Savory Cheese and Rosemary Bars

Not in the mood for pizza again? Try these savory cheese and rosemary bars that use the soft texture of pizza dough with a herb and cheese-filled topping. The final product is like garlic bread and pizza had a baby. Serve as an appetizer at your next party.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of 2% milk
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbs of fresh chopped rosemary
• 1/2 tsp onion salt from Trader Joe’s (or 1/4 tsp onion powder and 1/4 tsp garlic powder if you don’t have this)
• 1 package of pre-made pizza dough
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

STEP 1:

Preheat oven to 375 °F

STEP 2:

Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray or grease lightly with butter

STEP 3:

Add parchment paper and stick it to all sides, so the bars are easy to pull out when done baking

STEP 4:

Spread out your ready to bake pizza dough in the baking dish

STEP 5:

Bake dough in a 375 °F oven for 10-12 minutes

STEP 6:

Once golden brown, remove from the oven and let it cool

STEP 7:

To make the filling, add the milk, cheeses, eggs, rosemary, and seasonings to a bowl

STEP 8:

Combine by whisking lightly together

STEP 9:

Carefully pour the filling over the crust and use a spatula to spread it evenly across

STEP 10:

Bake in the oven again for about 20 minutes until the filling is set and starting to bubble

How Did These Savory Cheese and Rosemary Bars Come to Be?

Over the last few months, recipes like strawberry crumb bars, pecan pie bars, and many, many more “bar” recipes have been dominating my social media pages. As a result, it got me thinking, “what if we made savory bars instead of the traditional dessert bars?”

This idea launched into recipe development in no time. I decided to use pizza dough as the base of the bars. This is because it is easy to buy pre-made, bakes out to an even, crunchy and yet chewy texture, and pairs well with cheese. I think this choice was wise as opposed to other options like pie crust or puff pastry that would have been much too rich for the topping I had in mind.

I bought my pizza dough from Trader Joe’s so you can too!

The topping was a little trickier to figure out because I wanted it to be cheesy, but not too much like pizza. After all, I am creating a new kind of savory bar that would be the perfect party appetizer. It should be soft, crunchy, solid, and flavorful, but not too greasy like pizza.

As a result, I added eggs to my cheese and rosemary mixture. This solidified the toppings quite nicely over the pizza dough. Plus, it gives it a heartier edge to the ingredients that will fill you up more than traditional pizza.

I cannot express enough how important it is to use fresh rosemary in this recipe. Now that we’re entering into the fall, these savory cheese and rosemary bars taste like such a light, comforting bite with a huge hint of the herbiness from fresh rosemary. I chopped mine up a bit, which I highly recommend when making this recipe. It will spread out the flavor so that you taste it in each bite. Plus, chopping up rosemary makes it easier to chew since this herb has a tougher, stick-like consistency off of the stem.

Try out our savory cheese and rosemary bars recipe and see how you can level up your party food.

ALSO READ: High Protein Healthy Queso Dip for Your Next Party