Garlic Cheese Bread

Par-baked dough in cast iron, garlic-parsley butter to the edges, and four cheeses zoned like you mean it.

Time: 8 min | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 6 | Published: 2026-07-24

Every pizza night needs an opener, and this is mine. Pizza dough, par-baked in cast iron, painted with garlic-parsley butter, and loaded with four cheeses.

The cheese placement is deliberate: whole-milk mozzarella in the center where you want the stretch, part-skim on the edges where it crisps against the pan, and cheddar and Monterey Jack sprinkled over everything for flavor and color. Different cheeses do different jobs, zone them.

Use any dough on the site (I like a 2-3 day cold ferment for flavor). The 3-5 minute rest in the pan after baking matters, it lets the cheese set just enough to slice into pull-apart pieces instead of one molten sheet.

Ingredients

• 1 - 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tbsp Chopped Parsley
• ½ stick of Butter
• 1 ½ cup Whole Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 cup Part Skim Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• ½ cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• ½ cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions

1. Par bake dough in cast iron skillet at 500 degrees for 10 mins.
   You'll know it's right: The par-bake sets the structure: pull it when the dough is set and barely colored, it goes back in for the cheese melt.
2. Once you have your par baked dough, add parsley and garlic to softened butter and mix.
3. Spread butter mix all the way to the edges of your dough
   You'll know it's right: Butter to the very edges, the garlic butter that hits the pan wall is what fries the perimeter golden.
4. Top with Whole Milk Mozzarella in the center of the dough and Part Skim Mozzarella on the edges. Sprinkle the shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack throughout. Shredded Cheddar Cheese, ½ cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
   You'll know it's right: Zone the cheeses: whole-milk center, part-skim edges, cheddar and Jack over the top. Edge cheese crisps, center cheese stretches.
5. Bake in the oven at 500 degrees for 8 mins. Let sit for an additional 3-5 mins before removing from the pan.
   You'll know it's right: The 3-5 minute rest in the pan is where it goes from molten mess to sliceable. The cheese should still stretch, but hold a cut line.
6. Slice and serve!

Troubleshooting

Bread was doughy in the middle

Skipped or rushed the par-bake. The 10-minute par-bake at 500°F cooks the structure before the cheese goes on. Cheese over raw dough insulates it and it never catches up.

Garlic burned and went bitter

Raw garlic exposed on top at 500°F. Mix the garlic INTO the softened butter so it's coated in fat, and keep the final bake to 8 minutes.

All the cheese ran to the middle

Random cheese placement. Zone it like the recipe says. Part-skim holds its structure at the edges; whole-milk gives the center pull. Placement is the recipe.

Couldn't get it out of the pan

Cut too early or pan under-seasoned. The 3-5 minute rest lets the edge cheese release. Run a thin spatula around the perimeter first, then lift.

Tasted greasy

Too much butter pooling. Half a stick, softened and spread thin to the edges. It should paint the dough, not pool on it.

Notes

For the Dough: I prefer 2-3 day cold fermentation to build flavor. On the day of making pizza, I’ll take it out of the fridge an hour before pressing into the pan the first time. Also, you don’t need a steel in the oven. I just happen to never take mine out.

Nutrition (1/6 of the pan): 310 calories, 13g protein, 28g carbs, 16g fat.