Cheesy Pesto Bread
This is one of my absolute favourites, cheesy pesto bread and it’s so easy! A soft, pull-apart bread coated in pesto and cheddar cheese. Is there anything better than the smell of freshly baked bread straight from the oven?
This recipe uses some of my homemade pesto which I make every year from the abundance of basil in the garden, but don’t worry shop bought pesto works just as well.
The great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t need two rising times. You simply shape it and let it rise directly in the pan prior to baking.
Can I make these without a stand mixer? – A stand mixer will make the process much easier and quicker, but you can do it by hand and get the same perfect delicious results. It will take around 10 minutes to knead by hand.
Cheese and pesto are the predominant flavours of this bread but feel free to adjust the recipe as you desire. Check out my variations section for ideas.
If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing what you think! And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me @thegourmetlarder or hashtag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram or Facebook. I love seeing what you’ve been baking! 🙂
RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS
- EASE: easy, the hardest part is waiting for the dough to rise. Plan ahead for this!
- FREE FROM: for ideas on sugar and dairy-free, check my substitutions section for details.
- GREAT FOR: lunch or dinner, picnics, weekend baking, friends and family visiting.
- TASTE & TEXTURE: a soft, pillowy pull-apart bread coated in pesto and cheddar cheese.
- SERVING: great as a side dish, with soup or especially with your favourite Italian food.
- QUANTITY: 16 small buns
- TIME: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour 30 minutes proving time.
© THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.
INGREDIENTS
For this recipe all you need are these ingredients:
- White bread flour – is made from hard, high-protein varieties of wheat, which have a higher gluten content than other flours. Gluten is the substance that makes the dough more elastic and stretchable, giving the final baked bread its fluffiness and lightness.
- Caster or granulated white sugar – provides food for the yeast to activate.
- Yeast – ferments the sugars in the flour and releases carbon dioxide, but because the dough is elastic and stretchable the carbon dioxide cannot escape, causing the dough to rise.
Using fresh or dried yeast, click here for further guidance!
- Whole milk – another essential ingredient for creating that soft and fluffy texture we recognise in an enriched dough.
- Egg – another vital ingredient to an enriched dough, helping to build structure and flavour.
- Butter – a key ingredient to an enriched dough, giving it that rich butter flavour.
- Pesto – gives a beautiful mix of flavours, fresh basil, olive oil, cheese, pine nuts and garlic.
- Cheddar cheese – is great for adding an intense cheesy taste to the bread.
- Salt – I highly recommend adding salt to your doughs. Salt helps balance out the flavours and elevates the other ingredients, bring out the best characteristics of any bread.
I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt, but any good quality salt is fine.
SUBSTITUTIONS
I haven’t tried any of these substitutions, but they should work for this recipe, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.
SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE OPTIONS
- Sugar-free or calorie reduced options: try alternatives such as coconut sugar, honey, natural erythritol, xylitol, stevia or fructooligosaccharide powder instead. There are also sweetener mixes available, that are 70% calorie reduced and low in carb.
- Brown sugar suggestions: Pure Via Baker’s soft brown sugar or Sukrin Gold’s natural brown sugar alternative.
VEGAN OPTIONS
- Dairy-free option: the butter and milk can be replaced with vegan versions; the egg can be omitted but a little extra non-dairy milk or yoghurt (approx. 30-40 ml) will be needed to replace it.
- Butter: I recommend Naturli vegan block or Flora plant-based block butter alternative.
WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?
This recipe is very versatile and you can add your favourite ingredients to get different tastes. For example, try sundried tomato pesto or garlic puree instead of the basil pesto.
If you experiment, Please leave a comment at the bottom of the post – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing how you got on and I regularly update these posts and the feedback I receive helps to make the recipes even more useful.
NUTRITION
Serving: one ball
Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, or the source of nutrition data.
I strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy.
I encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
STORAGE AND FREEZING
This bread is great served straight from the oven or any leftovers will keep for a day.
Freezing: This bread can be frozen for up to 1 month once baked, although it will not taste as good as when it’s freshly made. Once completely cooled down, tightly wrap in a layer of cling film. To reheat, simply defrost at room temperature, or in the fridge, overnight. Reheat in a low oven for about 5 minutes.
© THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.
TOOLS YOU’LL NEED
Here is some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have one of these but they are useful if you do a lot of baking or making bread.
I find these small one litre glass bowls useful for mixing small amounts of ingredients.
I find this cooling rack really useful and I actually have a couple for when I cool down cakes and biscuits.
This deep pan is great for baking bread, deep quiches or pies.
Please check out my Shop for a curated collection of some of my favourite baking equipment. The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.
RECIPE TIPS
Avoid over-heating the milk for the yeast – you should be able to comfortably put your finger in it and hold it there around 37°C / 98°F, if it’s too hot it will kill the yeast.
The dough should be sticky – don’t try to add more flour to eliminate the stickiness. You should only add more flour if the dough is wet. Only one tablespoon at a time until the dough turns from wet to sticky.
Type of baking pan – if you don’t have a baking pan like I used, you can use a springform pan or a loaf tin. I prefer to use a solid bottomed pan as it keeps all the butter in.
Cheesy Pesto Bread
- 23cm baking pan
INGREDIENTS LIST
- 350 g white bread flour (BL80)
- 20 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 20 g fresh yeast (6 g dried yeast)
- 225 ml milk
- 1 medium egg (55g)
- 50 g butter (plus, extra for greasing)
Coating
- 50 g butter
- 3 tbsp pesto
- 100 g cheddar cheese
- 50 g grated mozzarella (optional)
Preparation
- Grease a 9 inch (23cm) bundt pan.
- Yeast: If you're using dried yeast, see step 3. For fresh yeast heat the milk gently in a small saucepan, until it reaches body temperature of 37°C / 98°F. You should be able to comfortably put your finger in it and hold it there. (If it's too hot it will kill the yeast.) Remove from the heat and stir in the yeast. Set aside until needed.
- Bread dough: In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, salt and sugar. If you are using dried yeast add the yeast to one side and the sugar and salt to the other.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk, add the egg and the butter cut into small pieces, then mix with a spoon or on a slow speed for 2–3 minutes, until combined.
- Continue through the sticky stage, until the dough is completely smooth, silky and elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Form a round ball inside the bowl and then cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about 15 minutes.
- Shaping: Lightly flour a work surface and tip out the dough onto it. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and then divide each piece in half and then in half again so you end up with 16 pieces in total. Roll each piece into ball.
- Cheese coating: melt the butter in a small pan and then place it in a small bowl with the pesto, giving it a good stir.
- In another small bowl add the cheddar cheese and mozzarella. Dip each ball of dough into the butter mixture and then coat with the cheese mixture.
- Place balls of dough in the prepared pan. Once all the balls are placed in the pan cover with any remaining butter and cheese left over.
- Cover the pan with cling film and let the dough rise for about an hour until it has doubled in size.
- Baking: preheat oven to 180°C fan / 400°F / Gas 6.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown on top.
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