Pepperoni Bread

This loaf-style Pepperoni Bread is easy and packed with flavor…and perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches!

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Homemade Pepperoni BreadBack in late December when my wife and I were packing up the car to head back home after Christmas, my mother-in-law offered us a huge chunk of pepperoni to take with us.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Pepperoni.  Who’s mother-in-law is awesome enough to send you home with a massive chunk of pepperoni?  Mine!  You see, my wife comes from a large Italian family, so it’s no surprise that there was leftover pepperoni hanging out after Christmas.  Of course I grabbed that pepperoni and put it into the back of the car as fast as possible!  I was planning on just making a delicious pepperoni pizza with it.  But when we got home, my wife suggested that I use some of the pepperoni to make pepperoni bread.  Pepperoni bread?  I asked her if this was a family recipe, and she said, “No, but you’re always looking for an excuse to make bread.”  (She’s right.  I am always looking for an excuse to make bread.)  So off I went to the kitchen and a couple of hours later, this Pepperoni Bread was born.  This bread is so delicious that it’s now a family recipe!

Homemade Pepperoni Bread: This loaf-style Pepperoni Bread is easy and packed with flavor...and perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches!

I topped this bread with a bit of shaved Parmesan cheese for an added flavor boost.  And flavor boost was right!  This bread was delicious when lightly toasted with a little bit of butter…but it was magical on a grilled cheese sandwich!  My wife and I rationed out this bread over the remaining days of the holiday break.  (Yes, I’ve been holding on to this recipe for a while now.)  And in case you’re wondering about the cayenne pepper in the recipe…it’s not very much at all.  The 1/4 teaspoon is just enough to give this bread a small kick without overpowering it.  Of course, you could always leave it out if you’re worried.  Either way, this bread is delicious!

Homemade Pepperoni Bread: This loaf-style Pepperoni Bread is easy and packed with flavor...and perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches!

Homemade Pepperoni Bread

Pepperoni Bread

This loaf-style Pepperoni Bread is easy and packed with flavor…and perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Rising Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 161kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Using a countertop mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the bread flour, yeast, sugar, 2 Tbsp of the Parmesan cheese, salt, softened butter, and cayenne pepper (optional). Stir until well combined. Add the warm milk and diced pepperoni, and mix on low speed for 3 minutes. Increase speed to medium and continue mixing for 3-4 more minutes.
  • Transfer the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place bowl in a warm (80-85°F) location and allow dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  • Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled countertop and gently fold the dough 4-5 times, rotating 90° after each fold. Allow the dough to rest (covered) for 10 minutes.
  • Shape dough into an 8" x 6" rectangle. With the small side of the rectangle closest to you, fold the bottom 1/3 of the dough up and then fold the top 1/3 of the dough down on top of that (just like folding a letter). Finally, fold the dough in half lengthwise and pinch the seam at the bottom closed. Place the dough into a 7" x 5" loaf pan and gently press the remaining 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese into the top of the bread. Cover the pan lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm location until almost doubled in size (about 45 minutes).
  • Bake loaf at 375°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the top of the loaf turns golden brown in color. (Note: Tent the top of the loaf with aluminum foil after 20 minutes to prevent the Parmesan on top from burning.)

Notes

Rather than buying sliced pepperoni, buy an unsliced piece and cut it into cubes yourself. Or go to the deli section in your local market and ask them for 4 oz of pepperoni sliced 1/4" thick.

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12 Comments

    1. Hey Hayley! I honestly have never tried making this bread in a bread maker. However, if you have a good white bread recipe for your bread maker, I would think you could easily adapt it to include the pepperoni. Give it a shot the “old-fashioned” way, though…if you have time of course. There is something magical about working dough with your hands (and a mixer to start it off). If you do make this bread (bread maker or not), come back and let me know how it turns out! 🙂

  1. This looks delicious. We had a friend who owned a bakery in PA for years, this looks a lot like his pepperoni bread, with the exception he added diced pepperoncini’s to his. We would slice it and top with sliced cheese, pepper jack, provolone or mozzarella and place in the broiler to melt cheese. It was heaven. He is no longer with us and the bakery closed. He is truly missed by his family and friends. His bakery was an icon in the community. Thank you.

    1. Thank you so much, Cindy! Wow, your friend’s bread sounds incredible. I love the idea of adding diced pepperoncini into bread. And then turning that bread into a grilled cheese (open-faced) sandwich is a stroke of pure genius! It’s almost like a pizza sandwich! I’m sorry to hear that your friend is no longer around, but memories like his bread are still wonderful to hang on to. Thanks for sharing…I really do appreciate it! 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    Pepperoni bread!!! My dad used to make this for me, just like this in the 90s. I think he got his recipe from a bread machine book? That or else he made it up. He used small pieces of pepperoni and that’s about it. Not much to his and it was delicious. I can’t wait to make some!

    1. That’s awesome! I’m glad this recipe brings back good memories. 🙂 This bread makes for some fantastic grilled cheese sandwiches…just sayin’!

  3. 5 stars
    I’ve searched for a long time for a similar recipe. We have a bakery many miles from us in Pennsylvania that sells an Everything Bread. It includes Ham, Pepperoni, Broccoli, Hot Peppers, Mozzarella, Provolone, Cheddar, Garlic & Onion. Their website states they add these to their Italian bread dough. Any ideas how I can accomplish this at home? It is truly delicious. I realize this is an older post, thank you for allowing me to participate.

    1. Hey Bobbi! This might be an older post, but I stay watch every comment that comes in. 🙂 Back when we lived in upstate NY, a local bakery sold a “garbage bread” that sounds a lot like your version. It was bread stuffed with everything you can possibly imagine. I think this recipe could be a good place to start for what you described. The only challenge would be how to get all of those different ingredients in there without it ending up being too much! For the cheeses, I recommend using them as cubes rather than shredded – the shredded cheese will just “melt” into the bread as it bakes. I made this bacon cheddar bread (a different style of bread entirely) recently, and it shows what I mean by chunks of cheese – https://spicedblog.com/bacon-cheddar-bread/ If you’re willing to go with the round, Dutch oven style of bread, I recommend that recipe highly! You’ll have to play around with the proportions of the other add-ins, but I do think either of these breads will work. Let me know how it turns out??

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