Recipe Background
Oven-fresh pull-apart bread fills your kitchen with herb-laden warmth.
Baking this oven-fresh pull-apart bread is like enveloping your kitchen in a warm, comforting hug. The aroma of yeast and herbs fills the space, creating an irresistible invitation for everyone nearby. Each piece you tear off reveals a soft, fluffy interior tinged with garlicky butter that clings to the palate in the best way possible. The dance of chives and parsley adds a fresh pop, ensuring each bite is a reminder of simple, homemade goodness.
When mixing the yeast and warm water, you'll notice the yeast bloom, a little kitchen miracle that lays the foundation for airy, perfect bread. Letting the dough rise without rushing is key—patience here rewards you with the most tender loaf. Rolling out the dough, slathering it with herbaceous butter, and folding up each square transforms the process into a playful, tactile ritual.
Once baked, the loaves emerge golden and inviting, ready to be pulled apart at the table. Sharing this bread is more than about passing a plate; it’s about creating joyful moments and memories, celebrating the simple pleasure of breaking bread together. Remember to let it rest for at least 10 minutes after baking. This pause makes the slices cleaner, revealing their soft, pillowy nature with ease.
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 (0.25-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/8 teaspoon plus 3 tablespoons sugar divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted, plus more, to taste, for greasing the bowl
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more, to taste, for dusting a work surface
For the herb-butter:
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature, plus more, to taste, for greasing the pans
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1 tablespoon chives minced
- 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the yeast, the warm water, and 1/8 teaspoon of the sugar and stir to combine.
- Allow the yeast mixture to stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Set the stand mixer on low speed and begin mixing the yeast mixture.
- Add 4 tablespoons of the melted butter, the milk, 1 tablespoon of the salt, the remaining sugar, and the eggs to the yeast mixture and mix to combine.
- Slowly add 4 1/2 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture, while it runs on low speed, and mix until it just comes together into a dough.
- Increase the speed to medium-high and beat the dough until it is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes.
- Using the extra melted butter, lightly coat a large bowl.
- Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
- Place the bowl in a warm, draft-free area and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size, about 2 hours.
- In a small bowl, add 1 stick of the remaining room temperature butter, the garlic, the chives, the parsley, and the remaining salt and stir to combine. Set the herb-butter aside.
- Using the extra room temperature butter, lightly grease two (5x9-inch) loaf pans.
- Using the extra flour, lightly dust a work surface.
- Turn the dough out onto the prepared work surface.
- Roll the dough into a 12x6-inch rectangle.
- Spread the herb-butter evenly over one side of the dough.
- With a pizza cutter, cut the dough lengthwise into 3 equal strips.
- Cut the dough crosswise into 4 equal sections, forming 12 squares.
- Fold each of the dough squares in half.
- Add 6 of the folded dough squares, fold-sides down, to each of the prepared loaf pans.
- Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until the dough does not spring back when pressed with a finger, about 25-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake the loaves until golden, 25-30 minutes.
- Allow the loaves to cool for 10 minutes.
- Turn the loaves out of the pans and serve.
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