Monkey Bread - Just be sure and put out Monkey-ranha repellent

I have been making this particular monkey bread for the last few years and have to say it is my absolute favorite. I've tried many different variations over the years, including the short-cut ones that use canned biscuit dough.  All the different varieties I tried had their own merits, but sometimes you want something that tips you over the edge into gone-bananas territory.  Once you've had a huge chunk of this monkey bread warm out of the oven, glaze barely set-up; all other versions will become a distant memory.

Monkey Bread - adapted from Cook's Country

2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast

1 cup milk, lukewarm 110 degrees F

1/3 cup water, 110 degrees F

2 tablespoons butter, melted

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup granulated sugar

In the bowl of a mixer combine yeast, milk, water, and melted butter and let sit for 5 minutes until mixture starts to foam a little. Add flour, salt, and sugar and mix with dough hook on low-speed until combined. Knead for an additional 3-4 minutes on low-speed until the dough is looking smooth. Remove dough hook and cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise on the counter until doubled (about 1 hour).

Turn dough out onto a floured cutting board and cut the dough in half and then cut each half into about 10 equal-sized pieces.

In a small bowl combine:

1 cup packed light brown sugar 

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In another small bowl:

6 tablespoons melted butter 

Dip each piece into the butter and then in the sugar mixture. Place the pieces in a greased bundt pan, cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.

Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then invert the warm bread onto a plate. (If you wait too long to remove the bread it will stick to the pan.)  

In another small bowl combine:

1 cup powdered sugar 

2 tablespoons milk

Mix the powdered sugar and milk together and spoon the glaze over the warm bread.

 

I brought a monkey bread with me to my brother's to help watch the kids after he had surgery on his wrist and my very adorable precocious niece asked me, "Do they call it monkey bread because monkeys really love it?"  I couldn't stop giggling over her genius.  I'm telling you that kid knows things.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how many times I've made this monkey bread and never seem to be able to capture a photograph of it.  Then it hit me, there must be some crazed creature with a voracious appetite getting to this bread before I get a chance to photograph it.  So I set out a warm monkey bread on the table, set up my camera on auto-snap, and headed back to the kitchen for some milk.  Imagine my shock and horror when I came back to find an empty plate and these photos of a monkey with a crazy piranha smile on my camera.  Apparently this creature uses sonar to locate freshly baked monkey bread and then uses its oversized grill to consume the bread in one fell swoop and leaves the scene before anyone is the wiser.

You've been warned my friends:  If you plan on bringing this bread with you to an event or even saving it for later; be sure and put out ample Monkey-ranha repellent.

I was under the weather for a few and then I had a custom order to fill for my niece's sister so she could ask a special someone "Will you go to prom with me?  The cookies worked their magic and I can't wait to see photos of the happy couple.  The talented Arty McGoo made the originals that she saw and I made them for her in the colors of her dress.  I need to get my cookies skills back up to speed since I will be making a ton of them soon for the 50th anniversary party I'm working on.

What I really need is some cookie sleeping pills and a warm glass of milk, hmm.

Gina