Merry Christmas, everyone! I made you a wreath. One you can EAT. This pepperoni cheese bread wreath has all the great flavors of pepperoni pizza in a fun holiday shape. And it’s dippable! What’s more fun than that on Christmas? You’ll find pretty specks of pepperoni throughout the bread. But there’s even more pepperoni on top, with lots of melty cheese.
And while I think this is perfect for Christmas, a ring of yummy pepperoni cheese bread would really be welcome just about any time of year.
This year my son and I are having a quiet Christmas day at home. My youngest had other plans for today. I went to celebrate last weekend with my parents and sister, while my kids had Christmas with their dad. The BIG gathering on my side of the family is planned for next weekend.
Although we’re alone in a quiet home full of cats on a weird snowy/rainy Christmas day, I woke up and wanted to make something festive. Something I could bring to the family gathering that everyone would love. We all love bread! So why not make a wreath out of bread?
My speckled pepperoni cheese bread was the inspiration for this recipe. It’s been so many YEARS since I made it. That was well before I ever thought about hopping on the sourdough train. But for the dough here, I actually used a cottage cheese bread recipe as the base. But I added pepperoni and Italian seasoning and a few red pepper flakes.
To shape the dough, I considered braiding, but settled on more of a pull-apart monkey bread style of wreath. It turned out so cute! You can even leave some of the pepperoni whole and sort of roll them into a flower shape to decorate your wreath. I did tuck a couple whole pepperoni in here and there, but I think they mostly got covered up with cheese. It’s all good, right?
This recipe calls for sourdough starter discard. If you don’t have sourdough starter, don’t despair. Just up the yeast to 2 1/2 teaspoons and you should be golden. I provided both bread machine and stand mixer instructions. If you don’t have either, you can always knead the dough by hand.
I used a mini food processor (my Ninja!) to chop up the pepperoni into little bits, but if you don’t have one, you can always chop it up with a knife.
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Pepperoni Cheese Bread Wreath
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 3 hours (including rise time)
- Yield: 8 – 12 servings 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup water
- About 4 oz. sourdough starter (discard is fine) – optional
- 1 egg
- About 1 cup pepperoni, chopped fine, divided in half
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast – if not using sourdough starter, use 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried pepper flakes
- About 3 cups all purpose flour (or bread flour) – can sub whole wheat or fiber powder for some of the flour
- Olive oil, for oiling the dough and brushing at the end
- Shredded mozzarella cheese, for the top
Instructions
- In a stand mixer (or bread machine on the dough setting), add all ingredients except the olive oil and mozzarella cheese. Start the bread machine on dough setting or continue for stand mixer instructions.
- If using a stand mixer, stir a bit until it starts to come together. Using the dough hook, knead for about 3 – 4 minutes, or until the dough cleans the bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough is doubled in size.
- Line a large baking pan with parchment paper or a silicon liner. When the dough is done, pull off small bits of dough and shape them into balls. Set a small bowl in the center, then make a circle around it with the balls of dough. Make a second ring next to the first one so your ring is now almost the width of a wreath.
- Add pepperoni and shredded cheese on top of the the dough, then add more small balls of dough here and there until you’ve used all the dough. Tuck in more pepperoni bits amongst the bread balls, then sprinkle again with cheese.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour or so or until the bread has puffed up. Remove the plastic, then bake at 350 F. for about 25 minutes or until the wreath is golden brown on top. Check halfway through – if any of the balls fall out of the wreath, put them back on using a little more cheese to help make them stick.
- Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. Transfer carefully to a serving plate/platter. Brush the bread lightly with olive oil. Serve warm with your favorite marinara or pizza sauce for dipping. If you like, garnish with sprig(s) of fresh basil or rosemary.
Notes
You can make the wreath ahead of time, then warm in the oven (tented lightly with foil). I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to keep it fresh for next weekend.
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2023, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
Keywords: Sourdough, Pepperoni, Cheese, Bread
