.................. Cooking with Barry & Meta: Suzy Neal's Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls — 2019 National Festival of Breads Finalist

Barry and I attended the National Festival of Breads in Manhattan last year. I vowed I would make most, if not all, of the recipes that made it to the national competition. It’s been almost a year and finally tried a recipe today. Better late than never!

Suzy Neal, Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia created Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls for the event, and had this to say on the festival's website, "I created my recipe as a nod to childhood. My favorite lunchbox was one that included a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pretzels, and banana lovingly packed by my mom." She was the Food Blogger Division Finalist, just one of eight finalists from all over the United State.

The recipe is as it appears on the National Festival of Breads website with a few of my additional explanations in parenthesis. Two of the festival sponsors included RED STAR® and KING ARTHUR®.

Above: My take on Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls
Below: National Festival of Breads photo of Susy Neal's completed rolls made on-site in Manhattan, KS.

For information about the next festival to be held on Saturday, June 12, 2021, click on National Festival of Breads.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls Yield: 14 rolls

Suzy Neal, Food Blogger Division Finalist / 2019 National Festival of Breads

Yield: 14 rolls

Ingredients

Dough

2 cups warm water (110°F – 115°F)

2 tablespoons honey

1 (1/4 ounce) package RED STAR® Platinum Superior Baking Yeast®

1/2 cup powdered peanut butter - Suzy uses PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 2 teaspoons (for oiling the proofing bowl)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons kosher salt

5 – 5 1/4 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

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine water, honey and yeast; let proof 5 minutes.
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.
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.

Dough is oiled and ready to begin rising.
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. (I used 2 baking sheets.)
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. (I did place rolls on a cooling rack and allowed them to dry slighty/)
Using a sharp knife, cut ¼” deep “X” in the top of rolls. (Since my rolls were drying on a rack, I moved them to silicon-lined baking sheet at this point.) Beat together egg yolk and water; brush on rolls. Sprinkle on peanuts and salt.
Bake on middle rack of oven 20 – 25 minutes until dark golden brown and internal temperature is 205°F – 210°F. (I rotated rolls halfway through the baking + also moved the rolls on upper rack to bottom and vice versa.)
Remove rolls to a rack and cool.
Serve with butter and jam. (I made a simple peanut butter dipping sauce to go with our pretzels; recipe follows.)

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1 ROLL, 115g): 233 calories, 45 calories from fat, 5g fat, 1g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 15mg cholesterol, 517mg sodium, 40g total carbohydrate, 3g dietary fiber, 3g sugars, 7g protein, 92mcg folate, 2mg vitamin C, 3mg iron.

Peanut Butter Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

About 1/4 cup whole milk.

Place peanut butter and powdered sugar.
Slowly add milk, stirring and adding more under it is dipping sauce consisntency—not too thin but not too thick.

Recipe without photos . . .
Peanut Butter Pretzel Rolls Yield: 14 rolls