Pesto Focaccia Bread

5 from 3 votes

Freshly-baked Pesto Focaccia bread is super easy to make, is loaded with the freshness of homemade pesto, and baked until beautifully browned.

Prep: 35

Cook: 18

Total: 53

Course: Sides

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 435kcal

Author: Ruchi

Ingredients

FOR THE BASE - BREAD

2 cups All purpose flour
3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoon Milk powder
2¼ teaspoons Rapid rise Yeast or Instant yeast
1½ teaspoons Salt
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 tablespoon Sugar
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon Lukewarm water
¾ cup Homemade Pesto

PARSLEY PESTO - MAKES 1 CUP ( combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth)

3 cups Fresh Parsley
¾ cup Oil
½ cup Walnuts
⅔ cup Shredded Parmesan cheese
3 cloves of Garlic
1 teaspoon Freshly grounded Black peppercorns
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- - Salt to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Coat an 8″x 8″ baking pan with oil.
Combine all-purpose flour, milk powder, rapid rise yeast, salt, olive oil, and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Pour lukewarm water into the dry ingredients and knead a soft, pliable dough.
PROTIP – If the dough is sticky, add in an extra 1 tablespoon flour and knead until it comes together like a smooth dough.
Spread the focaccia dough into the greased pan. Cover the bowl with a damp towel.
Place the focaccia dough in a warm place and let it rise for 30-35 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat oven @350 degree F. Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to poke deep indents all over the dough.
Evenly brush pesto all over the top surface of the dough.
Bake in a preheated oven (@350 degree F) for 18-20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Once done, remove from the oven.
Allow it to sit on the counter for 3-4 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil, slice, and serve warm.

Notes

Cooking Tips to make the best Pesto Focaccia Bread

» While making pesto, toast the walnuts. Toasting the nuts deepens their flavor, and you will have a more pronounced nutty flavor in your pesto.

» Feel free to swap parsley-walnut pesto with any other pesto you have on hand.

» Olive oil is an essential element for this focaccia bread. It’s added almost at every step. So, do not exchange it for anything else.

» Have no instant yeast on hand? No worries, use active dry yeast. But unlike instant yeast, active dry yeast cannot be added directly to the dough. It needs to be proofed/activated. Activating dry yeast is simple – please follow this link for more details.

» Leftovers make a perfect bread for any meal of the day. This pesto focaccia bread is free from preservatives, so it will only last 2-3 days at room temperature.

» This pesto focaccia bread will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator.

Nutrition