Confession, I don’t really care for baking. It’s too precise and time-consuming for my tastes. I do, however, like to eat baked goods. Love to eat them.
I had been hearing rumblings about monkey bread for a few months before finally giving it a try. The catalyst? Why, Deb from Smitten Kitchen, of course. She makes everything look good. She’s a culinary pusher.
I lust after her recipes and, even more, her photography. Her monkey bread recipe was adapted from Cooks Illustrated, and I will not bother reprinting it here as you can find it on her website.
I will say that I dove into this bread while it was still warm and it’s cinnamon-rolly, doughnut-holey deliciousness. It was more time-consuming than I anticipated, but very easy. Below you will find some photographs of the different stages and my tips. If you make it, let me know how it turns out!
When initially kneading the dough (the photo above shows dough after the first rise), you will need approximately an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour. It will be quite sticky.
I used a chefs knife to section the dough. Deb recommends splitting the pieces right away. I didn’t and while it stuck a bit, it was easy to work with. I do recommend sectioning them in a variety of sizes, I found that I liked having some large and some small in the finished bread.
Make sure to butter the pan with a full 2 tablespoon of butter.
Deb mentions that while Cooks Illustrated recommends waiting until the sugar in the bread starts to bubble up on the sides, hers did not. Neither did mine, and I took it out at 30 minutes. I inverted the bread straight-away and lost a few balls, but easily stuck them back in.
I made the recommended amount of cream cheese glaze, but added it to the bread too soon (I was hungry!) so it melted a bit and ran off the sides. Not a big deal, but if you’re interested in making it more presentable, you might want to wait a bit longer :-) I would also recommend making some extra glaze for the side.
I felt that the glaze was a little…cheesy (I actually don’t really care for cream cheese) so I added some extra vanilla.
Enjoy!
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That looks soooo yummy!! My mom makes some incredible monkey bread, and now I really want some!
I just moved into a condo this last weekend with my boyfriend. He has a 9yo daughter who loves cooking and baking…we are totally going to try this this weekend. I will report back on our results.
Oh my god. I have been on a baking streak lately (after years of not cooking at all) and am totally depressed and comfort eating. This is exactly what I needed.
I’m just excited to hear someone else say that they dont care for cream cheese. I’m not a fan, and I feel like the only person in the world who doesnt like it. And cream cheese frosting is so popular right now, does nothing for me…
Your bread looks good though. I actually made this in 8th grade home economics, I forgot all about it.
When I saw Deb’s post I wanted it, and now I NEED some monkey bread in my life!
I’m actually the opposite when it comes to baking – I find it so much more relaxing and Zen-like to follow exact instructions, throw it in the oven and come back to it. Improvising over a live flame just stresses me out!
Stovetop cooking and me don’t mix either, AngelHeadedHipster, except for soups. I love baking and also find it to be a good way to relax and calm down. Plus, I love the smell of treats baking in the oven.
That monkey bread looks delicious, by the way. I first had monkey bread while at a sleepover at my high school Spanish teacher’s house. She was hilarious, we stayed up all night watching classic films like ‘The Birds’ and she made us monkey bread at 4 in the morning.