Pull Apart Christmas Tree [Vegan] – One Green Planet

For the Christmas Seasoned Pizza Dough

1. In a large mixing bowl combine warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil. Let sit for about 10 minutes while the yeast activates.
2. Mix in flour, salt, garlic powder, parsley flakes, rosemary, thyme, Italian seasoning, and oregano.
3. Mix until a ball starts to form, knead for about 5 minutes.
4. Grease the mixing bowl with a bit of oil, place the dough back in the bowl.
5. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.
6. Uncover the dough, punch it down, then knead it back into a ball.

For the Garlic Topping

1. In a small bowl, whip vegan butter until it’s smooth and easy to work with.
2. Mix in garlic powder and parsley flakes.
3. Set aside for topping the pull apart Christmas Tree.

For the Pull Apart Christmas Tree

1. Preheat the oven to 430°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut the ball of dough in half, then in half again, and so on, until you have about 12 pieces. Once the balls are formed, cut two of them in half again. The 4 small pieces will serve as the Christmas Tree trunk.
3. Lightly coat the parchment paper with flour so the dough doesn’t stick. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, then press down into a small circle about 1/4 inch thick. Press the edges out so they are thinner than the middle.
4. Top each pizza with 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of vegan cream cheese.
5. Pour about 1 tbsp of pizza sauce over the cream cheese center.
6. Fold each pizza into a small ball by folding the edges in and twisting them shut. This will be extremely messy.
7. Arrange each dough ball into a Christmas Tree shape. Start with one ball at the top, two under that, three under that, and four on the bottom row. The trunk should be made of 4 mini dough balls. Squish the dough balls together so they’re all touching.
8. Once you’ve made the dough balls into a Christmas Tree shape, top them with the garlic butter topping, coating the tops and sides.
9. Bake at 430 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Serve hot with pizza sauce for dipping!