Monkey bread using my Sweet dough recipe...

I have been meaning to share my sweet dough recipe with you all and what better way to do it than with Monkey Bread. Monkey bread, also called African coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake and bubbleloaf, is a sticky, gooey pastry served in the United States for breakfast. The origin of the term monkey bread is uncertain. Possible etymologies include that the bread resembles the monkey puzzle tree, or the act of several people pulling at the bread is reminiscent of monkey behavior. Tonight I made this beautiful monkey bread for my neighbors using my all time favorite dough recipe. This dough can be used to make cinnamon buns, sweets rolls, cinnamon cresents, or any other dessert that calls for yeasted sweet dough. The technique for making Monkey bread is fairly simple so don't go getting puzzled by reading recipes that tell you to roll the dough out, cut it in small squares, roll the squares into golf size balls etc etc. All you have to do once the dough has risen the first time is flatten the dough and pinch of pieces as you go, simple as that. Below you will find a picture that shows you how to get the pieces of dough formed into the perfect little ball. Drizzle this bread with icing and top with chopped nuts and you have yourself a beautiful holiday ceterpiece.... The picture above shows you a mini Monkey bread, so expect yours to be much bigger.


Ingredients
5 to 5 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons butter (melted)
1/4 cup oil
1 tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder (optional)


Ingredients for the Monkey bread
1 cup melted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
1 cup Nuts and Raisins (optional)


Directions
Activate you yeast in 2 tablespoons lukewarm water and a pinch of sugar. Meanwhile sift your flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside. In an electric mixer (if kneeding by hand use a large bowl) add your milk, water, butter, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix on low speed until well blended. Add 2 cups of flour and mix on medium speed until a smooth "batter" has formed. Add your yeast and continue to mix. Switch the speed to medium low and slowly add the remainder of your flour until a smooth and sticky dough forms. The dough should still stick a little to the sides of your electric mixer but most of the dough should be sticking to your dough hook attachment. If you feel the dough is too sticky to handle, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before you handle the dough by hand. With oiled hands remove the dough from your mixer and kneed for 3 minutes on a oiled countertop. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, oiled bowl. Turn dough over in bowl to coat with the oil from the bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. After the dough has risen, punch down before using.

To make the monkey bread,
Butter a bunt pan or a regular round cake pan, set aside. Mix your sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl. Metl your butter and pour into a seperate bowl. Pinch off pieces of dough to make golf size balls, pass the dough through your fingers like such,



Dip the ball into your melted butter then roll in your sugar mix, place the ball in your prepared pan and continue to do the same until you have used up the entire dough.




If you are using nuts or raisins, place them among the dough pieces as you are layering. Allow your Monkey bread to rise for approximately 45 minutes before baking.



Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the loaf is golden in color.



Allow the loaf to cool for about 10-15 minutes before turning it over onto a plate. If it doesn’t slide right down onto the plate, give it a few taps until it plops.
It’ll hold.

Here's a picture of tonights Monkey bread made in a sunflower cake pan. I was in a rush so its only a two layer Monkey bread.