I like to pretend I’m a foodie – all about cooking and making everything from scratch – but the truth is I simply love things that taste good, just like everyone else. Store bought chicken stock is just as good as homemade in recipes and cream of chicken soup as a base – pure genius. Use store bought tortillas and devour Trader Joe’s orange chicken all you want (hey, both are better than what I can make!). I won’t tattle and I won’t judge. But this. It’s worth it. I promise you. Just like homemade pasta is worth the fuss, homemade monkey bread puts the pop-able can biscuit version to shame.
Created with all real ingredients and hardly more effort than the classic Pillsbury version, I won’t try to convince you this is healthier for you per say but it sure is delicious. This recipe allows for all the preparation to be done the night before making it the ideal candidate for a Christmas morning treat – simply pop it in the oven as you begin opening presents and allow the delightfully sweet, cinnamon aroma to engulf your joyful home. Little chefs will surely love to help roll the balls of dough, dipping them in cinnamon-sugar and husbands will burn their fingertips in their haste to try some of this deliciousness that is homemade monkey bread – at least my husband did this morning. Enjoy!!
- 1⅓ cups milk, warmed to 110-115 degrees (this was 1 minute, 15 seconds in our microwave)
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp instant yeast
- 3¼ cups flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 6 Tbsp butter, melted
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- Make dough: Add milk, 2 Tbsp melted butter, sugar and yeast to a large measuring cup and stir to combine. Mix 3¼ cups flour and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer with a dough hook on low. Slowly add milk-yeast mixture and stir until dough comes together. Increase speed to next level and knead the dough for abut 6 minutes, adding 2-3 tablespoons of flour (a tablespoon at a time) as needed for dough to clear sides of bowl (the dough should still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl, though). I typically add only 2 tablespoons.
- Remove dough from mixing bowl to a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Coat bowl with cooking spray, replace dough in bowl and turn to coat with spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave to sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Use cooking spray liberally coat a Bundt pan. I prefer coconut oil spray but any would work fine.
- Remove dough to a lightly floured surface. I love using parchment paper that has a grid printed on it - easy to divide into even pieces and even easier clean up! Pat into about an 8x8" rough rectangle. Use a long knife to cut into 64 pieces - it doesn't matter if they're even or not.
- Coat dough: Place melted butter in one small bowl and combine brown sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.
- Roll each piece of dough into a rough ball, dip in melted butter and then roll in the brown sugar coating. Place in pan, layering and staggering dough balls as needed to make an even loaf. Sprinkle any extra sugar-cinnamon mixture on the top.
- Cover pan with plastic and leave out on counter for 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator to finish rising slowly overnight.
- To bake bread: Remove pan from refrigerator abut 2 hours before you want to serve it. Leave at room temperature, still covered, 45 minutes to 1 hour and preheat oven to 350 degrees the last 15 minutes.
- Remove cover, place in heated oven and bake 30-40 minutes until the bread is very browned and the sides are bubbling.
- Cool for 5 minutes in pan before turning out onto a serving platter (use hot pads to hold the pan, as it will still be hot).
- Make glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to a pouring consistency. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the warm Monkey Bread and serve while still warm.
