My Favorite Monkey Bread Recipe

Let me ask you a real question: who ISN’T experimenting with baking at home right now? Ha Ha!

I know many people have been trying to take advantage of this extra time at home to try some new recipes – I think this is proven by all the shortages of baking yeast and bulk flour. Crazy, but it is happening! We are scratch bakers anyways, but realized that by simply working from home and no longer commuting, we have TWO EXTRA hours at home, per person, per work day. That is some really great time that can be spent in the kitchen! So yes, extra scratch baking has become part of our stay-home repertoire.

We started with focaccia bread, made way too many banana breads, banana muffins, even some white and wheat bread loafs! But I was craving a sweet dessert and this monkey bread came to mind. I blogged it a long time ago but decided to re-do my post, so be sure to pin this one to save it since the old one is going away!

Have you never heard of monkey bread? Well if not, you are in for a treat. It basically is a giant pull-apart cinnamon roll. By forming the dough into small balls and dipping them into the butter and cinnamon individually, your ratio of cinnamon sugar to dough is a lot more concentrated than what you would normally get. I think it is a delicious dessert or sweet breakfast! Normally I would save this recipe for a holiday or celebration, but with this being a yeast recipe, I decided my extra time at home could be put to work making one of these for the family to enjoy just for fun.

So, here we go, I hope you enjoy this delicious Monkey Bread recipe as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS (for the bread)

• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter melted then cooled
• 1 egg

INGREDIENTS (for the sugar coating)

• 2 1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

DIRECTIONS

Generously butter the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan (or use non-stick baking spray).

In a saucepan warm your milk to slightly above room temperature. Remove it from heat, add the yeast, and whisk to dissolve. (When baking with yeast I always suggest using a thermometer… if heated above 110 degrees Fahrenheit the yeast will die).

Equip your electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat the flour, sugar, and salt until combined.

Keep your mixer on low speed, and slowly stream in your milk until combined. Add the melted butter and egg and mix until the dough comes together. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook attachment. Continue to mix, now on medium speed, until the dough becomes silky and tacky, but not sticky (approx 8-10 minutes). The dough should mound together and come off the bottom of the mixing bowl easily.

Spray the bottom of sides of a large bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and roll it around to make sure it is completely buttered. Cover with a dish towel and let rest in a warm area until the dough has doubled in size; about 1 hour.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Use your hands to deflate the dough. Remove it from the bowl and pat it into a circle approx 8 inches in diameter. Use a knife to cut the dough into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces (or simply use your hands to pinch apart the dough). Roll the pieces into balls and place on the sheet pan. Once all your dough has been divided like this, cover the balls lightly with plastic wrap.

Next, make the sugar coating by stirring together the sugar and cinnamon. Place the melted butter in a separate bowl.

Last, it is time to assemble the dough. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough balls, and one at a time, coat the ball in butter (dip and shake off the excess), roll in the sugar coating, then place in your greased Bundt pan. Continue the process with each ball until all are coated and in your pan (think of arranging them as if you are building a brick wall).

Once again, wrap the cover of your Bundt pan in plastic wrap and let the dough sit in a warm area of the house (about another hour).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the Bundt until the top layer is deep brown and the caramel coating begins to bubble around the edges (approx. 30 minutes).

Cool the bread for 5 minutes, then turn it directly onto a platter and serve warm.

The bundt pan I used… Nordic ware makes *THE BEST* rated bundt pans on Amazon, not to mention reasonably priced ones too!

Nordic Ware 50342 ProForm Bundt Pan with Handles, 12 Cup

Can’t forget my #1 baking tool, my Kitchen Aid Mixer! This is the exact one I use and it came bundled with all the attachments.

KitchenAid KSM150GBQCU Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Food Grinder Attachment, Contour Silver

*Disclaimer* I am an Amazon affiliate and get a tiny kickback if you purchase anything from my links… I only share things that I use and love, and it is just a small avenue for me to earn money to support my blog as I go.

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