The Softest Pull-Apart Pesto Bread

The dough is slightly enriched with butter and an egg to create flavor and tender texture. It's beautifully golden brown on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside.

The dough

The dough is one of my favorite bread recipes of dough to work with and bake with. It's nearly the same dough as in these super fluffy small-batch sticky buns, only this recipe makes a larger amount.

It makes a nice soft dough that is easy to work with by hand or in a mixer. It's more flavorful than pizza dough but not quite as enriched as brioche dough but the soft dough still has amazing texture and flavor even though it doesn't use quite so much butter.

Ingredients

Find the actual recipe amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. For this pesto pull-apart bread recipe, you will need -

• A strong all-purpose flour with a protein level of at least 11%. You could use bread flour too, but this will make a chewier bread.
• Yeast. Active dry yeast or instant dry yeast. 
• Granulated white sugar - Only a little bit of sugar to feed the yeast and enhance the dough flavor.
• Egg -
• Salt
• Whole milk. 
• Butter 
• Pesto - This pesto bread recipe can be filled with classic basil pesto (homemade pesto or storebought), sundried tomato pesto, or whatever other pesto recipes you like. The green pestos bring color contrast to the baked bread. If you want you can add a little crushed garlic too, to make pesto garlic bread.
• Cheese - A little melting cheese to compliment the savory pesto. This can be parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, or whatever cheese you like.
• Melted butter and flaky sea salt for topping

The yeast

The yeast used in this recipe can be instant yeast or active dried yeast. Instant yeast will rise faster than active dried yeast. Whichever one you use, it needs to be viable. Usually, the instant yeast sachets are pretty full-proof, but sometimes active dried yeast can lose viability.

To test the viability of yeast before beginning, warm the milk (to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C) and mix in the yeast along with one tablespoon of the sugar. Leave it to sit for 5-10 minutes first. If it becomes foamy, it's good to go.

Baker's schedule

This easy recipe is reasonably quick to make especially if you give the dough a warm spot to rise.

• 9 am - Mix the yeast, sugar, and warm milk. Let it stand until foamy.
• 9:10 am - Add in the flour, egg, and salt. Knead, add in butter and knead for 10-15 minutes. Form into a smooth ball.
• 9:25 am - Place dough in a greased bowl and let the dough rise until doubled.
• 10:30 am - Form the dough into a log and cut it into 12 even pieces. Shape and fill each piece of dough, place it in a loaf pan and let it rise again for the second time.
• 11:45 am - Bake for around 25 minutes. Brush the baked bread with melted butter and sprinkle with flaky salt.

Method

In a small saucepan, warm the milk to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C and pour it into a bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the milk. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.

Add in the flour, salt, and egg. Fit the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed to form a thick dough.

Add in the softened butter, a few cubes at a time, and keep mixing on medium speed for around 10 minutes until the soft dough is smooth and strong and it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.

Kneading by hand

Alternatively, knead the dough by hand. In a small saucepan, warm the milk to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C and pour it into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the milk. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.

Knead by hand for around 10 minutes until it becomes a strong and smooth dough. If you need a break, take it. The dough responds well to resting time.

Once kneaded, form the dough into a dough ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased medium bowl and cover with compostable plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, or a dampened clean kitchen towel.

Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, around about 1 hour. The exact rise time will depend on your room temperature.

Shaping

Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with olive oil or butter.

Pull the risen bread dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a 12-inch (30cm) long log and use a bench scraper or knife to cut it into 12 equal 1-inch pieces. If you want them really even you can weigh the whole dough first and then divide it by 12.

Shape each piece into a little ball. Roll each ball out into a circle around 4 ½ inches (11cm) in diameter.

Spread each piece with about ¾ teaspoon of pesto, leaving a little border around. Add on a sprinkle of cheese, then fold the dough circle in half.

Place the half circle into the loaf pan with the edges facing up. Continue with the remaining dough and pesto, stacking the layers of dough. You might need to balance the loaf pan with the long end facing up when you add the dough into it, so the pieces don't fall flat.

Cover the loaf pan with compostable plastic wrap or place it in a warm and humid place to rise again until doubled in size. You can create a warm and humid spot by placing the bread in a turned-off oven, next to a mug of boiled water.

Baking