This strawberry rhubarb pull-apart bread is tender, super buttery, and busting bursting with strawberry, rhubarb and citrus flavors. And I am seriously obsessed with the citrus drizzle!
Strawberry Rhubarb Pull-Apart Bread
It took me a while to get the recipe the way I wanted it! I test-drove three yeasted bread dough recipes and a non-yeasted one before finally getting it right with this dough. And I’m loving how it turned out!
And don’t worry if you don’t have fresh strawberries or rhubarb on hand. You can also use jam. I’d pick one that not too sweet, though.
How to Make Pull-Apart Bread
If you’ve never made pull-apart bread before, here’s the deal. You can make it with a brioche-type, rich, yeasted bread dough made with eggs and butter. The texture is like homemade cinnamon rolls. Or you can make it with a lean, non-yeasted, no-egg buttery dough similar in texture and taste to biscuits.
While both are super yummy but for this recipe, I love the light and tender crumb you get from making an enriched dough in this recipe.
Bread-Making Tips:
This recipe is not hard. But be warned — it has a lot of steps and it takes some time to make. But don’t let that put you off. It’s so worth it in the end!
Here are some things to keep in mind while baking.
- PROOF THE YEAST: For this recipe, you’ll activate the yeast before adding it to the dough by dissolving it in 1/4 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar. This procedure ensures the yeast is alive. If the mixture is not bubbling or foaming up after 5 minutes, the yeast is likely dead, and you’ll need to start again. Tip: make sure your water isn’t too hot. It will kill the yeast. It should be between 100 and 110 degrees.
- USE ACTIVE OR INSTANT YEAST: Since you’ll be proofing the yeast before adding it to the recipe, you can use active or instant yeast.
- USE A DOUGH HOOK: The dough is pretty wet and sticky. While this means the bread will be moist, it also makes kneading by hand a tricky and messy option. I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook for this recipe. This will make it much easier to knead the bread, especially since this dough might need a bit more kneading than regular bread thanks to the amount of fat in the recipe, which makes it harder to develop the gluten in the dough.
- CHECK WITH THE WINDOWPANE TEST: How can you check if your dough is ready? Try the windowpane test! Just take a small piece of dough and slowly stretch it out in opposite directions. If the dough becomes thin enough to appear semi-transparent before it tears, it’s ready!
A Few More Recipe Tips:
- NO FRUIT? USE JAM: Feel free to sub out the homemade filling with jam. I would use one without a lot of added sugar since the drizzle in this recipe is already pretty sweet. I like Jackie’s Jam’s strawberry and rhubarb jam.
- SERVE AND STORE: This is best served the day of baking at room temperature.
- HELPFUL BAKING TOOLS: Stand Mixer | Loaf Pans | Bench Scraper
Looking for another great strawberry dessert?
Try this strawberry almond cake!
Print
Strawberry Rhubarb Pull-Apart Bread with Citrus Drizzle
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
Description
This tender, buttery pull-apart bread is layered with strawberries and rhubarb and topped with a mouth-watering tangy citrus drizzle. Perfect for dessert — or breakfast!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Dough:
- 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
- 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoon) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened and divided
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Vegetable cooking spray
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg white
For the Filling:
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 cups sliced fresh rhubarb (about 1/2 inch slices)
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup finely diced strawberries, optional
For the Citrus Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
For the Dough:
- Combine the yeast, warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar in a glass measuring cup or bowl, and let stand 5 minutes. If the yeast is alive and active, the mixture will bubble and foam. If it doesn’t, the yeast is likely dead. Toss it and start over.
- While the yeast is proofing, beat 1/2 cup butter at medium speed with an electric stand mixer fitted with beater or paddle attachment until creamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and beat for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk, and lemon juice. When yeast is ready, stir it into the mixture.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour and nutmeg. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat at low speed for 2 minutes or until well blended.
- Using the dough hook, knead the dough on speed 2 until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes).
- Coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Shape the dough into a ball and place it into the bowl, turning to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
- When ready, punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half, setting one half aside while you work with the other.
- Roll the first dough portion into a 20- x 12-inch rectangle. Carefully spread it with 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup fruit mixture, and 1/4 cup fresh fruit, if using. Then cut into 5 (12- x 4-inch) strips (I use a pizza cutter to do this). Stack the 5 strips on top of each other and then cut the stack into 6 (4- x 2-inch) rectangles. This process is messy — don’t worry about getting it perfect.
- Lightly grease 2 (9- x 5-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray. Then place the stacked rectangles, cut sides up, into the first prepared pan. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look like you have enough stacks to make a loaf — the dough will rise! Just spread them out as evenly as possible (not all bunched at one end of the pan).
- Repeat procedure with the remaining dough to make the second loaf.
- Next, whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, honey, and egg white until blended. Spoon the mixture over loaves. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (80° to 85°) for an hour or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. If the bread looks like it’s are getting too dark, you can shield them with an aluminum foil tent after 25 minutes.
- Cool in pans on a wire rack for at 15 minutes. Remove from pans to a wire rack and drizzle with the citrus glaze and continue to let cool for at least 5 more minutes. Serve at room temperature.
For the Filling:
- Combine sliced strawberries and rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring until the fruit breaks down, and the mixture turns into a jam-like consistency, about 10 minutes. You may have to crush some pieces of fruit with your spoon.
- Set filling aside to cool while the dough finishes its rise.
For the Citrus Glaze:
- Beat the powdered sugar and softened butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.
- Add orange zest, 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, and lemon juice and beat until smooth.
- If the glaze is too thick, add more orange juice.
Notes
- If you don’t have fresh fruit on hand, you can use jam.