Sunday, June 23, 2013

Homemade Monkey Bread

I've mentioned before that I'm normally not a sweets person.. However, this kid I'm carrying apparently has quite a sweet tooth. I think I've eaten more cookies, cake, etc over the last 8.5 months than I have in the last 8.5 YEARS. And tacos.. But that's another monster. Anyways. This far along in pregnancy, I'm really trying to make things as easy as possible without sacrificing too much. This recipe seems to really take care of that! The dough is made in a bread machine, chopped up, dunked in melted butter and cinnamon/sugar, thrown into a pan, left to rise awhile longer, and then baked! And EATEN.  And enjoyed. Sorry about lack of pictures, there wasn't a chance to grab any before it was devoured! Super delicious, and tender, donut-like dough. Yumm! 

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp regular active yeast
2 tbsp canola oil (or melted butter)
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon/sugar coating:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp melted butter

Directions:
Combine warm milk, water, sugar and yeast in a bread machine. Let sit for about 10 minutes (it will be all nice and bubbly at this point). Add remaining dough ingredients in order listed and set to dough cycle. Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar, set aside. Once the dough cycle is done (usually about an hour and a half), cut or tear the dough into small pieces and roll into balls. Dunk in melted butter, then into the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture and drop into a greased bundt pan. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise for about another 1-2 hours, until doubled in size. Remove plastic and bake at 350ยบ for 30-35 minutes until the top is deep brown and you see caramel bubbling around the edges. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a plate to serve.