best dessert recipes: Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread

I baked Monkey Bread to go with our dinner tonight. It was so good, I don't know why I bothered to cook anything else. This recipe is adapted from the North Little Rock Junior League cookbook called Rave Reviews. Also, both my daughter Angela and my sister Helen have used this recipe many times with much success. It has especially become a family favorite at Helen's house at holiday time.

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Monkey Bread
1 package yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup water and add the teaspoon sugar. Let rise while preparing the remaining ingredients.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg with paddle attachment, then add sugar, vegetable oil, and salt. Add yeast mixture and 1 cup water. Change to dough hook, add flour, knead until dough forms. Or, you can mix all ingredients by hand if you prefer.

Grease a large bowl with vegetable oil, turn the dough over to grease top, cover and let rise until doubled in size. When dough has doubled in size, punch down and let rest a few minutes. Roll dough out and cut into strips. Dip each strip in the melted butter and place the strips in a Bundt pan, pour the remaining butter on top. Let rise until dough reaches top of pan, about 1 hour. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 -25 minutes or until brown on top.

This bread dough mixes up very quickly in an electric mixer.

After dough is formed, place in a greased bowl and let rise.

After the dough is double in size punch it down and let it rest a few minutes.

Then roll out the dough . . .

. . . and cut into strips. Dip the strips in the melted butter and place in a Bundt pan.

Let rise until bread is about as high as the pan, usually about an hour, but it depends on the temperature of the surroundings. Today with the air conditioning on and the house really cool, it took mine closer to two hours.