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Only God knows how much I love peanut butter! I’m a nut head LOL! So any chance I have, I always try to include peanut butter in anything I bake, I cook, or I steam 🙂 I like these old-school peanut sugar steamed buns, but I was thinking why not do a peanut butter jelly version? Most of us always have a jar of peanut butter around right?
Soft Fluffy Peanut Butter Jelly Braided Steamed Buns (Baozi)
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 300 gr all-purpose flour
- 60 gr wheat starch or use potato starch or corn starch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 gr instant yeast
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 30 gr light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 180 ml cold milk can be dairy or non-dairy milk
For the filling:
- 125 gr creamy peanut butter
- 100 gr strawberry jam or use any jam of your choice
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Place the flour and starch, instant yeast, sugar, salt, baking powder, and oil in a mixing bowl. If you are using a stand mixer, use a dough hook attachment. Add cold milk or room temperature water. Start with 180 ml and add more until you can form a dough. You will most likely need to add a bit more milk/water. I would rather you start with the lowest amount of liquid and add more teaspoon by teaspoon until the dough comes together. Continue to knead at low speed (speed 2 on KA) for 12-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth, silky and elastic
- If you knead by hand, mix until you get a rough dough (it's not going to be smooth yet). Cover and rest it for 15 minutes. Then go back and knead it. You'll be surprised by how easier it is to knead it now. Knead until the dough is smooth and pliable. The kneading motion is like washing cloth with hands. At any point during kneading, you can always stop and rest the dough if you find it hard to knead and so much resistant. This is to relax the gluten. Then go back to knead again and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes by just resting the dough before kneading again. It's easier for you too. You want the dough that is smooth, silky, and elastic. Just to warn you that it's going to take some time to knead by hands
Rest the dough to relax the gluten:
- Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes. This is to relax the gluten for easier shaping and rolling the dough.
Shaping:
- Mix the peanut butter with jelly and set aside.
- Divide the dough into 9 and you will get large buns, or you can do 12 medium size buns. Then pull and tuck each dough to round it up into a round ball and keep them covered.
- Work with one dough at a time. Lightly dust your working surface with a bit of flour. Flatten with your palm a bit and then use a rolling pin to roll it out into an oval, about 7-8 inches long and about 4 inches wide
- Spread with the PBJ mixture, leaving about 1/2 inch gap from the edge. Roll it up from one side. Use a dough scraper or a knife to cut the dough vertically leaving about 1 inch on top. Expose the cut side up and then start crossing one strand over the other. This is a simple 2-strands braid. Pinch to seal the end
- Roll from this end to the other end. Place the braided side up on parchment paper. Put on a large baking tray and keep them covered with a slightly damp cloth while you are working on the rest
Proofing:
- I use my oven's bread proof function to proof the bread. I mist the shaped buns with some water and then cover with a cloth to let them proof until they are puffy, not necessarily double in size. It take about 1 hour for me. Don't go by the time. You should visualize and feel the dough. They should gradually slowly bounce back when you gently press on the dough. When you lift the dough up, it should feel lighter than before. If you have these signs, you can proceed to steam the buns
Steaming:
- Arrange the proofed buns in a steamer that you already filled with water. Don't turn on the stove yet. Wrap the lid of the steamer with a cloth to prevent condensation from dripping on the surface on the buns, creating dense spots later
- Once the buns are in, turn on the stove to medium. I use my largest burner on the stove and set the heat setting to medium. Once the water comes to a simmer, crack the lid open about 1/2 inch and start the timer. Steam for 10 minutes with the lid slightly ajar as I mentioned before
- When 10 minutes are up. Turn off the heat and let them sit for 1-2 minutes and then open up the lid and remove buns to a cooling rack if not serving immediately
- Proceed with the next batch and steam with the same method as I mentioned above. You don't have to wait for the water in the steamer to cool down to start. Just turn on the stove, crack the lid open and the time starts when water is back to a simmer again
Serving:
- They are the softest and fluffiest when they are warm. So they are best eaten on the same day
Storing:
- Once the buns have cooled down completely, wrap them up tighly with cling wrap and store in an air-tight container and they can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. They won't be as soft as the first day you made them and it is expected. A simple reheat in mthe icrowave for few seconds or in the steamer will restore that softness
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
How to make peanut butter jelly braided steamed buns
1. Place the flour and starch, instant yeast, sugar, salt, and oil in a mixing bowl
2. If you are using a stand mixer, use a dough hook attachment. Add cold milk or room temperature water. Start with 180 ml and add more until you can form a dough. You will most likely need to add a bit more milk/water. I would rather you start with the lowest amount of liquid and add more teaspoon by teaspoon until the dough comes together.
3. Continue to knead at low speed (speed 2 on KA) for 12-15 minutes or until the dough is smooth, silky and elastic
4. When you gently stretch a small amount of the dough, it won’t break
5. Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes. This is to relax the gluten for easier shaping and rolling the dough.
6. Mix the peanut butter with jelly and set aside.
7. Divide the dough into 9 and you will get large buns, or you can do 12 medium size buns. Then pull and tuck each dough to round it up into a round ball and keep them covered.
8. Work with one dough at a time. Lightly dust your working surface with a bit of flour. Flatten with your palm a bit
9. Then use a rolling pin to roll it out into an oval, about 7-8 inches long and about 4 inches wide
10. Spread with the PBJ mixture, leaving about 1/2 inch gap from the edge
11. Roll it up from one side and pinch to seal the seam
12. Use a dough scraper or a knife to cut the dough vertically leaving about 1 inch on top
13. Expose the cut side up
14. Then start crossing one strand over the other. This is a simple 2-strands braid. Pinch to seal the end
15. Roll from one end to the other end.
16. Place the braided side up on parchment paper
17. Put on a large baking tray and keep it covered with a slightly damp cloth while you are working on the rest
18. I use my oven’s bread-proof function to proof the bread. I mist the shaped buns with some water and then cover with a cloth to let them proof until they are puffy, not necessarily double in size. It take about 1 hour for me. Don’t go by the time. You should visualize and feel the dough. They should gradually slowly bounce back when you gently press on the dough. When you lift the dough up, it should feel lighter than before. If you have these signs, you can proceed to steam the buns
19. Arrange the proofed buns in a steamer that you already filled with water. Don’t turn on the stove yet. Wrap the lid of the steamer with a cloth to prevent condensation from dripping on the surface on the buns, creating dense spots later
20. Once the buns are in, turn on the stove to medium. I use my largest burner on the stove and set the heat setting to medium. Once the water comes to a simmer, crack the lid open about 1/2 inch and start the timer. Steam for 10 minutes with the lid slightly ajar as I mentioned before
21. When 10 minutes are up. Turn off the heat and let them sit for 1-2 minutes and then open up the lid and remove buns to a cooling rack if not serving immediately
22. They are the softest and fluffiest when they are warm. So they are best eaten on the same day
Variations
You can also do other nut spreads like almond butter, cashew butter, sweet black sesame paste, tahini, etc.
