Vegan Pesto Buns with homemade 'Cheese' Sauce
I think pesto buns, pizza rolls or any other kind of filled dough just are THE potluck or party food. And I totally get it, don’t get me wrong! They’re easy to prepare, easy to transport, they can be served cold with no problem and they are, without a doubt, pretty delicious! Also, a lot of premade, store-bought doughs are vegan to begin with (at least here in Germany) and there’s also a huge variety of vegan cheese alternatives nowadays, which makes it extremely easy for anyone to prepare cute little buns like these.
For this recipe I didn’t want to use store-bought items though (because who would need a recipe then, right??), so you might need to put a tiny bit more effort into making these, but let me tell you; it’ll be worth it! Super fluffy homemade yeast dough meets a savory pesto filling, topped with an incredibly creamy ‘cheese’ sauce made with the help of our trusted veganism hero: nutritional yeast. With these buns, you’ll be the queen (or king!) of any potluck or party, vegan or not!
and so here’s the recipe for these:
Vegan Pesto Buns with homemade ‘Cheese’ Sauce
Ingredients:
for the yeast dough:
400g white spelt or all-purpose flour*
2 tsp dry active yeast (about 7g)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp maple syrup (or any other sweetener of choice)
4 tbsp olive oil
200ml lukewarm water
for the pesto filling:
3-4 tbsp vegan green pesto
a handful of sun-dried tomatoes
some green olives
for the ‘cheese’ sauce:
2 tbsp natural unsweetened cashew butter
125ml water
1 tsp mustard
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
a pinch of paprika powder
a pinch of turmeric (optional for a more yellow color)
some lemon juice (optional)
Instructions:
Start by preparing the yeast dough. For that combine flour and salt in a bowl and mix together.
Dissolve the active yeast together with the maple syrup in the lukewarm water and add the olive oil. Mix well, pour over the flour mixture and knead until everything comes together and forms a soft dough.
Now cover it and let the dough rise in a warm space for at least 1 hour. In the meantime, prepare the ‘cheese’ sauce.
For the ‘cheese’ sauce heat up cashew butter and water in a small sauce pan and stir until evenly combined and the mixture starts to thicken up.
Mix in the other ingredients for the ‘cheese’ sauce using a whisk and let the mix simmer on low heat while stirring frequently until the nutritional yeast has completely dissolved and you’ll get to a thick and creamy custard-y consistency. Then remove from heat and optionally add some lemon juice to taste.
Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a rectangular shape and spread the green pesto on top of it.
Chop up sun-dried tomatoes and olives and add over the pesto layer.
Lastly add tablespoons of the ‘cheese’ sauce on top and spread it roughly.
Now roll up the dough and cut into smaller pieces as you would with cinnamon rolls. Then preheat your oven to 200°C and let the pesto buns rise for another 20-30mins.
After those 20-30mins, place the buns in a oven safe dish and bake for about 30mins until the dough starts to become golden brown. Take them out of the oven and eat right away while they’re still warm, or let them cool and serve as a party snack.
These little buns are worth the wait and effort anytime.
*Notes:
Like always, you can basically use any kind of flour you prefer. I used white spelt, but all-purpose should work just as well. However if you want to make these with wholegrain flour, you might need to add some more water to the dough, as wholegrain flours tend to soak up more liquid.
Did you make this recipe?
leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @choartemi