Pesto Pull-Apart Bread
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This pesto pull-apart bread is an herby, zesty bread made with homemade pesto layered between soft folds of enriched yeast bread. For more pull-apart bread recipes, check out my pepperoni and apple butter versions! See my post about baking with yeast bread for helpful tips.
TESTED AND PERFECTED: MY FAVORITE PESTO PULL APART BREAD RECIPE
Every year, I do a monthly baking series where I bake a similar recipe every month. In 2018, the theme was bread, and it was probably one of my favorite series I’ve ever done. I did 6 quick breads and 6 yeasted breads, and this pesto pull-apart bread was in that collection.
The problem is, I had only just gotten started making yeast breads, and the recipe could have been improved in several areas. The loaf pan was too full, the ratio of pesto to bread was way too low, and readers often reported an underdone middle.
I spent some time dedicated specifically to perfecting this pesto pull apart bread recipe, and I’m quote proud to say that it is now simple enough for beginners, easy to understand, and a recipe that promises a soft loaf loaded with herby, zesty pesto throughout every bite.
I even created a guide to baking with yeast as supplemental information to help yeast beginners learn a thing or two! I’m so proud of this new recipe and I think you’ll be pleased with it, too.
INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED
You only need 10 ingredients to bring this pesto bread together, and one of them is water and barely an ingredient. This is an enriched yeast dough, which means it utilizes butter, milk, and egg to bring richness to the dough that you just can’t quite replicate with a lean dough like pizza dough.
Here’s what you’ll need:
WATER + YEAST: water will help activate the yeast, but be sure it’s warm but not too hot. I like to use an instant read digital thermometer to ensure the water is around 100–110°F (38–43°C) and not so hot it will kill the yeast. This is my very favorite instant-read digital thermometer, and this is my favorite budget-friendly digital thermometer.
MILK: you can use any milk you prefer, but whole cow milk will bring the richest texture to your bread.
GRANULATED SUGAR: this will not sweeten the dough at all. It’s just enough sugar to help feed the yeast.
SALT: to flavor the bread! Never ever make bread without salt.
UNSALTED BUTTER + AN EGG: these ingredients add structure and richness to bread.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: you’ll be happy to know that all-purpose flour works wonders here, so you do not need special bread flour for this recipe.
PESTO: of course, I’ll always encourage you to use homemade pesto, but store-bought is totally fine. Be sure you have extra to spread on or dip onto or into warm slices of the finished bread!
USE YOUR OWN HOMEMADE PESTO
Do you make your own pesto already? Great! Use that. Or… Grab my pesto recipe and make this pesto pull apart bread from even more love! You’ll use about 1 Tablespoon on each disc of dough, so you’ll need about ¾ of a cup of pesto. My recipe makes 1 cup!
OVERVIEW: HOW TO MAKE PULL-APART BREAD
MAKE THE DOUGH: if working with yeast dough is new to you, check out my post about baking with yeast.
KNEAD THE DOUGH: you’ll want to knead this dough for about 8-10 minutes. This dough will be very soft, but you’ll know it’s done when it feels similar to PlayDoh.
LET IT RISE: this is the first rise, and it will be about 90 minutes. If you’re having trouble with dough that isn’t rising, move it to a warmer environment. You can also warm your oven (only to about 200°F (93°C)), then turn it off, and allow the dough to rise in the warm oven with the door cracked.
PUNCH DOWN: gently punching down the dough with your fist will release any excess air and leave you with soft and fluffy dough. You do not need to knead it any more.
DIVIDE INTO 12 PIECES: I like to use a digital kitchen scale to be sure all of my pieces are exactly the same.
FLATTEN INTO DISCS: using your hands, gently shape the chunks of dough into discs that are about 4″ in diameter. Some of mine wind up circles and some are more like rounded squares. Either is fine! Lean into the chaos. It tastes better that way!
SPREAD WITH PESTO + FOLD: each disc will get about 1 Tablespoon of pesto spread onto one half. Once topped with the sauce, fold in half to create little pesto tacos, then place each folded piece of bread into a prepared loaf pan. Press the row of pieces together each time you add a new taco, and don’t worry if some pesto or oil squishes out. These squishes will make for some amazing bites later!
LET IT RISE AGAIN: this rise is shorter, only about 30-45 minutes. We’re just giving the bread a chance to develop the gluten network a bit more in this new shape we’ve molded it into.
BAKE: the total bake time on this bread is about 40-45 minutes, but you can cover it at any time to prevent browning. I usually cover it after about 30 minutes.
Once your bread is finished, allow it to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan, and then you can turn it out and pull it apart. I like to spread my pulled slices with additional pesto, but you’re welcome to leave them as is.
CAN I MAKE THIS BREAD AHEAD OF TIME?
My favorite part about yeast bread is that YES, you can almost always do things ahead of time, whether it be so that you have fresh bread for the morning but don’t have to get up early, or you just want to have a loaf in the freezer ready to go if the craving strikes.
REFRIGERATOR METHOD (SHORT TERM)
Think of the refrigerator as a “pause” button for your yeast bread. After the discs are shaped and layered into the loaf pan, you can cover it tightly and chill it for up to 18 hours.
This is a great option if you’re making bread for a holiday– you can spend some time bringing the dough together, then have warm bread the next morning with very little hands on time.
You’ll just need to allow the loaf to finish its second rise for about 1 hour before baking it.
FREEZER METHOD (LONG TERM)
If you want to completely bake this pesto pull-apart bread and then freeze it, you can keep the loaf in the freezer covered tightly for up to 3 months. Simply thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and warm it before enjoying.
If you want to freeze an unbaked loaf, you’ll need to parbake the loaf for 10 minutes at 350°F (177ºC). Allow to cool completely, cover tightly, then freeze. Remove the loaf from the freezer and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Finish baking it the next day for the remaining 30-40 minutes before enjoying.
We cannot stop eating this bread whenever I make it. The bread itself is pillowy soft. I might even be willing to call it “supple.” It’s everything you want a soft bread to be, and the pesto in all the corners makes it so much better.
Some of the pesto may fall to the bottom of the pan and burn slightly– this is also ok. You’d think those parts would taste bad, but they really don’t. They just taste like extra herby pieces.
This bread is, admittedly, amazing on its own, but can you imagine it on the side of an Italian meal?
With a big salad full of veggies?
As a vehicle for some eggs at breakfast?
This pesto pull-apart bread knows no boundaries when it comes to the time of day it wishes for you to enjoy it. It’s perfect for something a little jazzy, and it’s fun to share, because it’s just so darn fun to pull apart! Look at all those pesto pockets!!
Pesto Pull-Apart Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons (30mL) warm water
- 1 and ½ teaspoons (4g) active dry yeast or half of 1 packet
- 1 Tablespoon (15g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120mL) warm milk I prefer whole cow
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 1 cup homemade pesto store-bought is fine
Instructions
- Place warm water in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water, then add the sugar. Whisk together with a fork, wooden spoon, or spatula and allow to rest and activate for 10 minutes.2 Tablespoons (30mL) warm water, 1 and ½ teaspoons (4g) active dry yeast, 1 Tablespoon (15g) granulated sugar
- Once the yeast mixture is active and bubbly, add the milk, melted butter, egg, and sat, then whisk again to combine.½ cup (120mL) warm milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, 1 large egg
- Gradually stir in the flour. If using a stand mixer, use your dough hook. If mixing by hand, continue to use a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of flour, stir, and allow dough to come together until all of the flour has been added. It may still be shaggy, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl fairly easily.2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour
- Turn out dough on a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, adding flour about 1 Tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky, until smooth and elastic. Your dough should resemble the surface texture of PlayDoh when it is done.
- Spray the same bowl with non-stick spray or olive oil and place the dough ball into the bottom of the bowl. Flip the dough ball over to coat the top, and then cover the bowl with a lid or towel and place in a warm environment. I like to heat my oven to 200ºF (93ºC), turn it off, then leave the door cracked with the bowl inside. Allow dough to rise until double in size, about 90 minutes.
- After dough has doubled, punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, then use your hands and fingers to stretch the dough into discs approximately 4" in diameter (this does not need to be perfect). Lay all of the discs out on a flat surface.
- Spread about 1 Tablespoon of pesto on half of each disc, fold in half, and place folded side down in the prepared loaf pan. Continue with each disc until all of the discs are in the pan, moving things around if necessary. Do not worry about aesthetics or if the filling is squishing out of the sides.1 cup homemade pesto
- If desired, drizzle olive oil on top, then cover loaf with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes.
- When you are ready to bake the bread, set the rack to the middle position in the oven and preheat it to 350ºF (177ºC). Bake the loaf for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. I like to tent the loaf with foil after about 30 minutes to prevent the top of the loaf from getting too brown.
- Remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack at least 15 minutes before turning out and serving. I like to serve with extra pesto. Loaf can be served warm or room temperature. Leftovers stay fresh, covered tightly at room temperature, up to 5 days. Loaf freezes well, up to 3 months. Wrap tightly. Thaw in refrigerator overnight.
Video
Notes
- Make it a pizza loaf: if you want to take elements from my pizza pull-apart bread, I recommend using pesto in place of the pizza sauce and making this bread cheesy and pesto-y!
- Working with yeast: for a comprehensive look at working with yeast in a recipe, see my post about how to bake with yeast.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
That crumb looks so plush, and that COLOR!
I used AP flour as it’s all I had at the time, but I didn’t find issue with it. As I was mixing the dough, it was a bit too sticky and so I had to add another 1/3 cup of flour to get a better consistency. I wish there were gram measurements or at least a photo included of what the mixed dough should look like, as I went based off texture from other bread recipes I have baked. I improvised step 3/4 as I kneaded the dough in a stand mixer at speed 4 for 15 min and got a great fluffy end result. I think you could honestly do a half batch of this recipe for just one loaf, because I had a lot of dough leftover.
if I were to make this dough again, I would want it more flavorful. I would add garlic/onion powder to the dough, some dried herbs, and a bit more salt. Could also be great with some shredded mozzarella tucked into the folds as well.
Hey, Vanessa– thanks for your comment! I actually am in the process of converting ALL of my recipes over to grams, and this one is on my list to update and also revisit in 2022. I’ll happily take your suggestions!
This bread is absolutely delicious! I actually made 5 mini loaves using all the dough!! Amazing!!
Awesome, Laura! Thanks so much for trying it out 🙂
I rolled the leftover dough and brushed it with butter, then sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar. Yum.
Yum! Thanks for sharing, Ellen 🙂