This is a quick-rise bread that makes the most amazing fluffy and tasty pull-apart bread buns filled with gooey mozzarella cheese. It really is amazing that they are gluten-free!
With the addition of dried or fresh herbs, the bread is full of flavour and smells irresistible. The fun part is pulling apart the warm bread and watching the cheese stretch away from each side of the bun.
In Germany, there is a similar gluten bread called Partybrot (Party bread), but without the mozzarella and herbs. The bread is shaped the same way and has a similar fluffy texture often served as a decorative centrepiece at parties. This recipe would be perfect as a gluten-free Partybrot filled with different variations like the addition of ham, pesto, stronger cheese like Gruyere or Cheddar. If you plan to make several, just remember to make them on the day. They can be reheated gently in a low oven (covered in foil so they don’t dry out).
If you prefer no cheese nor herbs, then this bread will make an excellent sandwich with your favourite filling. Assemble the sandwich when the bread is at room temperature and ideally made on the same day as baking, otherwise, reheat the buns as instructed, to accompany soups and casseroles instead.
Gluten-Free Mozzarella Pull-Apart Bread
Equipment
- 23-cm round cake or springform tin
Ingredients
- 300 ml full-fat milk
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2¼ tsp dried yeast
- 400 g store-bought or homemade gluten-free plain flour
- 2 tsp xanthan gum (reduce by half if your store-bought flour has xanthan gum already included in the blend)
- 70 g tapioca flour
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 10 g Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried basil
- or
- 1 tbsp of each above herb, but using fresh leaves.
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 eggs, separated
- 200 g mozzarella cheese, cut into equal pieces for each bun
- freshly cracked black pepper, to season
GARLIC BUTTER
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 garlic clove, sliced in half
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- sea salt, to season the tops of the rolls
GARNISHING
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, cut into small stalks
Instructions
GLUTEN-FREE MOZZARELLA PULL-APART BREAD
Bread Dough Preparation
- Gather and measure all the ingredients listed
- Heat the milk in the microwave on HIGH for 1 ½ min or on the stove until it feels warm to the touch.
- Stir in the honey and sugar, followed by the yeast.
- Cover the milk mixture with plastic film and set it aside in a warm place to activate for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix the flours, xanthan gum, baking powder Parmesan cheese, dried or fresh herbs, garlic powder and salt.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the egg yolks, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Add this mixture to the flour mixture.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Mix well.
- In a clean oil-free glass or ceramic bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
- Fold the egg whites thoroughly into the flour mixture using two spatulas.
- Line a 23-cm round cake or springform tin with baking paper, trimming the excess paper nearer to the edge of the tin. This step is crucial to avoid the buns sticking to the tin due to some of the cheese oozing out.
- Using a standard-size ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop equal portions of dough into the tin/s. Don’t worry if the dough balls touch each other, they are supposed to be snug in the tin.
- Place the mozzarella pieces on each dough portion. Crack some black pepper over the mozzarella.
- Top each dough ball & mozzarella with the remaining dough.
- Using your fingers, dip them in some warm water and gently smooth out the tops of the dough balls and tidy up the sides if any cheese is poking out.
- Cover the tin with plastic wrap and a tea towel. Set aside to rise in a warm place for one hour.
GARLIC BUTTER
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once melted, turn the heat off and add the halved garlic cloves, Cover and set aside to infuse.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
- Once the bread has risen, bake it for 15 minutes on the middle shelf.
- Cover the tin with some foil to prevent the bread from over-browning. Cook for a further 15 minutes. Don’t be alarmed if you see some of the mozzarella cheese between the bread buns. They will set when cooled down and add an extra texture of flavour and crunchiness.
- Immediately, brush the bread with the melted garlic-butter infusion and sprinkle some sea salt.
- Allow the bread to cool in the tin for 15 mins.
SERVING
- Remove the bread from the tin by lifting both sides of the baking paper. Peel the paper from the bread and place the intact bread arrangement down on a serving plate.
- Decorate with some short fresh rosemary sprigs.
- Pull apart each warm read when serving. They will still be warm and the mozzarella cheese will ooze out and be stringy.
Notes
- Best on the same day of baking
- To store, wrap each bun in plastic wrap and chill
- Reheat individual buns unwrapped in the microwave for 1 – 1,30 minutes on the second-highest setting
- Reheat entire pull-apart bread in a low oven covered in foil for 15 minutes
- Freezes well wrapped in plastic & foil.
Some variations:
- Add some ham pieces or a dollop of homemade pesto together with the mozzarella cheese
- Add extra grated Parmesan cheese on top of the bread after brushing with the infused garlic butter
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