Peanut Butter and Chocolate Flower Bread

I am not sure how I did not realise that Roxana Home Baking's Chocolate Party was a monthly affair. Me. A self-professed chocoholic missing out on a monthly chocolate baking/cooking event. Anyway, luckily an email from Roxana has me joining the party this month. This month, the secret ingredient is peanut butter.

I was never a big peanut butter fan. And I certainly never cared for the peanut butter and chocolate combination. I ate Reese's Pieces because there was chocolate involved and I was willing to "suffer" through the peanut butter for even a little taste of chocolate. Over the years I have started to eat more and more peanut butter - sometimes even with chocolate. It's still not my favourite but I am always bookmarking peanut butter and chocolate recipes for friends so it is almost inevitable that I will eventually appreciate it more.

In this flower bread (BlumenBrot), the combination was definitely a winner. This bread is easier to make than it looks. I was sure that I would mess it up and even though I made a wrong cut and did mess up the pattern a bit, it did not look horrible. I think I did very well for my first try. I can't wait to make this bread again with different fillings and of course to try other patterns.

I didn't take progress pics. I'm working on being able to snap pics while I work in the kitchen. It's hard. To help you remake this, I have linked to the video from which I adapted this (see the recipe below). Steve makes it easy for you to see how to shape the dough. That's a whole lot better than any progress pics that I could have taken.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Flower Bread

Recipe by:    Kelster  Adapted from: Steven’s Kitchen

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients Dough 450 g all purpose flour ¼ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs, separated 30 g melted butter ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons milk Oil for coating dough Filling 1/2 cup peanut butter ½ cup chocolate chips Powdered sugar, to taste

Directions Combine all the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, egg yolks, butter and milk in a large bowl. Knead in a stand mixer on speed 2 for 5 to 7 mins or until the dough in smooth and satiny.  Shape dough into a ball and coat with a small amount of oil. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Allow dough to rest until doubled (~ 2 hours depending on temperature of room). When dough has risen, divide the dough into four equal pieces and flatten each piece into a disk. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. While dough rests, prepare filling. Warm the peanut butter in the microwave for approximately 15 seconds or until just melted. In a separate bowl, warm the chocolate chips for 15-20 seconds or until just starting to melt Stir the chips into the peanut butter until combined. Add powdered sugar, to taste, if you want a sweet filling. Place bowl with filling in a larger bowl of warm water so that the filling will stay melted while you roll out each piece of dough. Roll the first piece of dough into a ~9.5” circle. Use a dinner plate or the bottom of a springform pan to measure/mark the dough and trim any excess. Place your first circle on parchment paper or a baking mat. Spread a third of the filling evenly onto your first circle. Roll the next piece of dough. Measure and trim any excess then place on top of the filling-covered first circle. Cover with another third of filling. Repeat with third piece of dough. Roll the fourth piece of dough and place on top of your stack. Place a small cup or jar in the center of your dough. Slice dough into 16 even wedges. IMPORTANT: the cup or jar will be at the center of your dough so that you won’t cut through to the very center. Take two adjacent wedges and twist twice in the opposite direction. Repeat with the other wedges. Hold two adjacent wedges and twist so that the edges are perpendicular to the baking mat. Pinch together. Preheat oven to 350 F. Allow dough to rest for 20 minutes. Brush the dough with the egg whites. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.

Notes I used crunchy peanut butter which can be a little trickier to spread than creamy. If you use crunchy peanut butter, be careful not to tear the dough.