Cheesy Braided Garlic Bread – Easiest Dough Ever!
I have a confession to make, y’all: I am not a baker. The thought of baking my own bread terrifies me. And yeast? Don’t even get me started on yeast. If it ever came down to a choice between battling a giant, ferocious dragon with spikes and claws and fire or making bread from scratch, I would gladly waltz into that dragon’s lair and ask him if it’s hot in here or if it’s just him. And I never thought that would change…until I came across the easiest multi-purpose yeast dough I’ve ever seen. I used it to make this Cheesy Braided Garlic Bread, and let me tell you, cheesy bread goes a long way towards making me think twice about my date with that dragon.
What You’ll Need to Make Cheesy Braided Garlic Bread:
For the dough:
- 1 1/4 warm water
- 1 packet quick rise yeast
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp melted butter
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the cheesy braided garlic bread:
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Grated Parmesan cheese
How to Make Cheesy Braided Garlic Bread:
For the dough:
Now, for this part I don’t have any pictures for you because if you’re making this you’ve probably seen dough before. I want you to imagine how it smells, though! That yeasty and butter smell that rises while you’re working your hands into soft dough. Close your eyes a second. Wait – open them, finish reading this, then close them: this dish is going to be a family favorite. Every bit of kneading you put into it is going to be love that your family gets out of it. Now here’s how to bring that love to life!
Use a glass measuring cup to measure 1 1/4 cups of warm water. Pour in the yeast and sugar. Mix and set aside for 10 minutes or until a layer of foam appears. Know why a layer forms? Yeast is actually alive and when you give it sugar you’re feeding it. So that foam is your yeast saying, “Thanks for the grub!”
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the butter and the yeast mixture. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, start folding in the flour. Mix until all the flour is folded in and you can form a dough ball. I think you’ve got a handle on this part. Also, if you’re cooking with a crew here is where y’all are going to want to start getting flour on each other. That’s fine, just make sure you still have enough to make this dough!
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and work in the remaining flour by hand. Roll the dough into a ball, brush with olive oil, and set aside in a warm area to proof for about 15 minutes. Then your dough is ready to use! Proof just means grow, by the way. All you’re doing it letting that yeast finish growing after you fed it. Yeast grows almost as fast as kids, but not quite…
For the cheesy braided garlic bread:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the dough in half, then in half again. Cut a quarter piece into 3 pieces and roll them into ropes. Braid them just as you would hair! And if you’re a fella and you’ve never braided hair, just do your best. Whoever you’re feeding this to will understand. Hopefully. And if not, well, then they don’t get any now do they?
Place around the edge of a pie plate or round dish. Just make sure the dish has a little height to it so you’ll have room for the cheese later!
Continue making braids until dish is full. It’s like a bun, but yeastier.
Combine the butter, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper into a dish and microwave until melted. This is going to smell so goooooood, but don’t dip your finger in once it’s melted. It’s hot. And you’ll get burned. I shouldn’t have to say this, but I almost always end up dipping my finger and it’s just not pleasant…
Brush the dough and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and brush it with the butter mixture again, then top with a handful of mozzarella and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan. Return it to the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Now, if you’re like me you’re going to be tempted to do more than a handful of cheese. You go on and do that if you want. Just know that too much cheese and you’re going to end up with more of a cheesy garlic pizza instead of a bread. Which is fine. Go for it if that’s what you want. I won’t judge.
Pro-tip: You can use this easy yeast dough recipe for just about anything: bread sticks, pizza dough, dough boys, flat breads, bread bowls – the possibilities are endless! See what else you can come up with and let us know in the comments!
Cheesy Braided Garlic Bread - Easiest Dough Ever!
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 ¼ warm water
- 1 packet quick rise yeast
- 1 ½ Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp melted butter
- 3 cups flour
- ½ tsp salt
For the cheesy garlic bread:
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp each salt and pepper
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the dough:
- Use a glass measuring cup to measure 1 1/4 cups of warm water. Pour in the yeast and sugar. Mix and set aside for 10 minutes or until a layer of foam appears.
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the butter and the yeast mixture. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, start folding in the flour. Mix until all the flour is folded in and you can form a dough ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and work in the remaining flour by hand. Roll the dough into a ball, brush with olive oil, and set aside in a warm area to proof for about 15 minutes. Then your dough is ready to use!
For the cheesy garlic bread:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut the dough in half, then in half again. Cut a quarter piece into 3 pieces and roll them into ropes. Braid them just as you would hair!
- Place around the edge of a pie plate or round dish and continue making braids with the rest of the dough until the dish is full.
- Combine the butter, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper into a dish and microwave until melted. Brush the dough and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the bread from the oven and brush it with the butter mixture again, then top with a handful of mozzarella and sprinkle with the grated Parmesan. Return it to the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Pro-tip: You can use this easy yeast dough recipe for just about anything: bread sticks, pizza dough, dough boys, flat breads, bread bowls - the possibilities are endless! See what else you can come up with and let us know in the comments!
This looks good! Gathering ideas for Christmas dinners so this looks very easy and doable. Visiting from Monday Funday party.
Yum, this looks really good! And super simple to make. I would probably add more garlic, because I’m kind of obsessed with it