Your next party’s Superstar

This vegan braided bread with Superfood Pesto doesn’t only look pretty, but it also tastes so stinkin’ gooooooooood! And don’t worry, it looks more complicated than it actually is. Let me explain…

Start with the bread

The recipe for the bread dough is actually the same as for my Zopf Braided Bread, the typical bread from Switzerland. This basic recipe is so good, and I really didn’t want to touch it. You just have to mix the flours and the salt in a big bowl, let the yeast rest with the maple syrup and meanwhile heat the soy milk with the olive oil. Then mix it all together into a smooth dough and let that ferment for about an hour. Easy-peasy, really.

A supercharged Pesto

I love pesto. It is prepared so quickly and you can have it in the fridge for several days. It goes well with roasted vegetables, potatoes, any type of pasta of course, and, well with bread. But instead of just tossing it on top of a slice of bread this time I thought I will integrate it.

I usually make pesto with walnuts, instead of the traditional pine nuts. The latter are really expensive (at least here in Spain), so I use walnuts instead. Also the pesto, it is very simple to make. You just need a food processor, throw everything in there and mix.

I gave this pesto an extra nutritional boost with a superfood, the Chlorella algae. This little superstar is rich in protein, iron, vitamin c, antioxidants and omega-3. Chlorella may even help the body detox by binding to heavy metals and other toxins.

Put it all together

It is really easy to achieve this pesto swirl you see in the photo. Instead of making directly the rolls for the braids, you first roll them out into a rectangle. Then you can spread the pesto on each rectangle and roll them up again. Now you can form the braids, or any other form you like the final bread to have. In my Instagram Stories Highlight you can see how I form the braids.

Ready for the oven

And then just bake them for 40 minutes. These breads are, like any bread, best when they come fresh out of the oven. When they are crispy on the outside and still a little warm on the inside.

With salad… or wine!

This Braided Bread with Superfood Pesto can be eaten just like that, solo, or with a salad or it’s also perfect for having with a glass of wine, amazing combination! And of course it makes a huge impression on the food table when you have guests invited.

I really recommend you give it a go. It is so so so so delicious!

Check out my other Pesto Bread on the blog, the Twisted Pesto Bread!

Print Recipe

Braided Bread with Superfood Pesto (vegan)

No words can describe how amazing this Braided Bread with Superfood Pesto (aka Basil-Walnut-Chlorella Pesto) tastes. This recipe is easier to make than you think, totally plantbased and so much better than a store-bought bread. The vegan pesto is done in 5 minutes and has detoxifying chlorella in it.

Prep Time

35 minutes

Cook Time

60 minutes

Passive Time

60 minutes

Servings

breads

Ingredients

Braided Bread

• 1400 gr white wheat flour
• 275 gr white spelt flour
• 4 tsp salt
• 50 gr fresh yeast
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 750 ml plantbased milk I use soy milk
• 250 ml olive oil

Superfood Pesto

• 4 cups basil leaves
• 3 garlic cloves peeled
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tsp chlorella

Prep Time 35 minutes Cook Time 60 minutes Passive Time 60 minutes Servings breads Ingredients Braided Bread 1400 gr white wheat flour 275 gr white spelt flour 4 tsp salt 50 gr fresh yeast 2 tbsp maple syrup 750 ml plantbased milk I use soy milk 250 ml olive oil Superfood Pesto 4 cups basil leaves 3 garlic cloves peeled 3/4 cup walnuts 1 tsp salt 3/4 cup nutritional yeast 3/4 cup olive oil 1 tbsp lemon juice 3 tsp chlorella

Instructions

Superfood Pesto

1. Place all Superfood Pesto ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you get a smooth, creamy pesto. Don't make it too runny, just use as much oil as needed. For the pesto bread it is ideal to have a rather "dry" pesto, so it will stay in the dough while braiding and baking the bread.

Braided Bread

1. Leave the yeast with the maple syrup in a cup and set aside.
2. Mix in a big bowl the flour with the salt.
3. In a saucepan mix the plantbased milk and olive oil and warm it up (not too hot, otherwise the yeast will be dead ?).
4. Add the yeast to the warm oil-milk mix and stir well.
5. Add to the flour and mix everything together and knead during 8-10 minutes until a smooth dough forms. If it’s too dry, add a bit of water, is it too sticky, add more flour.
6. Put the dough back into the bowl and cover with a wet kitchen cloth.
7. Let ferment for about 1 hour.
8. Take the dough out of the bowl and cut into 6 equal parts.
9. Using a rolling pin, roll one part into a rectangle, aprox. 30 x 40 cm.
10. Take 1-2 tbsp of the pesto and spread it on the rectangle.

    
11. Then start rolling it up from the long side and make a roll.

    
12. Repeat with the 5 other parts.
13. Then, take two of the rolls and form the braid (see my IG stories highlight how to do the braids, see below in notes, I've attached the link). Repeat with the other 4 rolls, so you get 3 braided breads in total.
14. Bake at 210ºC during 40 min. I put the bread into the cold oven, so it will raise a few minutes more until the oven reaches the temperature. In order to check if the breads are cooked through, knock on them and if you get a hollow sound, then it's ok to take out.

Recipe Notes

For the braiding technique please see the stories highlight "Zopf Swiss braided bread" on my IG account @fabs_good_food.

The breads, once baked, can be frozen without any problem. You can either freeze them whole, or cut into slices.

Do you like this recipe? Feel free to share with your friends & family!

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MAPLE SYRUP