Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread
Put a fun spin on monkey bread with this Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread! Think melty cheese, bread, olives, artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes – yum!
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We’re huge fans of pull apart bread, or monkey bread, here in our house. Pull apart breads are always a fun way to serve an appetizer for a group of friends. And truth be told, Laura and I enjoy curling up on the couch on the weekend with a good hunk of pull apart bread, too. It’s comfort food at its best!
A few weeks ago, we made a Pepperoni Pizza Pull Apart Bread (probably the 8th or 9th time we’ve made that one!). We had a couple of friends over, popped open some cold beers and shared that pull apart bread. Delicious!
However, as I was making that recipe, the thought hit me that monkey bread really is a blank canvas for whatever flavors you want to use. Cinnamon-sugar is probably the most common, but we’ve made all sorts of savory versions – from cheeseburger to pepperoni pizza to cheesesteak. Well, we’re adding a new one to the list today – Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread.
Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread
For this version, think melty cheese with chopped olives, artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. So many good flavors going on here! And the tops of the biscuits get slightly crispy in the oven, so you end up with little nubbins (yes, that is a technical term) of crispy biscuits surrounded by delicious Mediterranean flavors. Yum!
For the cheeses here, I went with feta (obviously) and Monterey Jack. Now I know Monterey Jack isn’t typically seen in Mediterranean foods. Mozzarella would have perhaps been a bit more fitting. However, I’ve become a huge fan of using Monterey Jack in place of mozzarella. Both are fantastic melty cheeses, but Monterey Jack just brings so much more flavor. (Of course, mozzarella would be totally acceptable in this recipe, too.)
While most pull apart breads just beg to be served with a cold beer, I might actually suggest opening up a bottle of wine for this one. A good sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio would go well with the Mediterranean flavors in this recipe. Just something to think about if you’re planning on serving this Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread to friends and family!
If you’re hunting for a fun recipe to mix things up a bit, then put this one on the list! The Mediterranean ingredients put a really fun spin on a classic comfort food. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!
Did you make this Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Mediterranean Pull Apart Bread
Ingredients
- 2 16-oz. cans jumbo refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil plus more for topping
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese shredded (I used Cabot’s Monterey Jack)
- 1 14.5-oz. can artichoke hearts, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped Kalamata olives
- ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Open biscuit cans and cut each biscuit into 4 quarters; place dough in large bowl. Add melted butter, chopped basil, olive oil, oregano and minced garlic; stir until well combined.
- Spray a bundt or tube pan generously with nonstick baking spray.
- Using a medium bowl, add Monterey Jack cheese, artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese; stir until well combined.
- Transfer ¼ of the dough pieces into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle ¼ of the toppings mixture on top of the dough. Repeat process with remaining dough and toppings mixture.
- Tent top of pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 10-15 minutes, or until top is golden brown.
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting monkey bread onto a serving plate.
- Garnish top with freshly chopped basil before serving.
Looking for more tasty monkey bread recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use vegan butter and cheeses and skip olives and artichokes hearts as am not a big fan of olives and artichoke hearts is difficult to find in Singapore i never had mediterranean pull apart bread before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Hey Ramya! Yes, you can absolutely adjust the ingredients here based on your preferences…or what you can find in the store. Pull apart bread like this is a blank canvas for whatever flavors you’d like to use! (And it’s really fun to eat, too.) Enjoy!
Such a great idea and such amazing flavors! Using all those mediterranean flavors is just perfect and I don’t have any issues with using monterey cheese. It’s one of my favorites too.
I absolutely love Mediterranean flavors, so it was fun using them in this pull apart bread. It was a great appetizer for friends with some cold beers! 🙂 Thanks, Kathy!
Ummmm yum! I love what you did here. And I wish I could make this and sit on the couch munching on it. Love your cheese choices. Mozzarella is bla, which is why I enjoy it smoked so much. Monterey Jack is great, and I also often use Oaxacan, which melts beautifully!
Ah, smoked mozzarella would be a great choice here, Mimi! I haven’t played around with Oaxaca too much, but I believe I have seen it in stores here. I’ll have to check that out for next time. Maybe for a taco pull apart bread!! 🙂
Yes! I’d love to curl up on the couch with this Mediterranean pull-apart bread too! Love the flavours (huge feta cheese fan over here). I could totally see this being a comfort food meal on Friday or Saturday night after a long week. It definitely wouldn’t last long in our home, that’s for sure!
We’re huge fans of feta cheese in our house, too! And I love how the feta on top of this pull-apart bread gets a little toasty on the edges. Mmmmm… This one is great for a comfort food weekend night or for drinks with friends. Everyone loves a good pull-apart bread!
Oooh love the Mediterranean flavours in this pull apart bread, and the fact that it’s a pull-apart makes it so much fun!!
I do love Mediterranean flavors, so it was really fun to use them in this recipe. Plus, pull-apart bread is just fun conversation when you serve this with friends!
This looks great! When I think ” Monkey Bread” only the sweet occurred to me. This rocks. You are absolutely right monkey bread is a blank canvas. You can take this dough in any direction. I would for sure choose the savory like the one you have here.
I appreciate the inspiration.
Velva
Hey Velva! Yes, monkey bread really can go in so many different directions. Pick a favorite flavor profile, and then just have fun layering in all of the ingredients. It leads to good conversation when you serve this on a big plate with friends!
While I’m a Salad King (Although I’m too shy to admit this haha), you’re the Bread King, David. I participate love all your “stuffed” breads ideas. This looks and sounds incredibly good. I mean Mediterranean flavours plus bread- who could really resist?
Oh, I’m not too shy to call you the Salad King, Ben! You are always whipping up fun and unique salads. And you’re right – I do love bread. This pull-apart bread was delicious, and it was really fun to serve on a big plate with friends standing around pulling off pieces. I highly recommend making this sometime during the holiday season!
YUM! This recipe has it all and I can’t wait to try it! Cheesy goodness is calling my name!
Hey Caitlin! Thanks so much for the kind words. This pull-apart cheesiness is delicious any time of the year, but it’s particularly tasty when you pull it out for a holiday appetizer party with friends! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I love your concept for making monkey bread and this flavor combination sounds great. However, we don’t get canned biscuits here. Do you think pizza dough balls would work here? Any other ideas?
Hmmm, you do make a good point about canned biscuit dough – I guess that’s an American thing. I’m assuming frozen biscuit dough also falls into that same category? I used to make my monkey breads with pizza dough, but then I got lazy and switched to biscuit dough. Long story short is I think pizza dough would work well here. I looked back at my notes, and you should aim for ~40 small dough balls. Pull apart breads really are fun to serve, and they are a blank canvas for all sorts of flavors. I hope you get inspired, Ron! 🙂
I love the Mediterranean flavors in this bread. This seems like the perfect thing to have around for the holidays. In my family, when we get together, we usually arrive in the late morning, even if dinner isn’t until the early evening. And we just spend the day noshing, helping to cook at set the table, watching TV, drinking (of course) and catching up. I’m usually too full to eat dinner, but of course I eat it anyway, and have second helpings. I think this bread might make an appearance at one of these nosh fests!
Hanging out nibbling, cooking, drinking, talking really is one of the best parts of the holiday season. As a kid, it was all about toys, but as I’ve gotten older, I now appreciate the friendships and conversations more. And for the record, this bread is fantastic – it would be great at a nosh fest!
this bread looks absolutely delicious david. I had to laugh at ‘cans of buttermilk biscuits’ tho. That sounds like something very sweet (biscuits= cookies as you know). and of course we don’t have that sort of thing here – cans of dough etc. Love the flavours here!
I definitely think of you and my other Aussie friends whenever I pick up a can of biscuit dough. 🙂 That really needs to be a thing down there!!
That pull apart bread definitely looks enticing, I can understand why your group friends will love them so much.
This is definitely an enticing recipe, Raymund – perfect for get-togethers with friends!
It’s not happening. In oven for full time and not rising much. Still looks really raw. This may not be a winner. I followed the instructions exactly because I’m not a particularly good cook. I so wanted this to work. Jury still out.
Hey Kate – I’m not sure what’s going on there! As long as you’ve got your oven at 350°F, those biscuits should bake! If they start to look burnt on top, but the middle is still not fully baked, then just put a piece of foil on the top and bake a little longer. I hope everything works out as this recipe is really tasty! 🙂
I would love to make this for a party that I’m going to. Could it be assembled ahead of time, refrigerated, then cooked later in the day – or does it need to all be done at once? Thank you.
Hey K! So I haven’t tried the idea of making this in advance but baking it later, but I think it would work just fine. I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work. It might take just slightly longer to bake since the pan will be cold, but even that should be minimal…just keep an eye on it. And because of that, I might suggest keeping the top covered a bit longer to make sure the middle portion bakes fully before the top begins to brown. Give it a try!
And in unrelated news, I saw your email address on the comment. You don’t happen to have a connection to UGA do you?