Made with kitchen staples, this Christmas Tree Bread is the perfect way to celebrate the holiday season. This soft and fluffy bread is filled with pesto, which makes it so apt giving the bread a nice green hue.
In a large bowl, combine the warm milk, butter, sugar, instant yeast, flour and salt until it forms a shaggy mass of dough.
Then transfer it to your worktop that is lightly dusted with flour. Start kneading the dough till it becomes bouncy, is non sticky, feels soft and passes the window pane test.Your dough will go through different stages and the entire process of kneading would take around 20-25 mins.
First Proofing
Once the dough is kneaded, grease a bowl with some oil and transfer the dough into it to and prove for 2 hours or until the dough is doubled in volume.
Shaping the Bread Dough
Cut: Once proofedtake it out onto floured surface and divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
Roll: Roll out one portion to form a long rectangle of 10x12 inches whilst keeping the rest of the dough balls covered to prevent it from drying. Place the rolled out dough onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Base: To form the base of the christmas tree: Make a mark at 4 inches from each end of the rectangle and cut it out using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. This would be the tree trunk.
Triangle: Form a triangle by cutting the ends of the base to the centre on the top. Since the dough is rolled to 10 inches width you can mark the centre point at 5 inches to make even size triangles.
Brush: Spread pesto on top.
Layer: Roll the next portion too into same dimensions - 10x12 inches and place it on top of the pesto layer. Now using the base as a guide cut the dough to form the tree shape. Repeat the steps until you reach the very top and you will have 4 layers of dough with 3 layers of pesto filling.
Mark: Then on each side as seen in the picture below, make a cut leaving a gap of 1 cm leaving the middle of the tree intact.
Twist: Take each piece of dough and twist it twice.
With the leftout dough cut out two stars using a star shape cookie cutter. Place it one on top of other by sandwiching some pesto in between. Attach this star on to the tip of the bread to complete the look of the bread.
Second Proofing
Allow it for second rise for about 30 mins. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F
Baking
Just before baking brush the top with some milk to get the golden brown colouration. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 mins.
Take little olive oil in a small bowl, add some pesto to it and brush this pesto oil on top of the warm bread once baked to make the crust softer and also to add a little colour to the bread.
Serve warm with a side of mayo or any sauce of choice like marinara sauce or the popular spinach dip.
Video
Notes
Note about ingredients: Make sure all the ingredients are at the right temperature. Milk should be lightly warm. Butter should be melted but not hot. I prefer and recommend using instant yeast as you do not have to bother about proving them before starting with the recipe.
Dense Dough: Avoid adding too much flour to your dough. The best way to ensure this is by weighing out the flour rather than using cups. If using cups always fluff the dough out, spoon it into the cups, level it, and then use. Another common mistake is adding too much flour while kneading, watch our video tutorial to do it the right way.
Drying out: Always keep the dough covered while rolling and shaping so that it doesn't get dried out.
Extra Dough: After shaping you will be left with some dough. You can either store it in fridge or freezer for later. Or make a mini wreath with filling of choice. I made a Nutella braided wreath with it.
Cheesy Christmas Tree Bread: Add little cheese along with pesto or place cheese sticks for an additional boost of flavour or refer the 15+ filling ideas to amp up the flavour.
Shortcut Version: If running short of time here are few tricks to save your time - use a stand mixer to knead the dough, halve the proofing time by using Instant Pot, use store bought bread dough, refrigerate or freeze homemade dough and bake when needed, use store bought puff pastry sheets.