If you are in the mood for a dynamite recipe to bring in the New Year, this is it! (It would also be a star at a Super Bowl party!!!) Gretchen and I adapted a fairly standard slider recipe into something all ages gobbled up on Christmas Eve. I admit, it will take a while to make, but it is worth it for this show stopper.
This recipe made 19 good-sized sliders for us. As always, I encourage you to make it your own by adding more or less of ingredients or eliminating some–seasoning, in particular. I actually used a sausage seasoning for the ground beef, but I’m sure salt and pepper would do fine.
Peanut Butter Burger Pretzel Bun Sliders
Pretzel buns:
Ingredients
· 1 and 1/2 cups warm water (lukewarm– no need to take temperature but around 100°F)
· 2 and 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (1 standard packet)
· 1/4 cup unsalted butter, divided
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
· 3 and 3/4 – 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
· coarse sea salt for sprinkling
Baking Soda Bath
· 1/2 cup baking soda
· 9 cups water
Instructions
1. Whisk yeast and warm water together. Allow to sit for 1 minute. Meanwhile, melt 1 Tablespoon of butter (reserve the rest for step 6). Whisk in salt, brown sugar, and melted butter. Slowly add 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough hook attached to stand mixer until dough is thick. Add 3/4 cup more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. If it is still sticky, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more, as needed. Poke the dough with your finger – if it bounces back, it is ready to knead.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough for 3 minutes and shape into a ball (or knead with dough hook in mixer). Place in a large greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm environment for 1 hour or until nearly doubled in size.
3. Once risen, punch dough down to release any air bubbles. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and, with a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 19, and make them into buns.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray baking pan. Set aside.
5. Bring baking soda and 9 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Drop 1-2 pretzel rolls into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds. Any more than that and your pretzels will have a metallic taste. Using a slotted spatula, lift the pretzel roll out of the water and allow as much of the excess water to drip off. (I set them on paper towels.) Place pretzel rolls close together in the baking pan. Using a sharp knife, score a couple slits into the top of each.
6. Melt the remaining butter. Lightly brush each roll with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
7. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until a deep golden brown on all sides. (I baked mine for only about 20 minutes, because they were going back in the oven). Cool.
Filling:
1# bacon
2# hamburger
1 medium onion
Seasoning to taste
4-8 oz of cream cheese
Shredded cheddar cheese (8 oz. or 2 cups)
Creamy peanut butter—2 cups or to taste
Olive oil
1. Fry 1# of bacon, drain on paper towels, and cut into pieces. Set aside.
2. Brown, and crumble 2# of hamburger with a chopped onion in it.
3. Season as you wish. I went with a little extra pepper to give it a pepper pop. Drain.
4. Cut pretzel buns in half crosswise and put bottom half back in pan.
5. Slice cream cheese and arrange on bottom half of buns in pan.
6. Spread hot hamburger mixture on top
7. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top
8. Drizzle peanut butter sauce on top of cheese (Made from peanut butter mixed with just enough olive oil to make it drizzleable)
9. Sprinkle fried bacon pieces on top of peanut butter sauce.
10. Put tops on buns
GLAZE:
1 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
For glaze, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Microwave, covered, on high until butter is melted, stirring occasionally. Pour over rolls. Bake, uncovered, until heated through, approximately 20 minutes.
