Citrus Pull-Apart Bread

12 Reviews
ADD YOUR REVIEW
Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham
Hands-on Time
55 Mins
Total Time
4 Hours 35 Mins
Yield
Makes 2 loaves
February 2014
RECIPE BY Southern Living

This makes two gorgeous loaves for breakfast, tea, or coffee. Keep one, and share the other.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
  • 1 (1/4-oz.) envelope active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened and divided
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 4 1/2 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Vegetable cooking spray
  • Citrus Filling
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 large egg white
  • Fresh Citrus Glaze

How to Make It

Step 1

Combine first 3 ingredients in a 1-cup glass measuring cup, and let stand 5 minutes.

Step 2

Beat 1/2 cup butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. salt; beat 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and next 2 ingredients. Stir in yeast mixture.

Step 3

Combine bread flour and nutmeg. Gradually add to butter mixture, and beat at low speed 2 minutes or until well blended.

Step 4

Sprinkle a flat surface generously with bread flour. Turn dough out; knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes), sprinkling surface with bread flour as needed. Coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°) 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Step 5

Punch dough down; turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll 1 dough portion into a 20- x 12-inch rectangle. Spread with 1/4 cup softened butter, and cut into 5 (12- x 4-inch) strips. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. Citrus Filling over 1 strip, and top with a second strip. Repeat with remaining strips and filling, stacking strips as you go. Cut stack into 6 (4- x 2-inch) rectangles.

Step 6

Lightly grease 2 (9- x 5-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray. Place stacked rectangles, cut sides up, into 1 prepared pan. Repeat procedure with remaining dough, 1/4 cup softened butter, Citrus Filling, and second pan. Sprinkle any remaining filling over loaves.

Step 7

Whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, honey, and egg white until blended. Spoon over loaves. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°) 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Step 8

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown, shielding with aluminum foil after 25 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Cool in pans on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pans to a wire rack; brush with Fresh Citrus Glaze. Cool 5 minutes.

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Ratings & Reviews

Ruralcook's Review

Dreamon
February 11, 2015
Had the same questions as the previous reviewer. Excited to do the bread. Got the ingredients ready but could not understand the recipe. Do we need to make 2 batches of citrus filling and where does the lemon juice go?????

wynana's Review

cjbabe
February 09, 2015
N/A

azgardengal's Review

Ruralcook
February 06, 2015
I am confused, there is lemon juice in the bread recipe, but it never says when or if you add it. Another thing, you are cutting bread into strips and putting the citrus filling on the strips and stacking. But then recipe says Whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, honey, and egg white until blended. Spoon over loaves .Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place. Haven’t you already used the citrus filling? So do you make citrus filling twice? Why is it called citrus filling when it has no citrus in it?

portland's Review

sdrouillard
August 07, 2014
excellent texture, nice flavor. a little messy to make (next time i will try the butter,filling method from dreamon), make the rectangles a little smaller to make more, smaller loaves (one regular sized loaf is too much for us). messy to eat as well, but certainly worth the sticky fingers.

cjbabe's Review

Linaka
June 29, 2014
Delicious! I will say it did take quite a while to make. It wasn't difficult, it just took a while. It is definitely worth it. I have made 3 batches now and have logged on now because I have people asking for the recipe.

Dreamon's Review

wynana
March 17, 2014
This is very time consuming. Fortunately it was worth it. One step I eliminated/ made easier. Instead of making all those ribbons sprinkling them with candied zest and assembling the little buggers: I just rolled out the dough, spread the butter/ zest on all of it, folded it in half then cut it into rectangles. Voila. Less mess, less work.

TheMomChef's Review

portland
March 12, 2014
What an absolutely fantastic recipe. Yes, it is time consuming and as with all baked goods, requires following the instructions exactly, but it was so worth it. The only issue I had was with the first rise. It took my bread about two hours to double in size. Other than that, it was perfect. You can read my full review at Taking On Magazines: http://bit.ly/1i5HTBx

ookate2oo's Review

ookate2oo
February 12, 2014
I've tried about four or five different yeast breads from myrecipes.com, yet this is the only one that failed to double in size during the first rise (even at the recommended air temperatures and with successfully proofed yeast). It baked off alright, filling the pan. The taste was very very rich: I used the honey butter+egg white glaze on one loaf and omitted it on the second to test the effect - the "dry" loaf was much less cloying and better for snacking. All in all, the pull-apart bread concept is a good one, but this recipe is a bit of an overindulgence.

Linaka's Review

housefox
February 08, 2014
This is a perfect sweet bread recipe. I didn't make it a "pull apart" bread, just a twisted loaf. You could use any filling such as berry jam or just cinnamon and sugar. The recipe is not overly sweet but quite rich. I had friends over for coffee and lemon loaf and all loved it. I bake at a small local restaurant and this sweet bread will be on my regular repertoire. It's a keeper for sure.

housefox's Review

azgardengal
February 07, 2014
A lot of work, but totally worth the effort! I wouldn't change a single thing.