Monkey Bread

madnad

Yes, you read that right. I said Monkey Bread.  Don’t worry, there were no actual monkeys harmed in the making of this bread.

Monkey Bread is the ultimate tear and share bread. Made with an enriched dough, its very similar to a Cinnamon Roll, and in fact I use the same dough recipe.

When you serve the Monkey Bread, the butter and sugar mixture that coats each individual ball will have transformed into a delightfully gooey coating, and the outside balls have a pleasing crunch, where the inner balls remain soft.

Cinnamon flavour is the classic when it comes to Monkey Bread, but personally, I like the addition of the cocoa powder. The recipe is very easy to modify. You can throw in handfuls of chopped nuts, chocolate chips or raisins among the bread balls. You can also serve this with a cream cheese frosting, or just a simple milk and icing sugar glaze.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

  • 170g Unsalted Butter
  • 180ml Milk
  • 120g Caster Sugar
  • 14g Instant Yeast
  • 70g Cornflour
  • 560g Strong White Bread Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 Large Free-range Eggs
  • 150g Unsalted Butter
  • 300g Light Brown Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon (or 1 Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder)

Directions

1. Melt the 170g butter in a saucepan until the milk solids have cooked off and it starts to turn a slight golden brown
2. Take off the heat and add in the milk then pour into a large mixing bowl
3. Check the temperature with a sugar thermometer does not exceed 110°F/43°C then add the yeast and leave to bloom for 15 minutes
4. Add in the sugar, and stir through
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, and salt
6. Add the eggs into the butter sugar mixture, then gradually add in the flour until thoroughly combined
7. Turn the soft sticky dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for 10 minutes until smooth and soft
8. Leave in a covered bowl for 1½-2 hours until doubled in size
9. Meanwhile, melt the extra butter and allow to cool slightly
10. Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon (and chocolate if using)
11. Roll the dough into teaspoon sized balls, dip into the butter, then roll in the sugar cinnamon mix
12. Place into a bundt tin and repeat until the tin is 3/4 full. Use any remaining dough in another tin
13. Leave to prove for another hour, and any gaps between the balls should fill in
14. Bake in a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 5 / 180°C / 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes.
15. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate and dig in!
Author:

2 Comments

  1. December 30, 2012 at 18:39

    Savory monkey bread is also really easy (and really good!) – just use onion or garlic powder, and maybe some chopped parsley, instead of the cinnamon and sugar. I’ve also heard of people wrapping bits of pepperoni and mozzarella inside the balls, but I haven’t tried that before.

    • December 30, 2012 at 18:50

      Oh! that sounds lush too! I saw one where they put a chocolate chip in the middle of each dough ball.

Leave me a comment...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.