Christmas Tree Bread

Christmas Tree Bread–pesto and parmesan cheese pull-apart breadsticks shaped in the festive shape of a Christmas tree. The Instant Pot helps the dough to raise quickly! This is super fun to make and even more fun to eat. Don’t forget the dipping sauce!

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Christmas Tree Bread

Isn’t this just the cutest thing ever? And if you’re like me you’re probably thinking, “it’s cute but it looks like a lot of work!” And I’m here to tell you that it’s a lot easier to make than you think. There is only one proofing time and with the help of your Instant Pot that proofing time is only 25 minutes!

I couldn’t stop myself from eating these breadsticks with the marinara dipping sauce! They are soooo addicting! It’s best to share these with a few other people or you may eat them all yourself.

Ingredients for the breadsticks

• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast–aka rapid- or quick-rise yeast
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• 1 Tbsp oil–like canola or olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup pesto sauce
• 3 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

How to make Christmas tree pull-apart bread (Video)

Watch the video for a better feel of how to make this recipe! I’d love it if you’d subscribe to my YouTube channel.

1. Add yeast, water and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let the yeast dissolve for a minute. Add oil, salt and flour into the bowl. If you don’t have a stand mixer just add ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
2. Turn mixer on and knead the dough for 5 minutes. The dough should be a little sticky. If it is overly sticky then add in a bit more flour. If you don’t have a mixer then just knead by hand.
3. Spray your Instant Pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add the dough into the liner. Set Instant Pot to yogurt function LESS (use adjust button to get it to less, it should say 24 hours). Cover Instant Pot with a glass lid or a plate and let it raise for 25-30 minutes. If you don’t have an Instant Pot with a yogurt button you can just let the dough raise in a greased bowl. It will need about an hour of time to raise.
4. Place the dough in the middle of a sheet or parchment paper or a silpat. Use your palms to press out the dough into a large rectangle shape (about 10 x 15 inches). 
5. Use a pizza cutter to cut from a bottom corner to the center of the top. Repeat on the other side so you have 1 full triangle and 2 halves of a triangle on either side. 
6. Place a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Transfer both side triangle pieces to the baking sheet. Pinch the middle seam to seal and stretch the dough to form a single triangle. 
7. Spoon the pesto sauce all over the dough. 
8. Flip the remaining triangle over the top of the filling and stretch the dough to cover completely. Pinch the seam sides together. 
9. Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to make horizontal slices on each side of the Christmas tree about 1 inch apart from the top to bottom. Leave the trunk of the tree intact. 
10. Pull the strips outward and twist. 
11. In a small bowl stir together the melted butter and the garlic powder. Use a pastry brush to brush the mixture all over the top of the bread. 
12. Sprinkle the trunk of the tree with parmesan cheese
13. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. 
14. In a pan on the stove combine all the dipping sauce ingredients and warm on medium heat. 
15. Pull off the breadsticks and dip in the sauce and enjoy!

Helpful Equipment

• I love my Bosch mixer from the 1980s. It is something I inherited and it won’t stop it’s so sturdy and amazing. Bosch mixers are expensive but they are the best tool that you can buy if you’re serious about making bread.
• Parchment paper or a silicone baking mat*
• I LOVE my USA Pan*. It was gifted to me by a friend a few years ago and I love how it doesn’t stick at all. You don’t use spray on it (or parchment!). It is amazing. I love baking cookies on this pan because they spread evenly and don’t stick at all.
• An Instant Pot* with a yogurt button
• Pastry brush* for brushing the melted butter on the dough
• Pizza cutter* for slicing the dough

Marinara Dipping Sauce for Christmas Tree Pull Apart Pizza Bites

To me the dipping sauce is a non-negotiable for these breadsticks! I love dipping each and every bite in a little sauce.

• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

You can stir these ingredients together and warm in a pan on the stove or you can warm it up in the microwave. You may want to double the sauce to have enough for everyone!

Variation Ideas

The filling inside my Christmas tree bread is pesto but you could get creative and add different kinds of fillings. Think sweet breads…like nutella or cinnamon/sugar/butter. You could also do a pizza filling (marinara sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella). What about using leftover spinach artichoke dip as a filling? You can use fresh herbs to garnish the Christmas tree to make it more green. The ideas are endless and delicious! Just avoid really runny fillings as they may leak out and make a mess.

If you don’t want to make homemade bread dough you could also use a roll of pizza dough. You could probably use pillsbury crescent roll dough as well. You could also use frozen Rhodes bread dough: you’ll just need to thaw it and allow it to rise before shaping. This makes the recipe super quick and convenient!

How to proof bread in the Instant Pot

If you have a yogurt function on your Instant Pot you can use your Instant Pot to proof dough (raise dough) faster. It works so well. The ideal temperature for proofing bread is 78-90 degrees. And the lowest setting on the Instant Pot yogurt mode (usually used for Jiu Niang) has temps between 86-93.2°F.

How to use the Instant Pot to proof dough: Push the yogurt button. Use the adjust button (or press yogurt button again…depending on the model of your IP) to cycle through until the light is on the “less.” My pot says 24 hours on the display. Then cover the pot with a glass lid or a plate. DO NOT use the normal Instant Pot lid. If you do the dough might raise so high that it pushes the valve up and indicates to the pot that there is under pressure. You won’t be able to open the pot and the lid will be stuck. Let the dough raise for about 20-25 minutes, or until it has doubled.

Can I make this in advance?

If you’re hoping to make the breadsticks in advance for a holiday party you can do that. This is a lot like a pizza and tastes best directly out of the oven. So, in my opinion, the best option is to shape it right before you leave for the party and then bake it once you get there. However, if that’s not an option you can bake it right before you leave for the party and wrap it in foil and serve it somewhat warm.

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More Instant Pot Yeast Bread Recipes…

Easy French Bread Recipe

Instant Pot Barbecue Chicken Flatbread Pizzas

Orange Rolls

Instant Pot Garbage Bread

Texas Kolaches

Instant Pot Soft Pretzels

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc. Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.