Bacon Ranch Pull Apart Bread!

 

 

If you love bread and cheese like I do, this is going to be right up your alley.  This takes a simple loaf of French bread and some cheese and a few other things and makes a loaf of yummilicious goodness! This is so good with pasta dishes...spaghetti, lasagna or with soups.  It also makes a great casual party appetizer.  Here is all you need for this:

1 loaf French bread (can use sourdough or Italian)
1/ 2 cup butter, melted
1/2 packet of dry Ranch dressing mix
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup of real bacon bits or you can use bacon cooked crisp and crumbled

Place the bread on a sheet of foil and cut it in about 1 inch squares, but not all the way through.  Just cut down about 3/4 of an inch.   I just cut on the diagonal, because my bread already had the baker's cuts going one way like that.   If your bread is smooth, you can just cut straight across horizontally and vertically.

Mix the dry ranch dressing mix with the melted butter.  Pull the bread slightly apart and pour the butter mixture over and down into the cuts.

 

 

 Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and the mozzarella cheese and push some of it down into the cuts of the bread.   Finish by sprinkling bacon evenly over the top.   Cover loosely with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Uncover and increase the oven temperature to 425 and allow to bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese just starts to brown. 

 

 

You can garnish with some sliced green onions or chives or serve just as it is, piping hot from the oven.  Just pull this off in big chunks.  I will warn that it is addictive!