pesto buns

To be honest, I didn't even know what pesto was until my boyfriend. He is a pesto fiend and now, thanks to him, I am too. As a snack we would sometimes get a tub of pesto and a baguette from the market and just go to town on it until there was no more pesto. Anytime I see a pesto recipe I have to try it and I know who my best judge will be.

I tried a pesto swirl bread before and while it was delicious, it pales in comparison to these. I was going to make the bread again for when we hung out this weekend but I wanted something that felt a little more snackish than just chomping down on a loaf of bread. Since these are sort of like individual servings of pesto muffins so to speak, I thought they'd be perfect. They were. The texture is so tender and it had the perfect pesto to bread ratio. Charlie said they reminded him of a sort of savory cinnamon bun which is why I'm calling them pesto buns.

So if you're like me and prefer savory over sweet any day, these make the perfect snack. If you're a normal person then just make them with dinner and they'll be the perfect side :).

Start by putting all of your liquids and sugar into a mixing bowl.




Dump all your dry ingredients on top.




Get in there with some clean hands and knead until it turns into a smooth dough.




After it rises and doubles in size, roll it out flat on a floured surface. Spread all that pesto-y goodness on top. Don't be stingy with it!




Begin to roll the dough into a log and pinch the seam shut to close everything in. You may lose some pesto along the way but this just means you put enough in ;).




Cut the log into 12 equal slices.




Put each slice into a section of a greased muffin pan.




Bake in the oven and eat one warm. To die for.





Pesto Buns
adapted slightly from Savory Sweet Life

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg, room temp. and slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4-5 cups flour (4 was perfect for me)
2 1/4 tsp (1 package) instant yeast
7 oz (just shy of a cup) pesto


Place water, milk, egg, butter, and sugar in bowl. Mix. Dump 4 cups of flour, salt, and yeast on top. Knead until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Add more flour as necessary. Put dough in a greased bowl and cover. Let sit somewhere warm for about an hour or until doubled in size. Roll out dough on a floured surface. Spread pesto on top. Roll dough into log and pinch seams closed. Cut log into 12 equal slices and put each into a section of a greased muffin tin. Let them sit, covered for about another 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool but be sure to have one warm. Enjoy!



I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving week! November flew by. There will be lots of cooking this week in preparation for Thursday so I'll try to document some of that and share it with you. I saw a great dessert on shutterbean I'm planning on making. I'm sure most people will be exceptionally busy this week so I wish everyone luck in the kitchen and safe travels :).