Monkey Bread
Ever notice how your apartment or house gets cleaner when you're supposed to be doing something...like studying?
Well that's not me. My apartment tends to get just a little more dusty around exam time.
But like so many people, I choose to avoid my problems and to-do list -but by baking!
Monkey Bread is absolutely delicious. It's like individual donuts covered in a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. How could you resist such temptation?
From the very minute that I made this five years ago, I knew this recipe was a keeper. It's perfect to share with friends or just indulge yourself. The individual balls of dough make it easy to eat.
This dough for this Monkey Bread recipe involves using yeast. According to a friend, having yeast in my kitchen makes me hard core. I guess most students' kitchens don't include yeast as a staple. Initially, using yeast was daunting, but in reality it's not so bad! It's perfect for making pizza dough!
I also recently realized that most of my baking is done at night -not exactly ideal for pretty food pictures. It just takes a little imagination to get past the deficiencies of my good old camera. But I'll keep trying!
Monkey Bread:
Dough: Either use two cans of biscuit dough or you can easily make your own
3 1/4 cup flour
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 tbsp butter -melted and cooled
1 packet + 1/2 tsp active dry yeast ( 1 packet = 2 1/4 tsp)
Topping:
1 1/4 sticks melted butter
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
Warm the milk and water in a small sauce pan until there are little bubbles, but before it boils. Set it aside for 5-7 minutes.
Whisk the milk-water mixture with sugar until dissolved.
Add melted butter and yeast.
Place in warm spot for about 3 minutes.
Place about 2 3/4 cups of flour in a large bowl.
Pour liquid mixture in middle of flour and mix.
Add the rest of flour until the right consistency. (Stop when you make a hand print in the dough and it stays.)
Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth ball.
Cover with plastic wrap or towel and place in a warm place (like microwave) for 1 hour.
Turn the dough and wait another 20-30 minutes.
*Turning the dough introduces the yeast to food sources so it can rise even more.
*For a more airy dough, turning the dough works best.
*For a more dense crumb-like bread, punching the dough works better.
Cut the dough into 1 inch squares.
Roll squares into balls and place in a Ziploc bag of 3/4 cup white sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon.
Place half of the balls into the Bundt pan.
Mix topping ingredients together and pour half of mixture over balls in Bundt pan.
Place remaining balls into pan and pour rest of topping mixture over them.
Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes. (The shorter the better)
Wait 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven and invert onto a large plate.
Well that's not me. My apartment tends to get just a little more dusty around exam time.
But like so many people, I choose to avoid my problems and to-do list -but by baking!
Monkey Bread is absolutely delicious. It's like individual donuts covered in a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. How could you resist such temptation?
From the very minute that I made this five years ago, I knew this recipe was a keeper. It's perfect to share with friends or just indulge yourself. The individual balls of dough make it easy to eat.
This dough for this Monkey Bread recipe involves using yeast. According to a friend, having yeast in my kitchen makes me hard core. I guess most students' kitchens don't include yeast as a staple. Initially, using yeast was daunting, but in reality it's not so bad! It's perfect for making pizza dough!
I also recently realized that most of my baking is done at night -not exactly ideal for pretty food pictures. It just takes a little imagination to get past the deficiencies of my good old camera. But I'll keep trying!
Monkey Bread:
Dough: Either use two cans of biscuit dough or you can easily make your own
3 1/4 cup flour
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 tbsp butter -melted and cooled
1 packet + 1/2 tsp active dry yeast ( 1 packet = 2 1/4 tsp)
Topping:
1 1/4 sticks melted butter
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
Warm the milk and water in a small sauce pan until there are little bubbles, but before it boils. Set it aside for 5-7 minutes.
Whisk the milk-water mixture with sugar until dissolved.
Add melted butter and yeast.
Place in warm spot for about 3 minutes.
Place about 2 3/4 cups of flour in a large bowl.
Pour liquid mixture in middle of flour and mix.
Add the rest of flour until the right consistency. (Stop when you make a hand print in the dough and it stays.)
Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth ball.
Cover with plastic wrap or towel and place in a warm place (like microwave) for 1 hour.
Turn the dough and wait another 20-30 minutes.
*Turning the dough introduces the yeast to food sources so it can rise even more.
*For a more airy dough, turning the dough works best.
*For a more dense crumb-like bread, punching the dough works better.
Cut the dough into 1 inch squares.
Roll squares into balls and place in a Ziploc bag of 3/4 cup white sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon.
Place half of the balls into the Bundt pan.
Mix topping ingredients together and pour half of mixture over balls in Bundt pan.
Place remaining balls into pan and pour rest of topping mixture over them.
Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes. (The shorter the better)
Wait 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven and invert onto a large plate.
Let me put that obligatory pun out there, people will go bananas for this Monkey Bread, my friends. These were delicious! It's sweet and moist, and there's enough for you and all your friends (or, maybe you want it all to for yourself!). Good company and great monkey bread, what isn't there to love? :)
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