Divas: Meet your new favorite football snack – pull-apart bread

Sweet mother of yum! Here’s a ridiculously good, easy and cheap technique to make you a rock star this autumn. Or anytime. But I think we’re collectively getting the warm fuzzies for fall. Am I right?

Let’s talk pull-apart bread, shall we?

Simply put, you roll out pizza dough and you schmere and sprinkle it with delicious things. Cut it into squares and stack the squares in a loaf pan. Bake it until all those delicious things are melty and gooey and the dough is cooked through. Then you plop it in front of your unsuspecting recipients and wait for the eye-rolling bliss. You rock.

It’s kind of architecturally-organized monkey bread, perfect for tearing and sharing with a crowd. It can be sweet or savory. Personally, I love to serve a savory version as a football snack or a light lunch with a salad or soup. Sweet varieties are perfect for brunch or coffee. Just remember plenty of napkins.

Here’s a family favorite; Buffalo Chicken Pull-Apart Bread. There’s chicken in this, so it’s a legitimate meal, right? We know I’m right.

BUFFALO CHICKEN

PULL-APART BREAD

Serves: 4-6Total Time: 50 minutes

What You’ll Need:

1 chicken breast - cooked and shredded

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup buffalo wing sauce (I used Frank’s)

½ cup blue cheese crumbles

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 (13.8 oz.) tube refrigerated pizza dough – or homemade equivalent

2 tablespoons green onion – sliced

Ranch dressing or sour cream – optional garnish

Here’s How:

Grease a 1-quart loaf pan. In a saucepan, melt one tablespoon butter. Add the buffalo sauce and stir to combine. Set aside.

On a well-floured surface, roll out your pizza dough, quite thinly, into a large rectangle. Brush the dough with some of the buffalo sauce. Use your pizza cutter or knife to cut dough into four long strips and then cut strips into square-ish shapes approximately 4”X 4” in size. I ended up with 16 squares. Mix the shredded chicken with the remaining sauce and distribute evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the cheeses and one tablespoon of the green onion evenly over the whole thing. Use a greased, flat spatula to pick up and stack the squares by rows. This can get messy, so don’t worry about neatness. If you’re severely OCD, this may not be the best recipe for you. Next, place the stacks vertically into your loaf pan. Let this rest while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the dough appears baked through. Let the loaf rest for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a serving platter. Garnish with green onion. You can serve this with ranch dressing or sour cream, if desired.

Not fond of bleu cheese? Use more mozzarella, no problem! This technique can be used with other flavors, like pepperoni pizza, taco or just cheese. Or schmere with cream cheese and pie filling for a crazy good dessert. Imagine the smells coming out of your oven. Let’s get stacking!

Fabulous Food contributed by Patti Diamond from Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous! NEW website and blog - www.divasonadime.com Join us on Facebook at DivasOnADimeDotCom.