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 bread, cheese, and pizza into a snack and appetizer with Pepperoni Bread. It tastes like a pepperoni pizza and smells like one too.
Pepperoni bread is a fantastic way to enjoy the flavors of pepperoni pizza. Use it as sandwich bread, garlic bread, grilled cheese, dip into pizza sauce, or eat a slice cut right off the loaf.
This recipe is based off the recipe for my award-winning sun dried tomato basil bread. If you love this pepperoni pizza bread, the tomato bread is a must try!
The first time I made this I had to make it 3 times in less than 24 hours. The third time was definitely the charm. The final pepperoni bread recipe here is the perfected version— made with a few tweaks to the first few loaves.
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.
- Oregano: Italian seasoning also works.
- 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.
- Yeast: I always use active dry yeast, but instant yeast works too.
- Sugar and salt
The best type of flour to use when making pizza bread is bread flour. Alternatively, you can use all-purpose flour. The difference between bread flour and all purpose flour is the protein content. Bread flour has a higher protein content, and therefore it will rise slightly more and absorb a little more water than all purpose flour.
You can make a 1:1 substitution with all-purpose flour in this recipe.
What does this mean for your pizza bread? Not too much. Using bread flour will give you a little more rise, but it won't change the texture too much. I still suggest sticking with bread flour for yeast breads, with all purpose being the second best option.
My favorite is speciality pepperoni as it gives the bread a delicious, zesty taste. Sliced packaged like Hormel pepperoni create a lighter flavor.
Step-By-Step Instructions
STEP 1: Combine bread flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and oregano in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the warm water, olive oil, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Mix on low speed 2 for 5 minutes.
STEP 2: 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.
STEP 3: When the dough is done rising, knead a few more times and shape into a ball or rectangle. Slice a few deep cuts into the top, cover with the cloth, and let rise for 40 more minutes.
STEP 4: Remove the towel and brush the top of the dough lightly with egg white or milk. Arrange about 10 pepperoni slices on top of the dough if you'd like. Bake in an oven preheated to 350°F for 40 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining, top with ¼ cup of mozzarella cheese and return to the oven.
STEP 5: Remove from the oven when done baking and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before slicing.
Enjoy plain 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.
How To Store Pepperoni Bread
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.
Pepperoni bread is freezer-friendly. Store in freezer bags or tightly wrapped plastic for up to 6 months.
Recipe Tips
If you want to make the best pepperoni bread ever, make sure to follow these tips.
- 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.
- Use the dough hook and never set the speed higher than 2. This is true for all yeast breads. Always use the dough hook. Speeds over 2 on a stand mixer will be very hard on the motor and anything lower will not knead properly.
- 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.
- For small kids, use thin packaged slices of pepperoni. These pepperoni will break up into tiny pieces and not taste too spicy. For adults, use chunky speciality pepperoni for more of a zesty taste.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Pepperoni Bread
Equipment
- heavy towel
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 2 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ¼ cups water warmed to 110°F
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 1 cup speciality pepperoni diced
Instructions
- Combine flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and oregano in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the warm water, olive oil, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Mix on low speed 2 for 5 minutes.
- 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 shape into a ball or rectangle. Slice a few deep 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 about 10 pepperoni slices on top of the dough if you'd like. Bake in an oven preheated to 350°F for 40 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining, top with ¼ cup of remaining mozzarella cheese and return to the oven.
- Remove from the oven when done baking and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before slicing.
Emily Cohen
I’ve been searching for a recipe for pizza dough bread forever!!! Years ago, we used to go to a wonderful mountain top Italian pizza restaurant that served it plain with only poppy seeds on top. It was the best bread!!! The owner would only say that it was made from pizza dough. It was baked in a round pan and cut into quarters with one quarter offered per table. We always asked and received more. Any suggestions for baking technique would be appreciated! And I definitely plan o trying your recipe too. Thanks so much!!!
Kristina
That sounds delicious! I have made pizza breads (search for garlic butter bacon bread on my site) and used a bundt pan. I've also made a pepperoni pizza bread ball using a round pan for my kids. For both, I take the dough and break it into small balls. Put those in a bowl and add the other "topping" ingredients. In your case this would be the poppy seeds. Then add the pizza balls to the pan and bake. You can mix it with a little butter or olive oil too. If you only want the poppy seeds on top, put butter pizza balls into the round pan, sprinkle on the poppy seeds and bake.
Rhonda
We enjoyed this bread—had some leftover ingredients in the fridge and thought I would try it. A hit!
Pam
Oh. My. Gosh.
This bread might be the best bread I’ve ever had. No lie. I could eat the entire loaf BY MYSELF. Make this today and thank me (and Kristina) later!