Sunday Bread - Peanut Butter Batter Bread

by: Bill Egnor AKA Something The Dog Said

Sun Apr 24, 2011 at 07:31:40 AM MST

Happy Sunday Bread Heads!

This week we are going to continue on our batter bread jag. I've been making these breads because they are fast, easy, delicious and they don't require any kneading. Some of the readers of this series don't have a stand mixer and do have arthritis so it has kind of left them out of the bread making-palooza that this series has become. I thought we should be more inclusive, thus a run on batter breads.

This week we have a fun and super easy on, Peanut Butter Batter Bread! It is a great loaf for the kiddies (even those in their 50's or later) with its great nutty flavor and texture. Think of it as the way to have a PB&J and you only have to spread on the J!

But enough talk, let's bake!

Peanut Butter Batter Bread

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup hot water (120-130 degrees)
¼ cup finely chopped salted roasted peanuts
¼ chunky peanut butter (any brand you favor)
¼ firmly packed brown sugar (dark preferred)
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups bread flour
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) yeast

Baking pans - If you have a 9"x5" pan you can make this in one pan, otherwise 2 8"x4" pans  

In your large mixing bowl or the work bowl of your stand mixer combing the water, peanuts, peanut butter, sugar salt, 1 ½ cups flour and the yeast. With the flat paddle attachment or a wooden spoon mix briskly for two minutes. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl at least once during this time to make sure that all the ingredients are mixing well.

Add the rest of the flour ½ cup at a time allowing it to be completely absorbed by the developing batter before adding more.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow it to rise until it has doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

Uncover the bowl and stir down the batter. Pour into your baking pan(s) and cover with a length of parchment paper. Allow to rise until the dough is just at the level of the rim of the pan(s), about 20 minutes.

While the dough is rising, set a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat it to 375 degrees. When the oven is hot and the dough is raised, slip the pan(s) into the hot oven and bake for 45 minutes. You may want to cover the bread with foil as it tends to brown really fast.

Check for doneness by turning out the load and thumping the bottom with a forefinger. You should have a nice hard hollow sound. If you don't get that sound return the loaf to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack, then cut and serve! A nice hardy loaf with a lovely peanut flavor. This is a great bread to make with children as it is very easy and very hard to mess up.

The flour is yours!