Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls from NFOB

Photo by National Festival of Breads

National Festival of Breads contest always brings forth new and interesting recipes to try. While I'm still collecting ingredients for some of them, today I baked the Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls presented by Suzy Neal of Georgia. Suzy says these are a good treat with jelly, like a PB&J. This was my first time to use powdered peanut butter but I have several ideas for other uses now. Since I was making these to take to a covered dish (lots of foods to taste), I sized the rolls down to a 1.5 ounce dough ball instead of the 3 ounce size of the recipe. This still made a nice size roll, be sure to reduce the baking time to about 17 minutes.

Here is Suzy preparing her recipe with completed rolls.

PEANUT BUTTER PRETZEL ROLLS

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups warm water (110°F – 115°F)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 (¼ ounce) package RED STAR® Platinum Superior Baking Yeast®
• ½ cup powdered peanut butter*
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 2 teaspoons
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 5 – 5 ¼ cups KING ARTHUR® Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Boiling Solution

• 10 cups water
• ½ cup baking soda

Topping

• 1 large egg yolk plus 2 teaspoons water
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts
• 1 – 1 ½ teaspoons KING ARTHUR® Pretzel Salt

Directions

1. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine water, honey and yeast; let proof 5 minutes.
2. Mix in powdered peanut butter, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, butter and salt. Gradually add enough flour to form a soft dough that pulls away from sides of bowl. 
3. Knead dough with hook 3 – 4 minutes to form a smooth dough. Grease large bowl with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled. 
4. Preheat oven to 400°F. Deflate dough and turn out on floured work surface. Scale 3-ounce pieces of dough; shape into smooth rolls. Place rolls on a greased 12” x 18” pan or lined with nonstick baking mat. 
5. In 4-quart or larger Dutch oven, combine water and baking soda, bring to a boil. Boil 3 rolls at a time for 40 – 45 seconds, turning occasionally. Use slotted spoon to remove rolls to pan. 
6. Using a sharp knife, cut ¼” deep “X” in the top of rolls. Beat together egg yolk and water; brush on rolls. Sprinkle on peanuts and salt. 
7. Bake on middle rack of oven 20 – 25 minutes until dark golden brown and internal temperature is 205°F – 210°F. Remove rolls to a rack and cool. Serve with butter and jam.

I weighed (scaled) the dough balls to make the rolls
a uniform size.

¼ inch slash across the top with a lame blade.

sprinkled with chopped peanuts and Kosher salt

Ready to go.

Its still Chocolate Month

February is National Chocolate Month. Of course, Valentine's Day accounts for much of that, but the entire month of February is for lovers of chocolate. Chocolate has a long history, dating back to early civilizations who believed chocolate to be an aphrodisiac and mood booster. It is still definitely a mood booster!
Besides its sweet history, we also know know that chocolate does have some healthy benefits, in moderation of course! Chocolate contains iron, potassium, fiber and some antioxidants. These antioxidants, flavonoids, may be able to do things like relax blood vessels and promote healthy circulation. Polyphenols, another antioxidant, helps protect the body from free radical damage which can be a protection from cancer. The darker the chocolate, the healthier it is.
I love to bake with chocolate and my family loves to eat those chocolate baked goodies. This recipe combines two of our favorite flavors, chocolate and peanut butter. The preparation of this sheet cake reminds me of the brownie recipe I make often. Keep this cake in the refrigerator to keep it fresher (and to slow down the munchers!).

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER SHEET CAKE

Ingredients for Sheet Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup water

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup sour cream

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ingredients for Icing: (I cut the icing recipe in half and thought it was enough)

½ cup (1 stick) butter

¼ cup creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 ½ - 4 cups powdered sugar, as needed to reach desired consistency

¼ cup chopped salted peanuts

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 13”x9” baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.     In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3.     In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the peanut butter over low heat. Stir in the water and cocoa powder and increase heat to medium-low to bring just barely to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add to the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.

4.     Add sour cream, lightly beaten eggs, and vanilla, whisking until completely incorporated. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

5.     Prepare icing while cake is baking.

Directions for icing:

1.     Melt butter with peanut butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Whisk in cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla. Whisk in powdered sugar, a little at a time, until you’ve reached the desired consistency. It should be thick but pourable. Continue whisking vigorously until powdered sugar has dissolved and icing is smooth.

2.     Remove from heat and immediately pour icing over warm cake. Use an offset spatula or butter knife to spread it out evenly over the surface. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

3.     Allow to set for at least 30 minutes or longer before slicing and serving.

SnowBall Cookies

The Weather Outside is Dreadful...Let it Snow? Even though the temps have been in the single digits here, there is no snow! So we decided to rename these no-bake cookies "SnowBall Cookies".
If you're still craving a bit of sweet treat after Christmas, these cookies have a bit of sweetness, a little crunch, and the rich nutty flavor of peanut butter. They're a good munch, make them small and seal them in a container to avoid temptation of eating too many.

NO-BAKE SNOWBALL COOKIES

Ingredients

2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 lb.  white chocolate

Instructions:

Line to baking sheets with parchment paper or wax paper. Set aside.
Add the Rice Krispies and marshmallows to a large bowl. Set aside.
In a double broiler or in the microwave oven in short times with frequent checking, melt the white chocolate and peanut butter together. Once melted, pour over the cereal mixture and mix to combine well.
Drop by tablespoonful onto the wax paper. Place in the refrigerator to set up. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Now the hard part - waiting until they 'set'
to eat them!

And one of the good parts - getting to lick the
spatula - 'no-bake' equals no raw dough taboo! 

Peanut Butter Crunch Cake

Winter has hit Kansas with a blast this weekend. Cold weather and snow make staying inside and baking the best activities. Even the Rancher who has to go out to check new baby calves doesn't mind the weather so much when the house smells warm and sweet with fresh baked goodies. 

A great snack cake or light dessert

Peanut Butter is favorite flavor at our house, good in many recipes or just on a cracker for a snack. We even enjoy the standard PBJ sandwiches on some days. Peanut butter was first patented as a process for making the creamy paste in 1884, developed as a health food for those who had dental problems and couldn't chew solid food well. Today's PB has made many changes from the paste made of boiled peanuts in those days. Did you know it was called "monkey butter" in WWII? Or that it is called pindakaas (peanut cheese) in the Netherlands because only products that contain butter can use that name? 

This recipe starts with a cake mix, so it's preparation is quick and easy. The original recipe calls for chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Next time I make it I will use 1 cup peanut butter chips and omit the chocolate chips. I only had mini-chocolate chips and they didn't seem to add that much flavor (and looked like bits of something that shouldn't be there!)

Peanut Butter Crunch Cake

Ingredients:

1 yellow cake mix

1 cup peanut butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup water

3 eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup peanut butter chips

½ cup chopped peanuts

Ready to go into the oven

Directions: 

Combine the cake mix, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Mix on low speed of electric mixer until crumbly. Set aside ½ cup of mixture. 

Add eggs, water, and oil to original mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Mix on high speed for 2 minutes. Stir in ½ cup pb chips.

Pour mixture into greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Mix peanuts and ½ cup pb chips with reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle over top of batter. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees. 

With the glaze (It was impossible to get a pic
before it was half gone!)

After I served the first servings, I thought it needed a glaze. 

For glaze combine: ⅓ cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon peanut butter, milk or half/half cream to make a thick glaze. Drizzle over cake top, if desired spread lightly with a knife.