Christmas Tree Pesto Bread
This Christmas classic is both beatiful and so tasty!
Servings 24 slices
Calories 171kcal
Equipment
- Sauce Pan
- Sharp Pairing Knife
- Food Processor or Blender
Ingredients
Yeast Dough
- 700 grams Hard White Wheat
- 220 grams Khorasan (Kamut) Can sub other soft grain
- 4 tsp instant yeast
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 708 g water 3 cups
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 6.5 oz Jar of pesto
Sundried tomato oil
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 5 sundried tomatoes
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Yeast Dough
- Mill your hard white and Khorasan (Kamut) wheat berries into flour.
- Place your water, olive oil and honey in a small saucepan on the stove to warm. Heat just until your butter is melted.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt and warm liquid. Mix just until all flour is moistened. Let autolyse for 20 minutes.
- After the 20 minute autolyse, add the yeast to your bowl and begin mixing. If using the Ankarsrum mixer, fit with the roller and scraper. You can use the dough hook on other style stand mixers.
- Mix for 6-8 minutes until the dough begins to pull away from the sides and form a ball.
- Cover and proof for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Making the Christmas Tree Pesto Bread
- After the dough has risen for 1 hour, it is time to roll it out.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Between parchment, roll out into a tree shape. Mine went the full length of a pre-cut pieces of parchment paper. They just all need to be the same size.
- Roll all 3 pieces of dough out into christmas tree shapes the same size.
- Place one piece of dough onto a sheet pan lined with parchment. Spread 1/2 of the pesto filling on the dough with a small offset spatula. Leave 1/2" around the edge of the dough.
- Top with another tree shaped piece of dough, pressing it out around the edges until the edges line up.
- Repeat this step with the other 2 pieces. When complete, you will have 3 layers of dough and 2 layers of filling.
- Once your dough is all stacked, start at the top of the tree and work your way down, cutting strips, about 1 inch wide. Do not cut all the way across the tree, leave about 2-3 inches down the center of the tree uncut. Work down one side of the tree and then the other, making sure to line up your strips so the left side and right side of the tree has identical slits.
- Once your dough strips are cut, start at the top and lift and twist each strip 2-3 times. Do this to all of the strips of dough. Some of the longer ones you will want to twist 3-4 times and the shorter may only twist 1-2 times. Twist in the same direction for all pieces.
- Finally, cut a vertical slit from top to bottom like the photo. Only cut through the top 2 layers, not all the way through to the bottom.
- Chop your garlic and sundried tomatoes and add them to the olive oil and salt. Using a fork, smash the tomatoes and garlic and stir into oil. This will give the oil a pretty red color and infuse the flavors into the oil.
- Brush generously over the entire tree. Spread the sundried tomatoes evenly on the tree so they look like ornaments.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise one more time for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F while it rises.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Serve warm.
- Reheat in the oven for 5 minutes if cooled and you are wanting to serve at a later time.
- Store covered on the counter for up to 3 days.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 171kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4.5g | Fiber: 4.6g | Sugar: 2.4g