Delicious, cheesy, and buttery pull-apart Christmas Tree Bread that’s completely gluten-free! Featuring chewy, flaky dough smothered in garlic butter and baked in a festive Christmas tree shape. A fun, crowd-pleasing appetizer or side dish that looks as great as it tastes!
What Makes This Recipe Great
Introducing a super easy, festive, and delicious Christmas Tree Pull-Apart Bread recipe! A simple, yeast-free dough is formed, then stuffed with a cheesy garlic filling, brushed with melted butter, and baked to perfection. This simple appetizer is perfect for the holiday season.
Many similar recipes use store-bought dough like pizza dough or puff pastry, but it’s hard to find gluten-free versions of those at the grocery store. Homemade gluten-free dough doesn’t have the same elasticity as dough made with gluten, so it’s hard to achieve the twisting effect in the tree “branches.” After experimenting several times, I figured out a simple yeast-free dough that works beautifully in this recipe, and it’s easy to make completely from scratch!
With a few simple ingredients, you’ll transform the bread dough into the shape of a Christmas tree, then bake and serve it with dipping sauces. This holiday party favorite will be on repeat all season long!
Watch a Short Video of This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
Dough
- gluten-free all-purpose flour: I used Bob’s Red Mill (add 2.5 tsp xanthan gum if your flour doesn’t have it).
- baking powder
- sea salt
- Greek yogurt
- Water
Filling
- butter
- grated parmesan cheese
- garlic cloves
- Parsley
- sea salt
- shredded mozzarella cheese
- egg
- marinara sauce or pizza sauce for dipping
- red pepper flakes: Optional for garnish.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and sea salt, and stir.
- Add Greek yogurt and stir until a dough forms. If it’s too dry, add a little bit of water at a time until everything comes together. The dough should be slightly sticky.
- Lightly flour the countertop or place parchment paper down, then transfer the dough on top, and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle about 11×16 inches.
- Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut a Christmas tree: cut a long triangle with the dough from the bottom corners to the top center.
- Carefully remove the excess dough from the sides (2 thinner triangles) and use a spatula to transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. Line them next to each other so they are roughly the same shape as the large Christmas tree triangle, and pinch each piece of dough together. This will be the bottom layer.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, parmesan, garlic, parsley, and sea salt until a paste forms.
- Reserve 2 tbsp and spread the butter mixture evenly all over the pastry sheet. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
- Place the big triangle on top, lining up the corners so they match. You can work the dough with your hands if there are any cracks while stretching.
- Cut 1-inch wide strips on either side of the “tree,” leaving the center “trunk” intact. Take each cut strip and twist it all in the same direction. It’s okay if the dough rips slightly, just smooth them with your fingers.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of the garlic butter in the microwave, and brush on top of the tree with a pastry brush.
- Brush again with egg wash.
- Bake the pull-apart bread for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, and serve your baked bread with marinara sauce or dipping sauce of choice.
Expert Tips
- Homemade dough: The dough is less stretchy than your typical gluten dough. If it breaks, you can easily mend it with your fingers. It doesn’t have to be perfect – it’ll still turn out wonderful.
- Vegan option: use thick coconut yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, nutritional yeast instead of parmesan, and sub mozzarella with plant-based mozzarella shreds. Omit the egg for the brushing on at the end.
Serving Tips
Serve with your favorite marinara sauce or pizza sauce, pesto sauce, ranch, and more! Dust with red pepper flakes for an added kick. This is an easy-to-serve recipe because it’s pull-apart and doesn’t need to be cut with a knife. Plus, it’s a super festive way to “decorate” your holiday table!
Storage Tips
- This Christmas tree bread is best served right away. If there are leftovers, wrap in plastic wrap, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator (the bread will get hard when chilled), then reheat gently in the oven or the microwave until soft and chewy.
More Holiday Recipes
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Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Christmas Tree Bread Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2⅔ cup gluten free all purpose flour I used Bob's Red Mill (add 2.5 tsp xanthan gum if your flour doesn't have it)
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups Greek yogurt
- Water as needed
For the filling
- 1/4 cup butter softened at room temperature
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg whisked
- Marinara sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and sea salt, and stir.
- Add Greek yogurt and stir until a dough forms. If it's too dry add a little bit of water at a time until everything comes together. The dough should be slightly sticky.
- Lightly flour the countertop or place a parchment paper down, then transfer the dough on top, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle about 11×16 inches.
- Use a sharp knife to cut a Christmas tree: cut a long triangle with the dough from the bottom corners to the top center.
- Carefully remove the excess dough from the sides (2 thinner triangles) and use a spatula to transfer to the parchment lined baking sheet. Line them next each other so they are roughly the same shape as the large Christmas tree triangle and pinch together. This will be the bottom layer.
- Stir together butter, parmesan, garlic, parsley, and sea salt until a paste forms.
- Reserve 2 tbsp and spread the mixture evenly all over the pastry sheet. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
- Place the big triangle on top, lining up the corners so they match. You can work the dough with your hands if there are any cracks while stretching.
- Cut 1-inch wide strips on either side of the "tree" leaving the center "trunk" intact. Take each cut strip and twist all in the same direction. It's okay if the dough rips slightly, just smooth them with your fingers.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of the garlic butter in the microwave, and brush on top of the tree.
- Brush again with egg wash.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, and serve with marinara sauce.
Video
Notes
Expert Tips
- Homemade dough: The dough is less stretchy than your typical gluten dough. If it breaks, you can easily mend it with your fingers. It doesn’t have to be perfect – it’ll still turn out wonderful.
- Vegan option: use thick coconut yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, nutritional yeast instead of parmesan, and sub mozzarella with plant-based mozzarella shreds. Omit the egg for the brushing on at the end.
Serving Tips
Serve with your favorite marinara sauce or pizza sauce, pesto sauce, ranch, and more! Dust with red pepper flakes for an added kick. This is an easy-to-serve recipe because it’s pull-apart and doesn’t need to be cut with a knife. Plus, it’s a super festive way to “decorate” your holiday table!Storage Tips
- This Christmas tree bread is best served right away. If there are leftovers, wrap in plastic wrap, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator (the bread will get hard when chilled), then reheat gently in the oven or the microwave until soft and chewy.
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This looks amazing! Have you tried this recipe without using xanthan gum? Wondering if it’s necessary, as I try to avoid gums.
The xanthan gum gives it the stretchy texture of regular flour so I wouldn’t leave it out.
Well, this was interesting! hahaha The dough is very easy to operate and maneuver, however, I was not able to get it to twist. I ended up just doing the slices so that maybe they’d open a bit during baking. The taste was awesome!! Next time I will try adding a bit more water to see if that will help with the twisting. Still delicious (even though it didn’t look like a tree after baking…), hahaha Thanks for sharing! Love your recipes!!
I would definitely add water! If it’s too dry, it’ll break while twisting. I’m so glad you were still able to enjoy it though!
Made it for Christmas , was a huge hit with the whole family! We used mexican cheese because that was all had, and it was still amazing. Since it was quite big, we reheated it a couple of times and it was good the whole day!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love the idea of using Mexican cheese – I bet that added a yummy flavor. Merry Christmas!
Instead of cheese strings, I decided to put mozzarella balls in it, delicious!!