Update! Okay, okay, the recipe below isn’t perfect. It was constructed from memory, and while it DOES produce a very tasty and cheesy bread, I have to admit that it’s a far cry from the real Bubble Bread. I know this now because Jo and I took another shot at it on our next visit to Sanibel, and this time we nailed it. Read our new recipe here. Thanks to all our readers whose suggestions helped us fine-tune our new recipe into something that’s so close a replica, we can’t tell the difference!
I hope you’re not sick of hearing about the recent vacation Jo and I took to Sanibel Island, Florida, because I’ve got one more thing to share about it. While we were visiting, we ate at the beloved Bubble Room Restaurant where we happily ate our fill of their famous Bubble Bread they serve with every dinner. This delight is a super-cheesy garlic bread unlike anything I’d had before. I loved it so much that I knew I would go crazy if I had to wait until next year’s vacation before I could have it again, so when I got home I tried to reproduce it on my own.
After several attempts and tweaks, I’ve come up with what I believe is a very close replica, and Jo agrees. Here’s my recipe!
Chica’s Bubble Bread
- 1 loaf soft Italian bread, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
- 4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick), softened
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the canned stuff
works great)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
For best mixing results, your butter and cream cheese should be at room temperature, but if you have to pull them straight from the fridge, just microwave them for a few seconds to soften them. Mix the butter and cream cheese together in a bowl until all lumps are gone. Add the mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese and mix well.
Crush the garlic in a garlic press
Slice the bread lengthwise so that you have two pieces. Place the bread on a cookie sheet and put it under the broiler for a few seconds until golden brown. This pre-toasting step will ensure that your bread doesn’t get too soggy from the rich cheese topping. After toasting, generously spread the mixture onto the bread. You should have just enough cheese to coat both pieces of bread.
Sprinkle the top with a mixture of the cheddar and mozzarella cheese and return to the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown. Watch it carefully so that it doesn’t burn!
Allow to cool slightly and then slice into wedges and serve.
Note: If you don’t want to make both halves of the bread at once, you can save half of the cheese mixture in a bowl in the fridge. To use it the next day, just let it come to room temperature and stir well.
29 comments so far:
Thank you so much for going to the trouble of recreating the “Bubble Bread” recipe. I love it!
And I will be making it soon to take with me to a potluck Italian dinner! Yum!
ive heard the secret is bluecheese dressing!
my wife and i returned from the bubble room just tonight and we were obsessed with the bubble bread! we hounded our waitress about it until she finally admitted there were 7 different cheeses in it and one of them was cream cheese. I dont know if this helps or not but thanks for sharing!
Elaine, I’d love to hear how your dinner turned out.
Gina, I am a huge fan of blue cheese, but I didn’t detect that taste in the original bread.
Ryan, welcome to the Bubble Bread lover’s club! If you try my recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts, since the taste of the “real thing” is so fresh in your memory!
I used to work at The Bubble Room and was in charge of making the Bubble Bread. You got one ingredient right. The bread. All it is a good blue cheese dressing and a parmesan swiss blend of cheese….that’s it!
Hi Stephen. I have ‘Parmesan’ in my recipe too, so I should at least get credit for two right ingredients in your theory
LOL I’m sorry ! But it isnt a theory…i did make it from scratch every day for over a year..thousands a day It is the real recipe. But make your own bleu cheese dressing. Bottled stuff wont work.
Thanks for the input. I’ll certainly be paying more attention the next time I dine at the Bubble Room, even if it means eating plate after plate of it… It’s a sacrifice Jo and I are willing to make!
Well all this talk and I had to go make some. Here’s my recipe, have pics too but not sure how to post them.
Dressing:
2 C Mayo (hellmans please)
5 oz crumbled bleu cheese
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
Mix together and smear on the bread about 1/4 inch thick or so
top with grated swiss cheese and parmesan cheese ( about 4 oz each for an entire loaf )
sprinkle with paprika and bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes until “Bubbly”
Enjoy
That looks really yummy, Stephen! I uploaded the picture you sent me and everyone can view it here. Gee, now I’m hungry.
Stephen and Chica, I tried both recipes last night and think the truth lies somewhere in-between. There was far too much bleu cheese in Stephen’s recipe, I don’t really remember tasting that much bleu cheese at all when I was there recently. The grated parmesan and swiss on Stephen’s tasted closer to the real thing than Chica’s cheddar and mozzarella. However, Chica’s didn’t have quite enough mayo. So…next time, I am going to combine the two recipes and see what happens. Both recipes were very good though!
Chica, I had company over last night and I had 2 big loaves of Italian Bread. I was thinking about the Bubble Room bread and went online. FI found your recipe and to my delight, I had everything necessary in my fridge. I made it just the way you said to, and it was a HUGE hit! I didn’t read the reviews until this morning and I would be willing to try the bleu cheese and paprika, but I’d just add it to your recipe. It was wonderful! Thank you!
Hi Karen! I’m thrilled that the recipe worked out for you and your guests. Yummy! Thank you so much for sharing your story
My wife used to be a bubble scout, she has said that there is for sure 7 cheese’s in the Room’s Recipe, blue cheese is def. one of them.
I used to go to the Bubble Room in Maitland (Orlando area) and remember the bubble bread well. Can’t wait to try the recipe(s)! However, what I’d REALLY like is to find a recipe for the chocolate cappuccino cheesecake–the one with the Mint Milano crust, and the cherry topping and chocolate drops on top! Any clues? Anybody? Please?
Wow, Amy K, that sounds so decadent! I might have to try that the next time I’m there
Mayonaise+Blue Cheese on French Bread, topped with paprika and garlic powder. Then Baked.
I am a former BubbleScout. The secret is using the best Bleu Cheese you can find. The cheap stuff doesn’t work as well.
Other than that, you pretty much have it.
Okay, folks. The recipe above isn’t perfect. It was constructed from memory, and while it DOES produce a very tasty and cheesy bread, I have to admit that it’s a far cry from the real Bubble Bread. I know this now because Jo and I took another shot at it on our next visit to Sanibel, and this time we nailed it. Read our new recipe here. Thanks to all our readers whose suggestions helped us fine-tune our new recipe into something that’s so close a replica, we can’t tell the difference!
This is a hoot. I went to the Bubble Room in 1988 with a bunch of co-workers from Mohawk Marketing/Minolta. I wanted that Bubble Bread recipe, one of the guys offered $100, but the staff refused. I went home and played around with mayo, cream cheese, garlic, parm cheese, S&P, and topped it all with fine shred mozzerella. It may not be the exact Bubble Bread (it has been a long time) but I came up with something that everybody raved about. Later, I went back to school, for a change of occupation. I am happy to say the staff and patients of the San Diego VA Spinal Cord Injury Center enjoyed that recipe for 7 years.
I gave that recipe to one and all (out of shear spite) and told the Bubble Room story each time.
Words can’t describe how happy I am finding this blog. Mona
Hi Mona! I’m glad you like our site. How wonderful to be able to share the joy of cooking with so many. Keep it up!
Hey,can you recreate the delicious tropical cake?
Hello Everyone & hopefully Stephen formerly from the Bubble Room!
Just got back from one of my favorite places, Captiva, and stopped in the Bubble Room as always. We had the “Some like it Hot Hot Hot” shrimp, and have been craving it ever since. Our “scout” gave me a few hints…beer, wine, butter, shallots, tequila, garlic & of course Franks hot sauce! If anyone has the recipe & can share, I’ll keep the shrimp market afloat for along time! Thanks!
I lived on Captiva for 11 years in the early 80′s, back when the Bubble Room was still owned by Katie and Jamie…the original owners. In a household of four servers, THREE of us worked at the Bubble Room. Boy can I tell you some stories! It seems like a lot of you have missed the blue cheese dressing element…it is a major player. Grated parm and swiss, garlic and lots of parsley and paprika. Make your own dressing with mayo, sour cream and blue cheese with a touch of lea and perrins. Try it.
Hi Brian. I’ll bet you DO have some great stories! You’re right that we missed the blue cheese element in our original recipe. You must not have noticed the “update” in our post above, but we took another crack at recreating the bread and came up with a MUCH more accurate recipe. Check it out on our second Bubble Bread recipe post.
Hey, does anyone have the receipe for Some Like It Hot Hot Hot? I went to the Bubble Room in early September and have been craving it ever since! How about any of the Bubble Scouts out there?
Thanks for the great informtion! Prepared the bread last night for guests and it was “almost” like being at the Bubble Room. To recreate this delicious bread was easy and impressive. Stephen’s recipe was right on. Only thing missing was a rare dem bones steak!
I have the original recipe (from Katie, the woman who started the Bubble Room) and this is good but it’s not bubble bread. There is no cream cheese, mayo, cheddar or Mozzarella in bubble bread there is also no red wine vinegar. Truth be told about the very best Bleu you can find!
Gina, you probably missed the link above, but we actually ended up completely changing our recipe after visiting the Bubble Room again. Check our our updated recipe here which is quite a bit different