This Cranberry Pecan Caramelized Onion Cheesy Pull Apart Bread is the easiest, most crowd-pleasing, festive holiday appetizer! You just use a store-bought loaf of bread, make diagonal cuts in it, and then stuff it with a little melted butter, caramelized onions, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, white cheddar, and fontina cheese! It’s unbelievably delicious.
Pull apart bread never ever fails me. It’s the easiest appetizer EVER, and it’s always unbelievably delicious. You literally slice open a loaf of bread, and stuff it with melted butter, cheese, and whatever the heck you want, and then bake it until it’s all melty and bubbly and perfect. What more could you want in life? Serious question.
This version was inspired by this cheeseball I made for Thanksgiving last year, because I cannot get enough of those flavors together. Seriously one of the most addictingly delicious things I’ve ever made.
Sweet caramelized onions, dried cranberries, pecans, white cheddar, fontina, and oh yeah I forgot – BUTTER. And bread. Can you even?
Don’t let that bread slicing pattern scare you. You literally just make diagonal cuts through the loaf of bread, not cutting through to the bottom, and then make diagonal cuts in the opposite direction. Easy peasy, and you really can’t mess it up.
As long as you can stuff cheese and all the things into it, you’re good.
And drizzle melted butter into it. HELLO.
If you’re into pull-apart breads (I assume that’s a yes), this cheesy pesto sun-dried tomato version is insane too. I thought I made that last year but no it was two years ago. Where the heck is time going?
Don’t even get me started on the fact that it’s almost Christmas. Cliché I know, but true. I’m absolutely loving it though!
We all need that super easy appetizer recipe around the holidays, and this is definitely it. You could even make it up to the step before baking it (basically just stuff it with everything), and then wrap it up to take to wherever you’re going, and bake it there! So it’s all cheesy and perfect when you serve it. So so easy!
Fontina and white cheddar will forever be my favorite combination of cheeses for melting. For pizza, grilled cheeses, mac and cheese, and pull apart breads obviously! You get the sharpness from the white cheddar, and the gooeyness from the fontina and they’re just such a perfect duo.
I can’t even stand how good it is. And let me just say, I even re-heated it days after I made it, and it was still so, so good.
New favorite festive app!
Cranberry Pecan Caramelized Onion Cheesy Pull Apart Bread
This Cranberry Pecan Caramelized Onion Cheesy Pull Apart Bread is the easiest, most crowd-pleasing, festive holiday appetizer! You just use a store-bought loaf of bread, make diagonal cuts in it, and then stuff it with a little melted butter, caramelized onions, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, white cheddar, and fontina cheese! It's unbelievably delicious.
Ingredients
For the caramelized onions
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 of a medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
For the pull apart bread
- 1 circular loaf crusty Italian bread
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 ounces white cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces fontina cheese, freshly grated
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- the caramelized onions
Instructions
For the caramelized onions, heat a medium skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil. Once melted, add the onion and sauté for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown and jam-like. During the last minute or two of cooking, add the brown sugar and stir continuously until it melts into the onions.
Preheat the oven to 375℉. Using a serrated bread knife, make 1-inch diagonal cuts through the loaf of bread, not cutting through to the bottom (leave the bottom of the crust intact!). Next, make diagonal cuts in the opposite direction, creating a "criss-cross" pattern.
Pour the melted butter into the crevices of the bread. Alternate between stuffing the cheeses, caramelized onions, cranberries, and pecans into the crevices of the bread until you run out. Some will end up just covering the top if you run out of room..this is ok!
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until bread is heated through and cheeses are melted and golden. Enjoy while it's hot!
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