This cheddar pull apart pesto bread is fragrant, buttery and downright delicious! The soft texture of the bread serves as the perfect base to the flavorful pesto and sharp cheddar cheese filling. Each bite of this cheddar pull apart pesto bread is absolutely scrumptious and is great as a snack for sharing or side to your favorite meal!
This post is sponsored in partnership with Cabot Creamery Co-operative. However, all expressed thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that help make Nourished Endeavors possible.
What is Pesto?
Pesto is a fragrant Italian green sauce traditionally made by crushing the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. It is commonly used in many Italian dishes from pastas to salads. The classic combination of ingredients to make pesto are basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil. However, there are many ways this classic mix of ingredients can be modified depending on the flavor you are going for. For the homemade pesto sauce used in this bread recipe, I used:
- Basil and Spinach Mix
- Toasted Almonds
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Cabot Creamery’s Sharp Extra Cheddar Cheese – this robust tasting cheddar with slight citrusy notes perfectly blends with the other prominent flavors in this pesto specifically the basil and garlic!
Easy Pesto Butter
This pesto butter recipe literally requires only 2 ingredients – softened butter and pesto (homemade or store-bought). To make pesto butter, simply add softened butter and pesto into a medium mixing bowl and mix to combine. Yup, it is that easy!
Bread Dough Recipe
What I love most about this pesto bread recipe is how the soft texture of this bread is perfectly infused with the fragrant and savory flavors of the pesto and sharp cheddar cheese. Here is what you will need to make recipe:
Key Ingredients
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- Unbleached Bread Flour
- Active Dry Yeast
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Egg
- Water
- Olive Oil
Tips for Making Yeast Breads
- Properly Activate (Proof) the Yeast – to ensure that your bread gets a good rise, you must start with good yeast. I recommend first checking the expiration date to make sure that yeast is not expired. Next, you will need to activate (proof) the yeast to check if it is still alive and good to use. To activate yeast, simply whisk yeast into warm water and a little bit of sugar. Allow mixture to rest for 6-8 minutes untouched. If yeast mixture appears frothy with a fermented aroma after rest period, then it has been activated and is good to use.
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients – using room temperature ingredients will make it easier to mix all of the dough ingredients together without difficulty.
- Knead the Dough – yeast dough requires the development of gluten to give the final bake its structure. Properly kneading the dough before using allows for the development of gluten (a protein in wheat flours). There are two ways yeast doughs can be kneaded – using a stand mixer or by hand. Regardless of which method is used, dough should be kneaded until it is smooth and springs back when you lightly press into it. If dough is enriched with fats like butter and oil, then the texture may be more on the tacky side which is normal.
- Rest and Rise the Dough – kneaded dough requires a rest period typically for 60-90 minutes in a warm area until it has doubled in size. During this time the yeast is developing as it feeds off the sugar in dough which in turn will improve the structure and flavor of the baked dough. After first rise, dough may be gently deflated, rolled into desired shape before undergoing a final rise and lastly baked. The second rise tends to be shorter than the first averaging 30-45 minutes.
How to Make Cheddar Pull Apart Pesto Bread (Assembly)
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Shape each piece of dough into roughly a 4×5 inch rectangle.
- Spread pesto butter over shaped dough and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
- Fold dough in half and place folded side down in a parchment lined baking pan.
- Repeat process with remaining pieces of dough and allow to rest for a second rise.
- Bake pesto bread for 50-60 minutes.
- Cool slightly before brushing with melted butter(optional) and serving while still warm.
How to Store Pesto Bread
Pull apart pesto bread is best eaten the day it is prepared; however, leftovers tightly wrapped in plastic/cling wrap will last 3-4 days in the fridge and 1-3 months in the freezer. To restore the soft texture of bread, simply warm up in a toaster or conventional oven.
Bread dough may be made in advance and stored in an airtight freezer-safe container (i.e. large Ziplock bag). It will stay fresh frozen for up to 1-3 months. When ready to use, thaw frozen dough overnight in the fridge or at room temperature until soft enough to use.
Bread dough that has been fill and shaped into folds may be placed in a greased parchment-lined baking pan and refrigerated overnight for baking the next day.
Looking For More Scrumptious Eats, Checkout the Links Below:
If you make this recipe, please make sure to let me know by tagging me @nourishedendeavors on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comment section down below so I can find out how this recipe turned out for you! If you have any questions, ask away! I would love to answer your questions! Happy baking!
PrintCheddar Pull Apart Pesto Bread
This pull apart pesto bread is fragrant, buttery and downright delicious! The soft texture of the bread serves as the perfect base to the flavorful pesto and sharp cheddar cheese filling. Each bite of this pull apart pesto bread is absolutely scrumptious and is great as a snack for sharing or side to your favorite meal!
- Prep Time: 2 Hours
- Cook Time: 50 Minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 Loaf of Bread 1x
Ingredients
Bread Dough
- 1 1/2 Cups (188 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Spooned and Leveled, Plus More As Needed
- 1 Cup (125 g) Unbleached Bread Flour, Spooned and Leveled
- 1 1/4 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon (13 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, Room Temperature
- 2/3 Cup (158 ml) Warm Water, 100-110F
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Olive Oil
Homemade Pesto Sauce
- 1 Cup (20 g) Fresh Basil, Packed
- 1 Cup (30 g) Fresh Spinach, Packed
- 1/4 Cup (30 g) Whole Almonds, Toasted
- 1/4 Cup (57 g/1 oz) Cabot Creamery’s Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (90 ml) Olive Oil
- 1 Large or 2 Small Garlic Cloves
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
Cheese Pesto Butter Filling
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) Unsalted Butter, Softened
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Pesto Sauce, Homemade or Store-Bought
- 1 Cup (113 g/4 oz) Cabot Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Grated
Topping
- 1 Tablespoon (14 g) Melted Butter, Optional
Instructions
Homemade Pesto Sauce
- In the bowl of a food processor or blender, add the basil, spinach, garlic, almonds, cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pulse/blend ingredients together until mixture appears finely minced.
- With the food processor or blender running, pour olive oil into pesto mixture into a slow steady stream to incorporate.
- Stop the food processor or blender. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides before continuing to blend pesto sauce until smooth.
- Transfer pesto sauce to a seal container and set aside.
Bread Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flours and salt. Whisk ingredients to combine. In a separate small mixing bowl, add the egg and oil. Whisk ingredients to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm water and sugar, whisk to combine before whisking in the yeast. Cover bowl with a large plate or clean kitchen towel.
- Allow yeast mixture to sit untouched for 6-8 minutes or until it appears frothy with a fermented aroma.
- With the dough hook attached to a stand mixer, add the whisked egg and oil into the bowl with activated yeast mixture. Mix on low to combine, about 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add all of the dry ingredients into the bowl with wet mixture and mix on low until a shaggy looking dough forms.
- Increase mixer speed to medium and knead dough for 6 minutes or until a smooth dough forms. If dough appears too soft/wet, mix in additional all-purpose flour into dough 1 tablespoon at a time until a smooth, slightly tacky dough forms.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball.
- Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic/cling wrap. Allow the dough to rest and rise in a warm area of the kitchen for 60-90 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
- Gently deflate risen dough by knocking it down with a fisted hand.
Assembly
- Grease and line a 9×5 inch bread/loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, add the softened butter and pesto sauce. Use a spoon to mix to combine.
- Transfer dough to a lightly flour surface and lightly flour the top of dough.
- With a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, use a rolling pin or hands to shape dough into a small rectangle, measuring about 4×5 inches (measurement does not need to be precise).
- Spread about 1/2 tablespoon of the pesto butter onto shaped dough leaving about 1/4 inch border.
- Sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of cheese over pesto butter and fold dough in half.
- Place dough folded side down in prepared baking pan and repeat shaping, filling and folding process with remaining pieces of dough.
- Lightly cover shaped dough pieces with plastic/cling wrap and let it rise in a warm area of the kitchen for 45-50 minutes.
- For the last 15 minutes of second rise, preheat the oven to 350F (175C).
- Bake bread for 50-60 minutes. Pesto bread is ready once it appears richly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If bread starts to overbrown before it is ready, place/tent a sheet of aluminum foil over the top.
- Allow bread to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a serving platter of choice.
- Brush top of bread with melted butter, optional. Serve warm.
Notes
- Pull apart bread is best eaten the day it is prepared; however, leftovers tightly wrapped in plastic/cling wrap will last 3-4 days in the fridge and 1-3 months in the freezer. To restore the soft texture of bread, simply warm up in a toaster or conventional oven.
- In place of using all-purpose and bread flour, bread can be made with just all-purpose flour.
- Pesto recipe is highly adaptable. You can substitute any ingredient in the recipe with what you prefer.
- Bread dough may be made in advance and stored in an airtight freezer safe container (i.e. large Zip lock bag). It will stay fresh frozen for up to 1-3 months. When ready to use, thaw frozen dough overnight in the fridge or at room temperature until soft enough to use.
- Bread dough that has been fill and shaped into folds may be placed in a greased parchment lined baking pan and refrigerated overnight for baking the next day.
- Leftover pesto sauce stored in an airtight container will last up to 1 week in the fridge and 1-2 months in the freezer.
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