Pizza Pull-Apart Bread

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This pizza pull-apart bread is a soft, seasoned yeast bread layered with pizza sauce, shredded cheese, and pepperoni. For more pull-apart bread recipes, check out my apple butter and pesto versions! See my post about baking with yeast bread for helpful tips.

Since pizza recipes are quite popular among my readers (see this tortilla pizza which gets a daily boost in traffic around lunch time– seriously, every.single.day), it only made sense to turn my base pull-apart bread into a pizza version.

There was one small problem, though. When I first published that apple butter bread, I had only just gotten started making yeast breads, and the recipe could have been improved in several areas. The loaf pan was too full, the ratio of apple butter to bread was way too low, and readers often reported an underdone middle. Since I modeled this pizza version after that apple butter one, the problems were the same with this recipe, too.

I spent some time dedicated to perfecting that apple pull apart bread recipe so that it and its cousin, this pepperoni pull apart bread, are now both easy for beginners and simple to understand. The new and improved recipe below promises a soft loaf of bread loaded with sauce, cheese, and (optional) pepperoni throughout every bite. I’m proud of the updated recipe and I think you’ll be happy with it, too. 

Worried about the yeast? Don’t be. I’ve created a guide to baking with yeast as supplemental information to help yeast beginners learn a thing or two!

My other favorite thing about this easy pull apart pizza bread is that it transports so easily and requires no cardboard box! And, of course, since our kids love this pull apart pizza loaf, too, that brings something up a notch on the “awesome” scale for us.

That light and airy dough is not what I want to go with in a loaf of yeast bread.

The yeast bread dough we use here is fluffy, but it’s denser than pizza dough. It has lots of nooks and crannies that get filled with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese.

MILK: you can use any milk you prefer, but whole cow milk brings the richest texture to yeast breads. 

GRANULATED SUGAR: no, this will not make your dough sweet, we’re just feeding the yeast.

SALT: for flavor! Never make bread without out.

ITALIAN SEASONING + GARLIC POWDER: we’ll add some of the Italian seasoning to the dough itself, but also reserve some for sprinkling onto the top of the loaf before baking it. Garlic powder will help flavor the dough, too.

UNSALTED BUTTER + AN EGG: more ingredients for structure and richness. 

ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: you do not need special bread flour for this recipe. All-purpose works perfectly here!

PIZZA SAUCE: you can use store-bought, homemade, or even pasta sauce. If you prefer a chunky sauce, you can use that, too! Your choice. No real rules. Just be sure you have extra for dipping (always the dipping).

MOZZARELLA CHEESE: you can use fresh or pre-shredded. You can also use any cheese you prefer, such as an Italian or pizza blend. Again, your choice!

PEPPERONI SLICES: while these are entirely optional, they’re highly encouraged. You’ll want to use standard 1″ diameter (approximately) pieces, but you can also use mini pepperoni. Use 3 or 4 mini slices in place of each single pepperoni slice.

OLIVE OIL: we’ll be drizzling this on top of the bread before baking it, for some extra moisture and flavor (and for the additional Italian seasoning and the next ingredient to stick to).

PARMESAN CHEESE: in my opinion, pizza is not pizza without a sprinkle of Parm! This also gets a little crispy in the oven, which is one of my favorite parts about this bread.

LET IT RISE: this is the first rise, and it will be about 90 minutes. If you’re having trouble with dough that isn’t rising, move it to a warmer environment. You can also warm your oven (only to about 200°F (93°C)), then turn it off, and allow the dough to rise in the warm oven with the door cracked. 

FLATTEN INTO DISCS: using your hands, gently shape the pieces of dough into discs that are about 4″ in diameter. Some of mine wind up as circles and some turn out more like rounded squares. Either shape is fine because this is a messy bread in many ways!

FOLD INTO A PIZZA TACO: fold each piece of dough in half to create little tacos, then place each taco into a prepared loaf pan, pressing the row of bread pieces together each time you add a new taco. Don’t worry if some of the filling squishes out– in fact, I encourage this behavior. 

LET IT RISE AGAIN: this rise is shorter, only about 30-45 minutes. We’re just giving the bread a chance to develop the gluten network a bit more in this new shape we’ve molded it into. 

Once your bread is finished, allow it to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan, and then you can turn it out and pull it apart. I like to dip my pulls in more sauce, but you’re welcome to eat them as is.

Don’t worry about putting the folded bread pockets in perfectly. Pull-apart bread is very haphazard and however the bread fits in the pan is perfect.

Though I do encourage you to change up the cheese to fit your preferences, I hesitate to encourage you to add your favorite pizza toppings, as that would completely alter the way this bread performs in the oven. If you want to play with your pizza toppings, consider this pizza dip recipe that can handle a little more variety.

This is a great option if you’re making bread for a holiday– you can spend a bit of time bringing the dough together, then have warm bread the next day with very little hands on time.

You’ll just need to allow the loaf to finish its second rise for about 1 hour before baking it.

If you want to freeze an unbaked loaf, you’ll need to parbake the loaf for 10 minutes at 350°F (177ºC). Allow to cool completely, cover tightly, then freeze. Remove the loaf from the freezer and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Finish baking it the next day for the remaining 30-40 minutes before enjoying.