Mushroom and Olive Tapenade Star Bread (Vegan)
This dairy-free and plant-based Mushroom and Olive Tapenade Star Bread is fluffy, tender and pillowy soft with a rich mushroom, olive and basil filling. Shape the dough into a star for a delicious tear and share bake for the holidays.
Savoury bakes are something special and this bread is packed with Mediterranean umami flavours like mushrooms and dried mushrooms too, while the basil and lemon juice add a lovely lightness. The dough is a simple almost-no-knead recipe that’s super fluffy, naturally dairy-free, egg-free and ready in about 1 hour. The filling is easy to prep ahead of time and keeps well in the fridge, so you can have this amazing tear and share savoury bake ready with minimal effort and maximum wow-factor.
Why will I love this bread?
This bread is amazing:
- Fluffy, pillowy soft and golden
- Tender and delicious
- Richly flavoured with mediterranean olives
- Packed with flavour
- Nutty, herby and mushroom-y
- Prepare the tapenade ahead of time
- Great to tear and share
- Ideal for parties and gatherings
- A real wow-factor bake
- Everyone will love it
- Minimal effort maximum flavour
- Can be made with other fillings too
- Like sun-dried tomato pesto
- Ideal as part of party spreads
- Delicious alongside bowls of pasta
If you already love the sound of this bread, then skip ahead to the recipe card below. Or, let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.
What ingredients do I need?
You can see the ingredients with weights in the recipe card below and see my recommended products in the “shop the recipe” section.
For the tapenade:
- Dried porcini mushrooms: I use the Cooks & Co dried porcini (or mixed wild) mushrooms to add lots of rich flavour.
- Boiling water: for the mushrooms.
- Sliced mushrooms: these are from Cooks & Co and are the pre seasoned sliced mushrooms and are so easy and so tasty. Or, use regular mushrooms and fry off for a little longer.
- Garlic: for flavour.
- Spring onion: or use a small white onion or shallot.
- Fresh thyme and basil: to add lots of flavour.
- Olives: these add so much rich flavour and you can use black or green olives.
- Toasted pine nuts: these add a lovely nuttiness or use sunflower seeds for a nut-free option.
- Lemon juice: for tang.
- Olive oil: use olive oil to fry off the mushrooms but extra-virgin olive oil in the tapenade for a richer flavour.
- Salt and pepper: to season.
As for the dough:
- Plant-based milk: use any dairy-free milk like oat, almond, soya or coconut (all unsweetened).
- Vegan butter: this is the block butter and makes the dough really buttery soft with only a small amount of butter.
- Olive oil: as above.
- Caster sugar: this feeds the yeast.
- Quick action yeast: make sure it’s in date.
- Plain and strong white bread flour: I like to use strong white bread and normal white flour to make a really tender and fluffy dough.
- Sesame seeds: I use a mix of black and white sesame seeds.
Is this gluten-free and nut-free?
This is not gluten-free but please try my gluten-free dough recipes here. To make this nut-free, swap the pine nuts for sunflower seeds.
How do I make this?
This bread is ready to go in a few steps:
- Firstly make the tapenade:
- Start by soaking the dried mushrooms: for 20 minutes to rehydrate them and then drain.Meanwhile while off the regular mushrooms with garlic spring onion and thyme: until softened.Add all of the tapenade ingredients to a food processor: and blitz to a thick but smooth paste.
- Keep in the fridge: or use straight away (allow to cool down first).
- For the dough:
- Now melt the butter and milk: and then stir in the oil, sugar and yeast.Allow the yeast to bloom: for 5 minutes.Stir together the flours: and pour in the milk mix.Bring to a shaggy dough: and tip onto a floured surface.Knead for 2 minutes with your hands: to a smooth ball of dough.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl: and cover to rest for 30 minutes somewhere warm.
- To shape the dough:
- Now punch down the dough: and divide into 4 equal pieces:Roll each piece of dough to a circle: about 25-cm in diameter.Spread some tapenade over one circle: leaving a small border.Top with the second piece of dough: and more tapenade.Add the third round of dough: and spread on the tapenade.Place down the final round of dough: and press down lightly.Position a small circle in the middle: about 5-cm diameter I used a cookie cutter.Cut from the outside of the circle to the small circle: and divide into 4 pieces.Repeat making cuts around the circle so there are 16 strips: of equal width.Taking two strips, twist back on themselves: and press together at the bottom.Repeat to make 8-star points: and brush with olive oil.
- Sprinkle over sesame seeds: to add some crunch.
- Bake the dough for 25 minutes: until golden brown and well-risen.
- Allow to cool slightly: and enjoy.
How long will it last?
This bread is best eaten the same day it is made, but it also lasts 1-2 days in the fridge in a sealed container. Eat at room temperature for the best texture, or warm back up in the oven for 10 minutes.
What other recipes can I try?
For more savoury ideas this holiday time:
- Garlic and Cheese Jackfruit Rolls
- No-Yeast Everything Bagels
- Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Babka Wreath
- Super Seedy Grain-Free Bread
- Easy Vegan Focaccia
Mushroom and Olive Tapenade Star Bread (Vegan)
This dairy-free and plant-based Mushroom and Olive Tapenade Star Bread is fluffy, tender and pillowy soft with a rich mushroom, olive and basil filling. Shape the dough into a star for a delicious tear and share bake for the holidays.
Ingredients
For the Mushroom and Olive Tapenade:
- 25g Dried Porcini Mushrooms
- 240ml boiling water
- 1 x tin Seasoned Sliced Mushrooms (220g, once drained)
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 100g olives (pitted weight)
- 35g toasted pine nuts
- 4 sprigs fresh basil, leaves only
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the Dough:
- 240ml plant-based milk
- 30g vegan butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp (7g, or 1 sachet) fast-action yeast
- 360g plain flour (or 180g plain and 180g strong white bread flour), plus extra
- 2 tbsp mixed sesame seeds
To serve the Star Bread:
- Extra Mushroom and Olive Tapenade, Sweety Drop Peppers, Fig Spread, Grilled Borettane Onions, Extra basil and thyme
Instructions
- To make the tapenade, add the drained and rehydrated mushrooms to a food processor with the fried off seasoned mushrooms, the olives, pine nuts, basil, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Blend to a smooth dip, some small chunks are OK. Allow to cool, and store in an airtight container for 1 week (you can over it with some olive oil to preserve it better) in the fridge.
- For the dough, warm together the milk and butter until just melted and lukewarm. Stir in the olive oil and sugar and sprinkle over the yeast. Leave for 5 minutes to bloom.
- In a large bowl stir together the flour(s) and salt. Pour in the yeast-milk and bring to a shaggy dough with a spoon. Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 2 minutes with your hands to make a smooth ball of dough. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for 30 minutes, to rise.
- Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 160Fan/180ºC.
- Once risen, tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces and roll each one to a circle about 25-cm diameter. Measure out about 300g of the tapenade to use.
- For the star, lay one circle of dough onto a piece of parchment, on top of a baking sheet/tray. Spread the circle with 1/3 of the tapenade almost to the edges and top with the second piece of dough. Repeat with more filling, another circle of dough, the final filling and top with the 4th circle of dough. Press down lightly.
- Place a small circle lid or cup (about 5-cm diameter) in the middle of the stacked dough and use a knife to cut from the outside in towards this circle, dividing the dough into 16 equal strips. Now, take two pieces of the star bread, twist them away from each other twice and pinch the edges together. Repeat to make all 8 star points.
- To bake: brush the pastry all over with olive oil and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Place in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until well-risen, golden and springy.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes. Tear and serve with extra herbs.
- Or, allow to cool fully and keep in a sealed container for 1-2 days (best enjoyed fresh the same day).
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Stay in touch
I look forward to hearing what you think of this Mushroom and Olive Tapenade Star Bread so please let me know in the comments below and leave a star review. If you do make them, I’d love to see so please tag me, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With star love x
p.s. this recipe was first made with Cooks and Co but this blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own.
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