This sourdough bread recipe is festive and delicious! Swirls of pesto and parmesan cheese, soft and chewy sourdough bread, and marinara to dip it in-sounds like a party I don’t want to miss!!
Christmas Tree Bread
This is the cutest idea for a Christmas party or a family Christmas snack to munch on. I decided to do the pesto and Parmesan cheese because it gave it a more realistic vibe- the green and then the cheese made it look like sprigs from branches. However you could stuff this with anything. Cinnamon roll style, cranberry and herb, get creative! Tag us on Instagram @littlewifeinthewoods so we can see what you come up with!
Sourdough Style
Sure, you could probably make this bread with regular yeast. I haven’t tried personally but I’d say if you substitute around 2 tsp active yeast, 1 cup warm water, and use a bit less flour you will achieve a similar result- although lacking in the flavor department because you can’t beat sourdough!
That’s why I’m here to tell you about my dehydrated sourdough starter! If you don’t do sourdough now is the time! You can purchase a packet of my dehydrated sourdough starter over on Etsy and be making a loaf of bread in just three days after you get it in the mail.
Or learn to make your own sourdough starter from scratch here in this blog post and grab my Beginner’s Guide to Sourdough with all the information you need to get started!
Getting the Perfect Christmas Tree Shape
Shaping your tree is easier than it looks! You’re simply twisting and turning your dough into a tree. Here are some step by step directions for you!
1. Roll the dough into an oval, or almost egg shape on a heavily floured surface.
2. Using a bench scraper or a pizza cutter cut up at a slight angle. You should have around five or six sections and one odd triangle shape at the bottom. Red lines are indicators for step 3.
3. The top two sections are your topper or “star”. The rest are your limbs. You will cut each section into halves after you apply the pesto and parmesan cheese. See picture above; red lines are where you should cut in half.
The halves will be twisted into one single limb giving you around four to five limbs total.
4. The bottom, triangular section is your tree stump. Simply fold into thirds after stuffing.
Shaping the Topper of Your Tree
This is where I would personally like to get fancier and I may try this Christmas! My star turned out to be more of a blob but I think with the proper shaping you could get a more realistically shaped one.
Some ideas I have had are to twist the top two sections into more of a circle. Perhaps rolling the top sections out more would allow you enough dough to make an actual star shape! If the topper sounds too complex you could absolutely just make them into limbs following the same steps above. Whatever you do make sure you stuff the topper with lots of pesto and parm!
Making This Sourdough Bread Beyond the Holiday Season
The flavors of this recipe can be enjoyed all year long without the festive flare. Pesto Parmesan sourdough bread began in the form of this artisan style recipe and it never disappoints! All the same delicious taste and texture. You can get the recipe here in this blog post to try after Christmas and into the New Year. And don’t forget! The New Year is the perfect time to start your own sourdough journey or to be more intentional about cooking from scratch. Make sure to subscribe to the email list for more from scratch recipes every week!
Pesto Parmesan Sourdough Christmas Tree Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter active and bubbly
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3-3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp herbs rosemary, basil, or Italian blend
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 4 oz shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine sourdough starter and warm water in a large mixing bowl (or bowl of stand mixer). Allow to dissolve about five minutes. Stir.
- Add honey, salt, baking powder, and 2 cups flour. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is nice and firm, pulling away from the sides of the bowl. (Mine took about 3 ¼ cups.)
- Allow dough to rise for about one hour then ferment in the refrigerator overnight or on the countertop for about 8 hours.
- After fermentation place dough on a well floured surface. Roll out in a egg shape by rolling folding the dough into thirds and shaping into a oval loaf. Then roll flat, rolling the bottom thinner than the top to make it an egg shape surface. See Picture.
- Cut five strips at an upwards angle using a pizza cutter or bench scraper. Giving you four "branches", a topper, and a triangular shape at the bottom.
- Apply pesto and parmesan cheese everywhere then cut the branches in halves (red lines in the previous picture indicate where you should cut into halves).
- Shape the topper. Twist the two pieces you divided to form one individual branch. Fold the triangle at he bottom into thirds to form a stem. SEE NOTE.
- Allow to rise 30 minutes.
- Bake at 350℉ for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce for best results.
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