Bacon Cheeseburger Pull Aparts Recipe

Directions:

1. Brown ground meat in heavy skillet(I use cast iron).
2. Add onion part way through the cooking of the meat, to desired doneness.(we aren't raw onion fans, so prefer them cooked a bit...I added them about halfway through the meat browning)
3. Drain if needed and cool slightly.
4. In sprayed 9X13 casserole, break apart 1 loaf(1lb) of bread dough into about 1/2T sized balls. Dough bits should be touching in spots, but not overly crowded.
5. Add ketchup, mustard, relish and salt and pepper to meat/onion mixture. Stir well to combine.
6. Pour meat mixture over first dough layer. See Photo
7. Sprinkle with crumbed bacon and shredded cheese, reserving about 1/4 of each. See Photo
8. Tear off 2T sized bits of dough from 2nd loaf and cover the cheese/meats mixture. Again, they can be touching, but don't over crowd. See Photo
9. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.
10. Let rise 30 minutes at room temperature, or at this point, it can be refrigerated for a few hours as it rises, instead.
11. Once risen, bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until dough is nicely browned and cooked through. See Photo
12. *I was easily able to turn my bread out onto a flat platter, then back over into another pan, so a double transfer to a serving tray should be fairly easy to do. Just let it cool about 10 minutes or so before attempting.
13. **Had I know the above would have been so easy, I would have sprinkled sesame seeds over the top layer of dough with the cheese and bacon...when I was creating it, I didn't know if it would be served top or bottom up!