to spread the butter over every dough ball. Serve immediately for maximum cheese pulls! This is great served with some warm pizza sauce or marinara on the side for dunking!