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I tried to use up some of the cheese in the fridge before it goes bad to make this Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread.

I used pâte fermentée (pre-fermented dough in French) or sometimes called "old dough" to make this soft and flavourful bread. Traditionally, bread makers take a portion of the bread dough made and save it overnight for next day baking. I made it from scratch since I did not have any ready old dough. With this method, the bread is more flavourful and aromatic due to the higher acidity and fermentation gasses produced during the slow fermentation.

Please click on Bread Making Method to understand more details.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible. Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.

How To Make Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread Recipe

Yields: 24 small buns in a 9.5 inch round pan

INGREDIENTS:

Old Dough:

90g bread flour (I used Japan High Gluten Flour)

58g water

1/4 tsp instant yeast

1/4 tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Main Dough:

210g bread flour (I used Japan High Gluten Flour)

3/4 tsp instant yeast

30g brown sugar (add more if you like slightly sweeter)

1 tsp salt

30g butter, room temperature

30g whisked egg (less than 1 egg)

90g full cream milk

Coating:

50g butter, soften

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp oregano

Black ground pepper

Pinch of salt

120g - 150g cheese mixture (mozzarella cheese + cheddar cheese)

Utensil:

9.5 inch round pan, greased (you may also use 9 inch round pan)

METHOD:

For the Old Dough:

Combine water, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Then mix in bread flour and knead with your hand until smooth. Roll into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with cling film and let it ferment for 12 - 16 hours in cool place or air-conditioned room if you live in a hot climate.
You may also let it proof 1 hour in room temperature (hot climate). After 1 hour, place into the refrigerator for 24 - 36 hours. Take out the old dough from refrigerator to return to room temperature 30 minutes before using.

Kneading main dough:

Put all main dough ingredients (except butter) and all the old dough in a bowl of stand mixer and knead for 3 - 5 minutes or till the dough comes together. Add in the butter and continue kneading for another 12 - 14 minutes or until achieve window pane stage (the dough at this stage should be able to be pulled and stretched into membrane). I stopped half way to prevent the motor from overheating.

1st Proofing:

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 45 - 60 minutes or until doubled in size. I normally leave the dough in the same mixing bowl and cover with cling film or kitchen towel.

Preparing Coating Ingredients:

While waiting for the dough to proof, mix all the coating ingredients (except cheese) in a small bowl. Set aside.

Shaping:

Punch down the dough to release the air. Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface then divide into 24 portions, different sizes is fine. Roll each portion into a ball. After finishing shaping all the dough, deep each bun into the butter mixture and coat with cheese mixture. Place bun in a prepared round baking pan. Continue until finish all the dough.

Final Proofing:

Let the buns rise for another 40 - 50 minutes or until the buns rise double in size.

Baking:

Preheat the oven to 180°C for about 15 minutes.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. I covered the bread with parchment paper or aluminium foil at last 5 minutes to prevent the cheese from burning.
Remove bread and let it cool on rack.

Preparing the coating ingredients:

Preparing the bread dough:

GENERAL NOTES:

GLUTEN DEVELOPMENT & WINDOWPANE TEST

Gluten forms when flour comes in contact with water. Hydration of the flour causes the sticky and stretchy protein to form, giving structure to the bread. This makes your bread trap air and rise.

Gluten in dough can be developed by autolyse, resting, kneading or folding.

The windowpane test is used to determine whether the dough has been sufficiently kneaded. By gently pulling the dough (or you may pinch off some dough) and trying to stretch it into a thin membrane. If you are able to stretch the dough paper thin and translucent without tearing, then the gluten is fully developed. However, if you can stretch it without tearing but the membrane is not transparent, then the gluten is not yet fully developed.

However, from my experience not all the recipe can achieve a thin and translucent window pane stage easily. For example low hydration and low fat dough. For such recipes, a reasonable window pane is good enough and it can be left to rest. Gluten will continue to develop while resting. Exercising restraint to not over-knead the dough prevents the gluten from being overworked and broken. Some of you may have experienced the dough breaking during the second proofing. It is because the dough is over kneaded.

The total kneading time for me is usually 15 minutes at low speeds except brioche dough with high fat percentage or dough using liquid fat which usually takes a little longer (maybe 18-20 mins).

From my experience, I found that high hydration dough with high percentage of fat will be easy to stretch and achieve a paper thin windowpane stage.

KNEADING TIME

For kneading, please regard the timing provided as an indication only. It is only meant as a guide. Timing may differ depending on the brand of flour and electric mixer used. The protein content may vary from one brand of flour to another.

FLOUR
The right flour plays a very important role in bread making. To achieve fluffy, soft and light bread, I used Japan High Gluten Flour in most of my bread baking. The protein content is around 12 - 13%.

HYDRATION

The liquid measurement given is also a guide. It is advisable to always reserve some liquid and not add it all in one go. This would give you the opportunity to adjust if necessary. If dough is too dry, add the reserve liquid one tablespoon at a time until the right consistency. This is because each flour absorbs water and hydrates differently.

PROOFING

Please note that the proofing timing may also vary depending on your climate and environment. The humidity and temperature at your place will influence how dough rises.

If you are unable to judge by just looking at the dough, you can do the finger poke test:

First Proofing:

Lightly flour or oil your finger or knuckle, gently poke in the centre of the dough then remove your finger. If it bounces back immediately without any indentation then it needs more time.
If the indentation stays and it doesn’t bounce back or if the dough collapses, then the it is over proved.
If it bounces back just a little, then the dough is ready to be punched down and shaping.

Second Proofing:

Lightly press the side of the proved dough with your finger. If it bounces back immediately without any indentation, it means the dough is under proved and needs more time before baking.
If the indentation stays and it doesn’t bounce back, it means it has been over proved.
If the indentation slowly bounces back and leave a small indentation, it is ready to bake.
There will be a final burst of rising once the bread is placed to bake in the oven and it is called oven spring.

WRINKLE TOP OR SHRINKING

If your bread collapses or gets wrinkled on top after removing from oven, it could be because your dough over proved during the second proofing. Please proof until it rises 80 - 90% in size or is slightly below the rim of the pan.

BAKING TEMPERATURE & TIME

Do also note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.