by arielleclementine
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A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand Collapsearielleclementine's Notes:
Expand1 packet active dry yeast Ask a question about this ingredient
pinch sugar Ask a question about this ingredient
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees) Ask a question about this ingredient
2 tablespoons unsalted butter Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup whole milk Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 cup molasses Ask a question about this ingredient
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons kosher salt Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons ground ginger Ask a question about this ingredient
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Ask a question about this ingredient
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 cup all purpose flour (if needed) Ask a question about this ingredient
2 tablespoons butter, softened Ask a question about this ingredient
1 stick butter, melted Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup packed dark brown sugar Ask a question about this ingredient
In a small bowl, combine yeast and a pinch of sugar with the warm water. Set aside to sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.
Ask a question about this stepIn a small saucepan, combine 2 tablespoons butter, milk, and molasses and heat until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool briefly.
Ask a question about this stepIn the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg with a whisk or spoon.
Ask a question about this stepAttach the dough hook and turn the mixer to low speed. Slowly add the molasses mixture and then the yeast mixture. After the dough comes together mix for 7 minutes, or until smooth. The dough will be sticky (it should stick to the bottom of the bowl), but if it seems too wet add up to 1/4 cup additional flour, one tablespoon at a time.
Ask a question about this stepTurn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead by hand for an additional minute to form a smooth ball. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1.5 hours.
Ask a question about this stepButter the bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Put the melted stick of butter in one small bowl, and the brown sugar in another.
Ask a question about this stepWhen the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently pat into an 8-inch square. Cut dough into 64 pieces and roll the pieces into balls. One at a time, dip the balls in butter, then roll in brown sugar, and place in the bundt pan, making all attempts to distribute the balls evenly.
Ask a question about this stepCover the bundt pan with plastic wrap, place in a warm spot, and allow to rise for 1 more hour. (Or you could be a gambler and refrigerate the dough overnight, and then let it come to room temperature in the morning just before baking for breakfast). The balls should be puffy and about an inch below the top of the pan.
Ask a question about this stepPreheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the monkey bread for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes (but no longer!). Invert onto a cake stand and cool for another 5-10 minutes. Devour!
Ask a question about this stepooh! what a fun idea! thanks for the tip :)
Delicious doesn't do this justice! I ate far too many balls of this miraculous creation. Thanks, AC!
yay! thanks hla!!
Made this today for Christmas at home. What a success. Making it again for our New Year's Day festivities. Be careful with the cloves though. I probably could have used a little less.
oh thank you! sorry if i was a bit heavy-handed with the cloves- i love love ground clove, but i know many people think it's overpowering. i'll be making this in a few weeks, and i think i'll borrow a page from smitten kitchen and top it with a cream cheese glaze, just to put it completely over the top: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/monkey-bread-with-cream-cheese-glaze/ thanks again for trying my recipe :)
Mmmmm. Cream cheese glaze...
I made this last year. Twice. The first time I was half asleep and didn't see the directions for letting the bread rise again before baking. We ate some anyways it looked so good. The second time it was perfect and so, so delicious. I can't wait to make it again.
i'm so happy you enjoyed it! thanks for the comment!
so delicious! Can't wait to make it for Christmas morning... maybe a few more test runs before then too ;-)
haha! thank you so much! ps- your baby and puppy are adorable- so much cute!
Saved and printed for the December holidays. My boys are going to love it. ;o)
you're so sweet- i really hope your boys enjoy it!
Anita is a vegan pastry chef & founder of Electric Blue Baking Co. in Brooklyn.
added about 1 year agoI wish my sister would have kids already so I could make this with them. When we were kids, we had a better homes and gardens kid's coobook and there was a recipe for something like this that involved grands biscuits and hershey's kisses. It was so much fun to make!
This recipe looks like it would be easy to veganize, too, but substituting coconut milk and coconut cream.
i love any and all forms of monkey bread! thanks for the vegan tips!!
I made this for Christmas morning, too! I followed your do-ahead instructions and it worked perfectly. It was the hit of the breakfast buffet. Thanks for sharing it with us.
hooray! so happy to hear that :) thank you!
I did in fact make this for Christmas morning breakfast - it was absolutely delicious. Our house gets pretty cold overnight, so I just left the pan out on the counter for the second rise and baked it when we got up. I was impressed by how well the spicy flavors came through, it's a great recipe!
oh hooray! i'm so glad you liked it! thanks for the kind feedback :)
Do you think it would work to form it into the balls and put into the pan and then refrigerate that overnight? Then let come to room-temp and bake?
(I know it's really cool that you can refrigerate the dough overnight and this may just be pushing the envelope too far. But I'm curious. Would fit into schedule better.)
hi kary! i have tried this, and it worked just fine! here's how it went down: i did steps 1-7 as written the night before, covered the bundt pan with with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge overnight. 9 hours later, the dough had barely risen at all. i took it out of the fridge and let it sit for an hour (it rose just a bit more) and then baked, following the directions in step 9. it came out great! i think the flavor might be a little bit more intensified, but i think that's a good thing, and it sure made this morning easy! thanks!
This contest may be the most difficult yet! Both of these finalists' recipes look divine. Ultimately, it was the caramel and ginger that won me over. I cannot wait to make this. Lovely! Congratulations on being a finalist.
that is so sweet of you! i really hope you like it :) as far as gift-giving goes, this bread is really best when eaten 15 minutes or so after being pulled out of the oven, when the caramel is still warm and sticky...
Excellent idea and twist on monkeybread. This is a must try for us this holiday season. Congrats on your creation.
Stuart
thank you, Stuart!
So many weeks it is so tough to choose! But how could I not vote for monkeybread? Congrats arielleclementine!
lol monkeymom, looks like destiny!
haha! you're the best! thanks, monkeymom :)
Fabulous! I am going to work in that crystalized ginger,,,,,,
if you try it, please let me know how it works out!
hooray! thanks, Midge!
what a fantastic surprise! thank you all so much!!
I love monkeybread, and your gingerbread version sounds scrumptious!! Congrats on being a finalist!!
thank you, gingerroot!
Brilliant - you have my vote!
you're so kind!! thank you :)
Happy dance!!!!!! And just in time for Festivus! Congrats on the EP and the finals, arielleclementine! ♥
hooray mrs. larkin!! thank you so so much :)
Oh my. I really want this now. It looks lovely in the bundt pan, too. Seriously, after reading recipe & comments, I know I'll eat most of it myself, and only hope I can hold off until Festivus, or the grievance you'll be hearing is how tight my jeans have gotten.
thank you so much! i know- the one in the picture is so perfect- mine looked much more, shall we say, rustic? a very happy festivus to you!
Congrats! this looks beyond delicious. If I make this, I already know I will devour the whole thing by myself!
yay! thank you, fiveandspice!!
Congrats! I had a feeling this was going to be a finalist.
you're too kind :) thank you!
haha! thanks, friend!
thank you thank you nannydeb!
oh hooray! thank you!
Has anyone tried the suggestion on step 8... Ref rig over night??
I haven't but based on experience, and looking at the amount of yeast, and the fact that ingredients are warmed before a fairly significant kneading period, my prediction is that the dough would rise quite a bit in the fridge. You can tie it down into a strong plastic bag, but all that yeast activity might give it kind of a beery taste. I don't know for sure with this recipe, but that's just what I think might happen. If I wanted to make the dough the night before, I'd reduce the amount of yeast and start with cold milk and butter. ;o)
hi Suz2622! i'll make this again tonight and test the overnight rise and report back. thanks for your expertise, AntoniaJames! you're probably right (i know what an accomplished baker you are!), so thanks for the suggestions in case the dough ends up rising too much over night!
the results of the experiment are in! here are my findings: i did steps 1-7 as written last night, covered the bundt pan with with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge overnight. 9 hours later, the dough had barely risen at all. i took it out of the fridge and let it sit for an hour (it rose just a bit more) and then baked, following the directions in step 9. it came out great! i think the flavor might be a little bit more intensified, but i think that's a good thing, and it sure made this morning easy!
that's so fun! i really hope you like it! merry christmas!
I think we share culinary karma or something. I typically love your recipes. And what made me write is that last week I was working on a ginger monkey bread recipe for the best breakfast food because I was thinking that it would be a grown-up twist on a kid favorite and just could not get it right enough to submit. I was trying to work crystalized ginger into the mix, but putting it in the dough was not quite right and putting it in between the pieces of dough was not quite right either. Any thoughts on how to add it to yours? I just love that firey bite it gives your tonsils.
oh wow! that's amazing! i think this one would definitely benefit from the kick of crystalized ginger. i would have thought that you could have kneaded it into the dough, but if you already tried that and it was weird this might work: smitten kitchen added a cream cheese glaze to her monkey bread- perhaps you could do the same but have it studded with ginger? i would be all over that.
I just saw this and can't wait to make it for company this weekend! I wish I had some right now...
oh wow! thanks nannydeb! i really hope you like it :)
Thanks, arielleclementine. I have never made monkey bread, but love your use of ginger in this one.
thanks so much, sagegreen!
This looks SO GOOD! You are saint for getting up at 5 and making it, and then forming 64 dough balls ... it looks completely worth the effort!
haha! no way girl! i made this last night and we ate it for dinner with homemade potato chips! that's just how i roll...
Hooray for monkey bread!! I was hoping someone would submit one of these! Aren't they fun?
thanks, mrslarkin! yes, they're so fun! my headnote came out sounding snarky, but i really do love having everyone gather around and pull it apart.
Hey, this would be fantastic for Festivus and the Airing of Grievances! My siblings would pro'ly resort to throwing the balls at each other.
haha!! so true! we celebrate festivus every december 23! we have taken to omitting the airing of grievances though- too raw!
aww- thanks drbabs :)
This looks sooooo delicious. I love a monkey bread recipe made with homemade dough instead of canned biscuits.
thanks so much! it is a really fun dough to work with- smells like christmas!
haha! thank you! that means a lot coming from the original monkeymom!
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There are no special ingredients for monkey bread -- you probably have most of them in your pantry already: cloves, yeast, nutmeg, sugar, milk, ginger, cinnamon, molasses, brown sugar, flour, and butter.
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The yeast proofs (center) while Amanda assembles the liquids: milk, butter and molasses.
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Well-behaved yeast (fluffy!) confiding in the spices.
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The dip-and-sweep method for measuring flour.
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The flour and spices go right into the mixer -- if you don't have a mixer, just use a bowl and a wooden spoon.
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Pouring the molasses mixture into the dry ingredients.
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The earth brown dough forming.
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Next, the yeast is added.
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Amanda likes to caress the mixer.
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After kneading in the mixer, you want to knead it by hand for a minute just to bring it together into a smooth ball.
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Isn't she pretty?
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You drop it into the oiled bowl, then turn it so both sides are coated with oil.
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After rising.
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Winding up the for the punch-down.
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Deflation!
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After shaping and flattening, you cut the dough into strips. Amanda likes using a simple plastic dough scraper.
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You then cut the strips into small lumps. 64(ish) of them. Don't get too worked up about getting the number right.
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Shaping the lumps into balls.
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You dip the balls one at a time into melted butter, then brown sugar. The balls are then dropped into a well-buttered bundt pan. Don't over crowd them -- you want to give them room to breathe.
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After baking, you need to invert the monkey bread onto a plate. The moment of truth...
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... and spazzing out.
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Peeking under the hood.
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Delight/insanity.
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I made this cake and substituted Domaine de Canton for the fresh ginger and it was amazing!! I highly recommend it.