Oh my, the holidays are here! and for me, there is nothing better than homemade bread for a special night. Home baking is all about expressing love and appreciation for your loved ones and this cheese and pesto star bread definitely shows that.
The recipe I used to make this cheese and pesto star bread is very easy! I recommend doing it in 2 days.
Day 1 – do the dough and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
Day 2 – Shape, let it rise and bake!
You can even prep the dough of this cheese and pesto star bread beforehand, freeze it to have it ready for the holidays!
Why should I do the recipe in 2 days?
As this dough is an enriched dough! meaning that it has milk, eggs, butter. It’s easier to handle it cold. Plus dividing the bread making process in 2 days is easier and you’ll check to enjoy every second.
Is there a brand of flour I should use to make this cheese and pesto star bread?
No, just make sure it’s all purpose flour. If you don’t have bread flour will work too.
I always use and recommend King Arthur Flour, as its not bleached or bromated (2 chemicals found in most of the storebought flours)
With no further ado, here is the cheese and pesto star bread recipe!
| Ingredients | Grams | Bakers % |
| All purpose flour | 500 | 100% |
| Warm whole milk | 350 | 70% |
| Unsalted butter | 55 | 11% |
| Egg (1 egg) | 50 | 10% |
| Salt | 10 | 2% |
| Sugar | 25 | 5% |
| Instant yeast | 20 | 4% |
| Total | 1010 | 202% |
Cheese and Pesto Bread Star
Equipment
- Stand mixer with the dough hook
- Baking tray
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
- Sharp knife
- Spatula
- Round cookie cutter or anything of 2'' approx
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 500 grams All purpose flour
- 350 grams Whole milk warm
- 55 grams Unsalted butter
- 1 unit Egg
- 10 grams Salt fine
- 25 grams Sugar white
- 20 grams Instant yeast
Brushing before baking
- 1 unit Egg
Filling
- 1/2 cup Pesto
- 1 cup Mozarella Cheese
Instructions
- Either by hand or by machine, mix the yeast and the milk first (until the yeast is lightly dissolved), then add the remaining ingredients except for the butter which you should add at the end. Mix until the dough is soft and smooth, which will take you aproximately 15 minutes by hand or half (7 minutes) in the machine.
- Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, or until it feels fluffy. Or covered overnight in the fridge (you can also freeze after its been in the fridge)
- Divide the dough into 2 equal halves, and roll into a 10-12'' cirle
- Place a piece of parchment paper over the baking tray and place one of the halves. Using a spatula put a layer of pesto and then sprinkle the cheese (I used mozarella). Make sure that you don't add too much cheese as it will come out once you form the star
- Place the second dough on top and place a small glass in the centre of the circle
- At this moment you can trim any excess dough to make the best circle you can make
- Use a knife to cut through all the layers of dough at the 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 and 9 points.Divide each quarter of the circle into two more segments. You should have 16 segments.
- Remove the glass from the centre and twist "side by side" pieces of dough away from each other. Repeat this process all the way around.Pinch the ends of each pair of dough twists so they hold together whilst baking.
- Prepare egg wash and using a brush go around the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime preheat the oven to 350°F
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown – serve hot!
Let me know how it turns out! remember that you can change the fillings as you wish.
For more bread recipes click here!
I made this for the holidays and it was a big hit! I followed the instructions to leave the dough rest covered over night in the refrigerator. A fun and easy recipe to make and really pretty to serve.
I’ll definitely make the sweet version of this.
thanks Javie!
Yummy! send me photos next time you make it Deniii 🙂