Pepperoni Bread is loaded with diced pepperoni, mozzarella, and herbs so it tastes like you're eating pepperoni pizza. It will not last long- you won't want to share!
Turn your love for a delicious cheesy homemade pizza dinner into a snacking bread! Our pepperoni bread tastes like a pepperoni pizza and is all of zesty pepperoni slices, pizza seasonings and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
It's a fantastic recipe to make as the base for a sandwich, garlic bread or grilled cheese. Or simply enjoy it as a hearty snack, dipped into our no-cook pizza sauce or toast it up to make a meatball toast or pepperoni toast for lunch. If you have a bread machine, you can also make bread machine pepperoni bread.
Ingredients
To make pepperoni bread, you need:
- Bread flour: all-purpose flour is a fine substitution.
- Pepperoni: I prefer specialty style pepperoni to produce the best flavor.
- Italian seasoning: or use a combination of oregano, basil and thyme.
- Mozzarella cheese: shredded mozzarella is added to the dough and to the crust.
- Parmesan cheese: grated Parmesan or shredded Parmesan can be used.
- Olive oil: I prefer using extra virgin olive oil in all of my yeast breads to give them a nice, light and fluffy texture.
- Instant yeast: instant yeast does not need to be proofed before adding to the bowl of ingredients. If you use active dry yeast instead, you'll need to proof it.
Instructions
- Combine bread flour, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning and instant yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the extra virgin olive oil, warm water, diced pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Mix on low speed 2 for 5 minutes, until a tacky dough ball forms.
- Remove dough and transfer to an oiled baking sheet. Shape into a ball, cover with a heavy cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
- When the dough is done rising, knead a few more times and reshape into a ball or rectangle. Slice a few cuts into the top, cover with the cloth, and let rise for 40 more minutes.
- Remove the towel and brush the top of the dough lightly with egg white or milk. Arrange extra pepperoni slices on top of the dough. Bake in the oven preheated to 350°F for 40 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining, sprinkle with a small amount of mozzarella cheese. *Bread is done when the internal temperature on a digital thermometer reaches 190℉. If not done at 40 minutes, continue baking in 5 minute increments.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
Enjoy a plain slice or dipped in pizza sauce for some extra pizza flavor. Pepperoni bread also makes great toasted bread with sliced cheese on top or as grilled cheese bread. It can be enjoyed as the base of homemade garlic bread along with your favorite pasta dinner, like butter and parmesan noodles or broccoli and garlic pasta.
Tips from the Chef
- The dough needs to rise in a place with a temperature of at least 75 degrees and no more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If your house is colder than this, heat the oven to its lowest temperature while kneading the dough. Turn it off and keep the door closed. Once you're ready for the bread to rise, put it in the oven, close the door, and it will be the perfect temperature to rise your bread.
- Don't add too much cheese to the top. If you add much more than ¼ cup of cheese, the center will sink. It won't ruin your bread, but it won't turn out with a nice dome shape because of the heavy cheese piled on top.
Recipe FAQs
As with most homemade breads, pepperoni bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for around 3 days. It can be stored in the fridge for around 1 week and in the freezer for 6 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freezer safe storage bags when freezing.
Test the yeast before doing anything else. It's really important to make sure that your yeast is still "alive". If you use dead yeast, you won't know until after you've made the dough and waited for it to rise. If the yeast is dead, the bread won't rise and you'll have to start over. To test your yeast, add 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 ¼ teaspoon of yeast to ¼ cup of warm water. Wait 5 minutes. If it foams, then it's good to use. If not, you need new yeast.
Test the temperature of the water before adding to dry ingredients. This is just as important as testing the yeast. If you add water that is too hot to live yeast, you might kill it. If the water is too cold, it won't activate. Both will cause your dough not to rise. For best results, water should be about 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Recipe
Pepperoni Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon instant dry yeast
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ¼ cups water, warmed to 110℉
- 1 cup diced pepperoni, plus more for topping
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine bread flour, sugar, salt, Italian seasoning and instant yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the extra virgin olive oil, warm water, diced pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Mix on low speed 2 for 5 minutes, until a tacky dough ball forms.
- Remove dough and transfer to an oiled baking sheet. Shape into a ball, cover with a heavy cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
- When the dough is done rising, knead a few more times and reshape into a ball or rectangle. Slice a few cuts into the top, cover with the cloth, and let rise for 40 more minutes.
- Remove the towel and brush the top of the dough lightly with egg white or milk. Arrange extra pepperoni slices on top of the dough. Bake in the oven preheated to 350°F for 40 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining, sprinkle with a small amount of mozzarella cheese. *Bread is done when the internal temperature on a digital thermometer reaches 190℉. If not done at 40 minutes, continue baking in 5 minute increments.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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