Pull Apart Cheesy Bread - An Easy To Make Christmas Appetizer Recipe (2024)

Pull Apart Cheesy Bread makes for the perfect Christmas appetizer for your holiday parties, dinners, and Christmas movie binge watching! Refrigerated pizza dough stuffed with cheese and formed in the shape of a Christmas tree.

After it is baked it is then topped with butter, cheese and dried Italian seasoning for a delicious treat that everyone will love. Add a little warm marinara for dipping, and you will be sure your guests will be begging for more!

Best of all, with a few store-bought ingredients, this recipe is easy to prepare. In fact, even the kids can help make this recipe!

So this year, when you are trying to impress your friends, family and guests, without a lot of extra time or work, make this fun, beautiful and delicious appetizer. It is sure to be the hit of any party!

Pull Apart Cheesy Bread Christmas Appetizer

INGREDIENTS

• Refrigerated pizza dough
• Egg
• Mozzarella sticks
• Melted butter
• Finely grated Parmesan
• Dried Italian seasoning
• Dried parsley

Serving Ingredients

• Marinara sauce, warmed for dipping

INSTRUCTIONS

The first step in making this pull apart cheesy bread Christmas appetizer is to preheat the oven and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Then unwrap and cut each mozzarella stick into 5 even pieces, about 1 inch in length, and set aside.

On a floured surface, unwrap the tube of refrigerator pizza dough and stretch it out slightly so that it forms a fairly straight rectangle on all sides.

*It is best to use a tube of refrigerated pizza dough that you find near the refrigerated biscuits and crescent rolls. However, you can also make your own homemade pizza dough by using this Thin Crust Pizza Dough Recipe.

Starting at the long end, use a pizza roller to cut the dough in half. Then cut each section in half again, leaving you with a total of 4 even strips. Now cut each strip into 8 rectangles, about 1-2 inches wide.

You will have 32 squares, but will only need to use 30 of them. Discard the remaining two pieces.

Working one at a time place a mozzarella piece on top of each section of the pizza dough squares. Then wrap the dough around each piece of cheese, forming a tightly sealed ball.

Take the largest dough ball and form it into a rectangle. This piece will be used for the tree trunk when you go to arrange the pull apart cheesy bread into the shape of a Christmas tree.

Lightly roll the remaining balls between the palm of your hands. Then place the cheesy bread balls, seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet in the shape of a Christmas tree, making sure that the dough balls touch each other.

Christmas Tree Pattern

Although you can arrange them in any triangular configuration, I will explain how I placed the pull apart cheesy bread balls to make the Christmas tree appetizer.

First, place the dough ball that you formed in a rectangle towards the bottom of the small side of the prepared baking sheet. Next, take 6 of the largest balls to make the bottom row of the tree.

Place 6, slightly smaller balls above that original line. Remember, the dough should be touching each other, but not be smashed against one another.

The next two rows will consist of 4 balls each. Then continue placing the dough on the baking sheet with the following two rows consisting of 3 balls each.

The final two rows will be formed with a row of 2, then the final, single dough ball on top.

Now that Christmas tree appetizer is formed, it is time to make an egg wash so the cheesy dough balls brown up nicely when baked.

Do this by whisking an egg and 1 teaspoon of water together until well incorporated. Then use a pastry brush to brush the top and sides of the dough.

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake until the dough turns golden brown in color. This should take approximately 15-17 minutes.

While the cheesy bread is baking, whisk together the melted butter, Parmesan cheese and dried Italian seasoning.

Once the pan comes out of the oven brush the butter mixture on top of the pull apart cheesy bread. Then sprinkle dried parsley on top.

Serve warm with heated marinara for dipping.

Enjoy! Mary

Other Great Appetizers For Christmas

If you like this Pull Apart Cheesy Bread Appetizer, check out some of my other favorites to make and serve throughout the holiday season.

• Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
• Easy Spinach Dip
• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Pull Apart Bread
• Air Fryer Pizza Bombs
• Crock Pot Beer Cheese Dip
• Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp
• Pimento Cheese Spread
• Shrimp Ceviche
• Candied Bacon Wrapped Smokies
• Slow Cooker Reuben Dip
• Baked Cranberry Pecan Brie
• Smoked Salmon Phyllo Cups

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