I’ve been meaning to make this Monkey Bread for a whole long time, and a wet and yucky Thursday seemed to be a decent opportunity. They are perfect. They are addictive and I might just fall into a sugar coma later. It’s like a cake-sized cinnamon roll.
At the end of this recipe is also a quick note if you want to make a yeasted, not sourdough version, and a “store bought option” if you are really short on time.
Ingredients
for the dough
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (120 grams) active sourdough starter
1 cup milk, warmed to between 100-110F
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the coating and glaze
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
You will also need a 10-inch Bundt pan for baking
Directions
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. In another bowl (or large measuring cup), combine warm milk, starter, melted butter, almond extract and the egg. Combine wet and dry ingredients until well mixed, before adding the raisins and mixing until fully incorporated. Turn out onto a well-floured counter and knead until you have cohesive dough. It should be fairly soft and supple. Set aside in a warm, draft free place for a couple of hours in a greased bowl until it has doubled in size. You can also let it cold-rise overnight in the fridge, but bring it back up to room temperature before baking.
Prepare Bundt pan by heavily greasing liberally with baking spray. Preheat oven to 350F.
Cut the dough into about 40 25-gram pieces and roll into taunt balls. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Drop the pieces of dough in the sugar cinnamon mixture and gently arrange them into the prepared Bundt pan.
In a small sauce pan, combine 1/2 cup of the remaining sugar cinnamon mixture (you won’t use all of it to coat the dough balls, but if you need more, add a bit more sugar and cinnamon) with the brown sugar and 1 cup butter. Let butter melt, and bring mixture just to a boil and then immediately remove from heat. Stir until sugars have fully dissolved. Carefully drizzle the mixture over the rolled dough balls in the Bundt pan.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reads 190F on a thermometer placed in the lower center of one side of the Bundt pan. If the top is getting too dark, cover with foil for the last part of baking. Allow pan to rest for about 5 minutes, then cover with a large plate and invert. Don’t wait too long to invert because the glaze will harden and then you will never get it out of the pan! To eat, pull desired amount off with your fingers and enjoy (it will be a little bit messy!)
PS: Want to make this only as a yeast version? For the dough, lower the flour to 3 1/4 cups from 3 1/2, raise the warm milk from 1 cup to 1 1/4 cups, and use 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast. Everything else is the same.
PSS: Don’t even have the time to make a yeasted dough? Go to the store and buy yourself 2 “tubes” of Pillsbury Grands Biscuit dough. Pop the package, separate your biscuits and then cut each one into thirds.
