Lemon Pull Apart Bread

I give you fair warning—if you’re still going strong on your New Year’s Resolution (go you!), turn away. This isn’t for you. This will completely and utterly derail you from your goal, and I don’t wish to be responsible for your demise. So quick—look away! Click somewhere else! Save yourself! For the rest of us… Behold. The carboholic’s dream.

Lemon Pull Apart Bread. Layer upon layer of delicious lemony sugar coated carbs. Amazing. Beyond amazing! So incredibly good, you won't be able to control yourself.

I’ve seen these pull apart breads around for quite awhile, usually in Joy the Baker’s cinnamon adaptation, but I’d never gotten around to trying it out myself. Until I saw the lemon version. Something just clicked, and I HAD to make it.

In every post I’ve read about these pull apart breads, they always say they totally just stood at the counter eating piece after piece of this stuff still warm from the oven. I thought it was just an exaggeration—surely all these people could control themselves better than that, right? Wrong. After the first bite, I knew they weren’t just exaggerating. I found myself just standing there, like so many others before me, pulling piece after piece off, indulging in the utter bliss that only warm sugary carbs can give you.

I’m telling you. This bread is like crack. Bright, lemony, candied, carbolicious crack. You won’t be able to stop. You’ll literally stand there, shamelessly pulling piece after sticky piece, losing all control of your senses. You’ll eat half the loaf within hours. You’ll proclaim to the whole world, “Oh... If I die tonight, I'll be going down in a heavenly blaze of carboholic glory.” You’ll find yourself at 3am pulling off just one more piece. Your clouded senses will convince you that it’s really okay to have a couple more pieces for breakfast the next morning. Within 24 hours you’ll have singlehandedly finished off an entire loaf of bread all by yourself. And you’ll dream about making more before you’ve even finished the last piece.

I’m already plotting a roll version of this. Like a cinnamon roll. But with lemon instead. Oh it will be done. I’ve already got the lemons waiting on me. Must. have. more.

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Lemon Pull Apart Bread
From Buttered Up and Hungry Girl Por Vida
Makes one 9-inch loaf



Dough:
2 ¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 package dry active yeast
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 4 lemons
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt; set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm butter and milk until butter is just melted and is warm to the touch. Remove from heat, add water and vanilla.
3. Pour the milk mixture over flour mixture and mix by hand using a rubber spatula. Add eggs, mixing until combined. Using the dough hook of the electric mixer, add ½ cup of the remaining flour, mixing until incorporated. Add the rest of the flour and knead until smooth but still sticky.
4. Place the dough in a large bowl sprayed with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about an hour. Deflate the dough and chill for about 20 minutes, up to overnight. (It’s easier to roll out when it’s chilled a bit.)
5. Make the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the lemon zest and sugar with your fingers until the mixture looks a bit like wet sand.
6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 12 by 20 inch rectangle. Cut the dough into 5 strips 12 by 4 inches long. Brush the first strip with melted butter and sprinkle on about 1/5 of the lemon sugar mixture. Top with the next strip. Brush with butter and sprinkle lemon sugar, topping with the next strip. Repeat with all remaining strips.
7. Lightly grease a 9-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper, leaving 1-inch overhangs on either side.
8. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice the stack into 6 equal sections, about 2 by 4 inches each. Place stacks in loaf pan, lining up the stacks like slices of bread. (It helped me to turn my pan on its end and stack the sections on top of each other to keep them from sliding down into the pan before I could get the next section in. Don’t worry if there are gaps. When it proofs a second time, they’ll fill in.) Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size again, about 45 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 350F. When dough is ready, bake until top is golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove loaf from the pan. It’s best enjoyed when it’s still warm. Or wrap tightly in plastic wrap to keep for a day or two.