Cheesy Pizza Pull-Apart Bread and Other Super Bowl Ideas

If you read as many food blogs as I do, you've probably already seen this bread in at least one variation. It's been appearing more and more on the internet, and it's not hard to see why: a loaf of bread is sliced open and stuffed with cheese and any other delicious toppings you want, then baked until the cheese is melted so you can pull it apart into pieces of warm gooey cheesy bread.

I don't know where the original version of this bread started, but I first saw it on The Girl Who Ate Everything, who raved about this Bloomin' Onion Bread (and so did the commenters). Since then I've seen it pop up on a lot of other blogs in many amazing looking variations, and I eventually broke down and had to make it myself too!


I decided to go with a pizza version by using mozzarella cheese and pepperoni as the bread stuffings, then dipping each piece in marinara sauce. As I expected, it was amazing! You don't really need a recipe for this, just follow this recipe for the Bloomin' Onion Bread and change the toppings however you like. I used 1 loaf of sourdough bread, only about 8oz of partly-skimmed mozzarella, about 1/3 cup chopped pepperoni, and 3 tablespoons of butter - those are the only ingredients you need!

I do want to point out the amount of butter I used because the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter! I didn't think it was necessary to use that much butter in what was already a pretty unhealthy appetizer, so I cut it down to just 3 tablespoons, which I rubbed into the bread with a brush, and I thought that amount was just fine. Like I said, you can experiment however you like with this bread, it's pretty versatile!

Here are a few other versions of this bread I've spotted lately in case you need more inspiration:

Cheesy Garlic-Herb Bread from Our Best Bites
Cheesy Mushroom Pull-Apart Bread from Beantown Baker
Cheesy Jalapeno Pull Bread from Simply Recipes

More Super Bowl Recipe Ideas:

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, I also thought it'd be fun to share a few other recipes that I think would be perfect for the big game. Some are from my own blog, most are from other blogs .. Enjoy!

Other Breads:

Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites from Two Peas & Their Pod
Jalapeno Cornbread from The Comfort of Cooking
Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread from Confections of a Foodie Bride
Artichoke Bread from Closet Cooking
Pizza Bites from Chaos in the Kitchen

Dips:

Buffalo Wing Hummus from Once Upon a Cutting Board (pictured above)
Buffalo Chicken Dip from Babble's Family Kitchen
Lighter Buffalo Chicken Dip from Skinny Taste
Black Bean Chili Dip from Oh She Glows
Spicy Black Bean Dip with Roasted Red & Chipotle Pepper from Cookin' Canuck
Guinness and Cheddar Dip from The Curvy Carrot
Pizza Dip from Closet Cooking
Indian 6 Layer Dip from Vanilla & Spice

Appetizers:

Mini Mac n' Cheese Bites and Mini Pepperoni Pizza Puffs from Once Upon a Cutting Board (above)
Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks from Skinny Taste
Spinach Artichoke Balls from Food Republic
Football Deviled Eggs from Southern Living
Buffalo Chicken Nachos from The Girl Who Ate Everything
Plaintain Guacamole in Black Bean Cups from Vanilla & Spice

Mains:

Easy, Cheesy Black Bean & Corn Quesadillas from Once Upon a Cutting Board (above)
Football Pepperoni Pizza from Babble's Family Kitchen
Beer Mac and Cheese from How Sweet It Is
Buffalo Chicken Bites from Pennies on a Platter
Walking Tacos from Picky Palate
Buffalo Chicken Cups from Gimme Some Oven
Chicken Quesadilla Pinwheels from ivillage (by Rachael Ray)

Desserts:

Fudgy Chocolate Stout Brownies from Once Upon a Cutting Board (above)
Peanut Butter Football Dip from Crazy For Crust
Chocolate Oatmeal Cream Pie Footballs from Shugary Sweets
Football Oreo Truffles from Bakerella
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Footballs from Domestic Fits
Super Bowl Brownie Bites from What's Gaby Cooking


For a visual representation of these and other Super Bowl recipes, check out my Super Bowl Food board on Pinterest! Happy Super Bowl weekend :)