Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread with Dipping Sauce
A long, long time ago I made monkey bread for the first time and fell in love with that sweet, yeasted, cinnamon-sugar pull apart bread drenched in a sugar icing. Honestly, what’s not to like about that previous sentence?! I’ve been toying with the idea of a savory version for some time now, and after seeing these pepperoni pizza puff muffins, I was determined to make a pepperoni version, especially since pepperoni bread has long been a staple of mine and my husband’s families since we were both kids.
Pepperoni bread for life!
This pull-apart bread starts with pizza dough. You can use a half batch of my favorite fresh pizza dough, or you can use frozen (and thawed) dough. My grandma and my husband’s family both used Rhodes frozen bread dough for their pepperoni breads, and that brand makes a frozen pizza dough as well, so if you go that route, that’s what I would recommend.
I toyed with the idea of incorporating the sauce into the actual bread, but I was fearful that it would cause the dough to become a little bit too soggy and that it wouldn’t bake up as fluffy as I would have liked. So, I cooked the sauce separately and served it on the side, which worked out perfectly. Those who like more sauce can dip as much as they like, while those that are more sauce-averse can dip sparingly or not at all. I used the sauce from my Chicago-style deep dish pizza, as it’s especially flavorful, a tad bit sweet and nice and thick – perfect for dipping.
This is a great base for mixing together your favorite cheese and topping pizza blends. You could do crumbled sausage and sautéed mushrooms, prosciutto with Gruyere cheese, meat lover’s… so many possibilities!
My husband has requested that this be added to a future Sunday dinner menu… done!
One year ago: Hi-Hat Cupcakes
Two years ago: Crab Dip
Three years ago: Bacon and Cheese Quiche Tart
Five years ago: Guacamole
Six years ago: Traditional Hummus
Seven years ago: Homemade Pita Bread
Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread with Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 1 pound (453.59 g) pizza dough, fresh or frozen and thawed
- ¼ cup (54 ml) olive oil
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) pepperoni slices, quartered
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) provolone cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
- ¾ cup (75 g) grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) dried oregano
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (40 g) grated onion
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 28 ounce (793.79 g) can crushed tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) sugar
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, toss together the pepperoni, cheeses and oregano. Place the olive oil in a small bowl.
- Take the prepared (or thawed) pizza dough and pat into an 8-inch square. Cut into 64 one-inch pieces and roll each into a ball.
- Briefly dip each ball of dough into the olive oil and add to the bowl with the cheeses and pepperoni. Once all of the dough balls have been added, toss well to combine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared Bundt pan in an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free place until nearly doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position. Once the dough has risen, place the pan in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
- Make the Sauce: While the bread bakes, heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to about 2½ cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Then, turn the bread out onto a plate and serve warm or at room temperature with dipping sauce.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Mine came out like a jello mold. It was very tasty! The sauce was bomb too. I made the half batch of her pizza dough, and let it sit 20 mins before rolling into balls, etc.
I know this is an old post but I am so excited to try it! If I make up a fresh batch of your pizza dough when do I follow those directions and let it rise for an hour and half and then pat it into a rectangle and make it into balls?? Does that make sense? Sorry if this is a silly question new to bread making . Thanks for your help!
Would love to have this for munching on Super Sunday! First, a question beforehand: Is the pepperoni precooked when it’s mixed with the dough balls? Just asking because I was wondering if there’s any concern for leaving it sit out in a warm environment for the rise time.
Hi Jackie, Pepperoni is not “raw” meat so there’s no need to heat or cook it before mixing it into the dough. It will be just fine at room temperature during the rise time.
This was FANTASTIC!! Wow, the hubs and I both devoured this. We’re not fans of pepperoni so I used finely chopped mushrooms and onions. So good! The sauce is seriously incredible!! I’m going to use it on all my pizzas from now on. Love love love this recipe!
I made this for a party this weekend. It went really fast! I will say that I think it could have used a lot more pepperoni and next time I’ll add garlic powder to the cheese mixture. Great recipe! Thanks!
I tried this yesterday and had a couple of issues with it. I had to settle for frozen pizza dough but it did not rise. I had baked a pie earlier so my oven was still slightly warm. After putting the plastic wrap on the pan, I placed in the oven to rise. I when I realized it wasn’t going to rise, I went ahead and baked it anyway. The flavor was great, but it certainly wasn’t pretty. Any ideas as to where I went astray?
Next up I will be trying the Roasted Banana Ice Cream, my mouth practically waters just thinking about it.
Your baby is an absolute doll!, love your blog.
Maytha
Hi Maytha, Aw thank you! As for the dough not rising, you say you used frozen pizza dough… did you thaw it first? I usually thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight.
Michelle, I thawed the dough on the counter for 4 hours, then put in the refrigerator overnight as the directions mentioned. I wasn’t able to find the Rhodes brand of frozen dough. I can find fresh dough when we get to the mall (an hour away) at Trader Joe’s. Thanks so much for your prompt response. Maytha
This site looks great and what a yummy recipes. I love to pizza. Your Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread with Dipping Sauce looks very delicious with nice ingredients and toppings it attracts me. I want to serve this for my father’s birthday celebration this weekend. For sure my father will be surprise with this special recipe. Can’t wait to serve this recipe. This is also a perfect weekend with my family with this recipe.Thanks for sharing. Nice post indeed. Have a blessed day!
I’m just salivating over your pictures! This looks wonderful, I will forsure be making it!
Awesome idea!! Love how you made monkey bread savory and with pizza!!
This sounds absolutely amazing….and looks SOOOO good. What a great addition to my appetizer collection….thanks!!
This looks like a perfect recipe for any event, but especially when it comes to football season!
This looks divine! I’d love to try this in veggie style…peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives etc! So YUM!
The only thing I see wrong with your first sentence is the “long, long time ago” part! Monkey bread should be a weekly occurrence at the least! This pizza variety looks amazing and will be going into my “to try” recipe box!
Pretty sure I’m going to have to make this for the next gathering I have… I pinned it!!
I have to say this monkey bread looks pretty darn good. Hmmm, gonna ask my mom to make it to go with Sunday dinner. Just kidding mom! Or am I?!?
Drool! Carb heaven! Looks just a tad labor-intensive but would be SO worth it.
I still can’t believe that I haven’t tried ANY type of monkey bread. This needs to be fixed. I see brilliant recipes like this one on the web and think to myself, “I really should try this monkey bread.” But, then my attention gets diverted. I need to sit down and commit because I know this would be a total hit at a dinner party. Thanks for sharing.
looks so yummy! i think this is a recipe I’m definitely going to have to try. We’re big fans of homemade pizza so this would make a lovely treat.
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