Monkey Bread is basically a varied form of a cinnamon roll. It is made from the same exact yeast dough, but instead of being rolled up and cut it is rolled into balls, dipped in butter and brown sugar/cinnamon, and stuck back together in a pan to be devoured piece by piece.
DO NOT MAKE THIS JUST FOR YOURSELF. It must be made for a crowd, because it’s dangerously delicious. Seven of us ate it on Sunday, technically as an appetizer to a larger brunch. We ate the whole thing, though, which is a testament to its addictive nature. It’s not remotely good for you, let’s just get that out of the way. Most of the time food should be viewed as “fuel†or energy for your active, healthy, self. Sometimes, food should be viewed as nothing more than an absolutely worthy, decadent indulgence. This is one of those times. Enjoy this with friends, as I said above, and every bite will be well worth it.
You may have had or made the quick version of this in the past; refrigerated biscuits, cut into fourths and rolled into balls. This will still taste yummy, but it’s just not as good as the real thing. For some reason, yeast seems to scare people but it really shouldn’t. Follow along with the pictures below and you will see… nothing at all to be scared of!
Monkey Bread
from Baked Explorations
Equipment Needed: Bundt pan (see photos below)
1Â 1/4 c. whole milk
2 tsp. instant yeast (labeled rapid rise, though active dry would be fine as well)
4 c. flour (regular all purpose)
5 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
5 tbsp. butter, melted
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
1Â 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Measure milk in glass measuring cup and microwave it about 45 seconds, or until lukewarm. Add yeast and whisk to dissolve. Be careful your milk doesn’t get hot, as too much heat can kill yeast.Â
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer (or a large bowl), mix flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Use paddle attachment for stand mixer, regular beaters for hand mixer.Â
4. Beat the egg slightly in a small bowl, then add to dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
5. Keep mixer on low and stream in the milk mixture until combined.
6. Add melted butter and mix until dough comes together.
7. If using stand mixer, replace paddle attachment with dough hook. If using hand mixer, dump dough out onto a well floured surface — you will knead by hand.
8. Knead dough 8 to 10 minutes or until it comes together into a smooth, tacky, elastic ball. It shouldn’t be sticky. If it is too sticky, add small amounts of flour.
9. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and put your dough into it, turning it over several times so that it is covered in the oil. Cover tightly and set in a warm place (counter top is fine) for an hour or until the dough doubles in size. The cold weather had arrived in my house, so my trick is to turn on my oven for only a minute or two, turn off heat, and put my dough in the now warm oven for it’s hour rise time.
10. Punch down the dough to push out the air bubbles.
11. Working with a clean counter or pan lined with waxed paper, pull off dough sections and roll into 1 inch balls.
12. Dunk each ball into butter then brown sugar mixture, and put in bundt pan. Try to add them fairly uniformly, though you won’t need to press them into each other— that will happen when it rises and cooks. Cover the bundt pan with plastic wrap.
13. Set the prepared monkey bread in a warm place to rise for an hour. If making this for the next morning, put the prepared bread in your fridge. The next morning, take it out about an hour before you will bake it.Â
I made this Saturday afternoon for a Sunday brunch, so here it is sitting in my fridge overnight.Â
14. Set oven to 350 degrees.
This is my bread after it had it sit out an hour on Sunday morning. See how it rose?
15. When oven is preheated, bake monkey bread for 30 minutes or until the top layer is deep brown and the caramel coating begins to bubble around the edges.
16. Let bread cool about five minutes, then turn out onto a platter.
If you are bringing this somewhere to be eaten, bake it at home and then warm it in their oven at 350 degrees for about five minutes or so; turn out onto a platter.Â
This would be a GREAT option for a Christmas morning!
Monkey Bread
from Baked Explorations
Equipment Needed: Bundt pan (see photos below)
1Â 1/4 c. whole milk
2 tsp. instant yeast (rapid rise, though active dry would be fine as well)
4 c. flour (regular all purpose)
5 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
5 tbsp. butter, melted
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
1Â 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Measure milk in glass measuring cup and microwave it about 45 seconds, or until luke warm. Add yeast and whisk to dissolve. Be careful your milk doesn’t get hot, as too much heat can kill yeast.Â
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer (or a large bowl), mix flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Use paddle attachment for stand mixer, regular beaters for hand mixer.Â
4. Beat the egg slightly in a small bowl, then add to dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.
5. Keep mixer on low and stream in the milk mixture until combined.
6. Add melted butter and mix until dough comes together.
7. If using stand mixer, replace paddle attachment with dough hook. If using hand mixer, dump dough out onto a well floured surface — you will knead by hand.
8. Knead dough 8 to 10 minutes or until it comes together into a smooth, tacky, elastic ball. It shouldn’t be sticky. If it is too sticky, add small amounts of flour.
9. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and put your dough into it, turning it over several times so that it is covered in the oil. Cover tightly and set in a warm place (counter top is fine) for an hour or until the dough doubles in size. The cold weather had arrived in my house, so my trick is to turn on my oven for only a minute or two, turn off heat, and put my dough in the now warm oven for it’s hour rise time.
10. Punch down the dough to push out the air bubbles.
11. Working with a clean counter or pan lined with waxed paper, pull off dough sections and roll into 1 inch balls.
12. Dunk each ball into butter then brown sugar mixture, and put in bundt pan. Try to add them fairly uniformly, though you won’t need to press them into each other— that will happen when it rises and cooks. Cover the bundt pan with plastic wrap.
13. Set the prepared monkey bread in a warm place to rise for an hour. If making this for the next morning, put the prepared bread in your fridge. The next morning, take it out about an hour before you will bake it.Â
14. Set oven to 350 degrees.
15. When oven is preheated, bake monkey bread for 30 minutes or until the top layer is deep brown and the caramel coating begins to bubble around the edges.
16. Let bread cool about five minutes, then turn out onto a platter.
If you are bringing this somewhere to be eaten, bake it at home and then warm it in their oven at 350 degrees for about five minutes or so; turn out onto a platter.
