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Cheesy Christmas Tree Bread
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5 from 1 vote

Cheesy Christmas Tree Bread with Garlic Butter

Cheesy Christmas Tree Bread with Garlic Butter. Christmastime is the perfect time to bust out your baking skills to make something spectacular! Impress the whole party with this gorgeous, garlicky holiday snack!
Author: Shobee

Equipment

  • Conventional Oven
  • baking sheet
  • stand up electric mixer
  • bowls

Ingredients

Tangzhong Mixture

  • 1/4 Cup All Purpose flour
  • 1/2 Cup water

Yeast Mixture

  • 2 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water

Dough Base

  • Yeast Mixture
  • Tangzhong Mixture
  • 2 1/3 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 tbsp softened butter, at room temperature-not melted
  • 1 large egg for egg wash
  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese bar cubed

Garlic Butter Rub

  • 2 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp dried parsley flakes or dried italian flakes
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 2 tbsp white granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Decoration

  • cranberries

Instructions

Yeast Mixture

  • Warm the water in the microwave for twenty-five seconds. The idea is not to overheat the water so that it will not kill the yeast. Mix and set aside until the yeast blooms. This takes about five to ten minutes.

Tangzhong Mixture

  • Turn on the heat to low. Place the Tangzhong ingredients into the small saucepan and mix them together. Continually mix on low heat until the mixture becomes pasty, but not burnt.

Dough Base

  • Spray nonstick oil onto the baking sheet and set aside until ready to use.
  • Cut the mozzarella cheese bar into cubes and set aside until ready to use.
  • Attach your hook attachment to the electric mixer. Place the flour, white granulated sugar, salt, yeast mixture, egg and Tangzhong mixture in the electric mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients to low speed until the mixture will look like wet sand.
  • Now you can add the softened butter. Mix to medium speed. The mixture will look really wet, but eventually, it will form into a dough. Mix until the flour is smooth, about seven minutes of mixing.
  • If the dough is too sticky, coat your hand with flour. Remove the dough and form it into a ball. Brush the bowl you used with oil and return the dough to it. Turn the dough so that it will be coated with oil. Cover and place the dough in a warm place for one hour
    Pro tip: What I do is turn my oven to its lowest setting for fifteen minutes and turn it off. This will be the warm place I use for proofing.
  • After an hour, sprinkle your working area with flour, and put your dough there. First form the dough into a ball and divide it into two. Cut the dough into small pieces, to make thirty-five small balls. You can also weigh the dough to achieve same size. The size should be a little bigger than that of a pingpong ball.
  • Flatten the dough and fill it with cubed mozzarella cheese. Seal the dough and put it into the prepared baking sheet forming them to look like a Christmas tree.
  • Cover the dough with a cloth and let the dough sit in a warm place for another thirty-five minutes.

Garlic Butter Rub

  • Place all of the garlic butter rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Brush the butter into the dough before baking. Freeze any leftovers.

Bake the Garlic Bread Christmas Tree

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F and put the baking rack in the middle of the oven. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top and bake.
    Brush the bread with egg wash fifteen minutes into baking. Bake the bread for another five minutes.

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