A Handbook for Making

Monkey Bread
Tips, Techniques, and Recipes

A Prepared Pantry Publication

Dennis and Merri Ann Weaver

 A Handbook for Making Monkey Bread

Tips, Techniques, and Recipes

Contents

Basic Steps for Successful Monkey Bread........................................... 3

Should You Choose a Mix or a Recipe?............................................... 4
Can I Use My Bread Machine?............................................................. 4
Choosing the Right Pan........................................................................ 4
The Secrets of Great Monkey Bread .................................................... 5
Suggested Monkey Breads .................................................................. 6
Cinnamon Monkey Bread.................................................................. 6
Caramel Nut Monkey Bread .............................................................. 6
Cherry Almond Monkey Bread .......................................................... 6
Orange Pecan Monkey Bread ........................................................... 8

The Prepared Pantry

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Rigby, ID 83442
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www.preparedpantry.com

Copyright 2005-7, The Prepared Pantry. All rights reserved.

The material herein is published by The Prepared Pantry for the private use of individuals and may not be
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using this information at his or her own risk.
 A Handbook for Making Monkey Bread

Tips, Techniques, and Recipes

We’ve been making monkey bread for years.

Obviously, we love it. It’s a family treat, we take it
to parties, and it’s perfect for holidays. It’s easy,
we can be creative, and it doesn’t take a great
investment of time. Now we would like to share
some of what we’ve learned. We’ll tell you how,
answer your questions, help you choose a mix or
a recipe, and recommend pans. We hope you
enjoy making monkey bread for years to come.

But before we dive into making monkey bread, we

would like to tell you about making monkey bread
with kids. They love it. It’s a great kids’ project.
Kids love handling and dipping the bread pieces
and it really doesn’t matter how it’s put together.
And since there’s not a lot of precision involved,
let them make it their way. Both you and the kids
will have fun.

Now back to making monkey bread.

Basic Steps for Successful Monkey Bread

Though monkey bread is easy to make and the actual preparation time is modest, you
do have to wait for the bread to rise. Allow yourself enough time.

Mix the dough and add the goodies. Monkey bread lends itself to freelancing; you
don’t have to follow a monkey bread recipe; you can start with your favorite bread recipe.

To fill a bundt pan, you will need a recipe that calls for about four cups of flour. Mix as
you would another bread. We usually add several tablespoons of sugar for a little
sweeter bread. For an egg-rich bread, add an egg or two. You can also add cocoa, dry
fruit, or nuts.

Cut the chunks. The easiest way to cut the dough is to roll it out on the counter and cut
across the dough with a sharp knife. The chunks should be no larger than walnuts.

Coat the chunks. There are two ways to coat the chunks: dip the chunks in butter and
roll them in a sugar mixture or make a buttery slurry and dip the chunks in the slurry. For
cinnamon monkey bread, dip the chunks in butter and roll them in a cinnamon and sugar
mixture.

Nuts or fruit can be added between layers if desired. If you want to top your monkey
bread with nuts, place nuts in the bottom of the pan since the monkey bread will be
inverted onto a platter after baking.
Load the pan. You don’t have to use a bundt pan; any pan will do though tube pans
and springform pans may leak. You can use a jumbo muffin pan to make individual
desserts.

Bake the bread. Bake the bread at 350 degrees or as directed by the recipe. Once
baked, let the monkey bread cool in the pan for about five minutes before inverting on a
platter. This gives the glaze a chance to set up a bit so that it does not run everywhere
when inverted. Serve the monkey bread warm and fresh.

Should You Choose a Mix or a Recipe?

Either a mix or a recipe works. A mix, of course, is more convenient and is a proven
product. In a mix, everything is assembled and is in the right proportions. But you can
make fine monkey bread from a recipe. Here’s what to look for in a recipe:

 The bread for a monkey bread is usually a little richer than a sandwich bread and
often made with an egg. Because there is so much butter in the coating, extra
butter in the loaf is not necessary.
 Make sure the recipe is sized for the pan. A recipe calling for 4 to 4 1/2 cups of
flour will fill a bundt pan nicely.
 Make sure there is plenty of cinnamon and sugar for the coating. If you are
cutting the dough into small pieces, it takes a lot of coating. For our mixes, we
use about a cup and half of cinnamon sugar.

Traditional cinnamon monkey bread showcases cinnamon. Make certain that you are
using the very best cinnamon that you can find.

Can I Use My Bread Machine?

By all means, use your bread machine. Nearly all bread machines have a dough
setting—that’s the setting that you want to use. Your machine should “beep” when it is
complete. Be sure and get it out; if you let it rise in your machine it will overfill the
machine and you’ll have a sticky mess.

Once you remove the dough from your bread machine, roll it out, cut it into chunks, coat
the chunks and proceed as the recipe or mix directs.

Choosing the Right Pan

Let’s talk about the pans that you don’t want to use. Generally, you won’t want to use an
angel food cake pan or a springform pan. All that sugar coating in the pan is going to
melt. Most springform pans and angel food cake pans do not have a tight enough seal
at the sidewall to bottom intersection to keep the goo in. You’re going to have a mess.

A nonstick pan or a silicone pan is preferable to a standard pan. When you invert your
monkey bread, you want it to release completely and easily.
A bundt pan is the classic pan for monkey bread; it makes for a very attractive monkey
bread. On our site, we sell several very good bundt cake pans including a silicone pan
and a rose patterned pan. If I had to choose one pan for monkey bread, it would
probably be the silicone bundt pan. It has the surest release. Even if the phone rings
and we forget to get the monkey bread out of the pan before it sets up, we can always
peel a flexible bundt pan off.

For individual servings, choose a jumbo muffin pan with nonstick surface. And yes, we
do carry that also. For valentines, consider a heart shaped pan.

You can make your monkey bread in a loaf pan. Most recipes and our mixes are two
large for a standard bread loaf pan. Two medium or small loaf pans might work. If you
want one big loaf, consider our angel food cake loaf pan. It’s about the right size though
not nonstick.

The Secrets of Great Monkey Bread

We’ve made a ton of monkey bread. And yes, we’ve learned from experience. We offer
six secrets to super success with your monkey bread.

1. Go hygroscopic. It took us a while to discover that adding hygroscopic ingredients

(those that absorb moisture from the air), made for a moister, tastier monkey bread. We
now add potato flour to the dough and brown sugar to the glaze in nearly all of our
recipes and mixes. (You can buy potato flour on our site.)

2. Get gooey. Use plenty of butter and a sugary glaze. Again, a little brown sugar helps.

3. Keep the pieces small. Smaller pieces of dough and flat pieces have more surface
area to dredge in your sugary coating. Chunks should be no larger than a walnut.

4. Cover with foil. The sugary glaze caramelizes and the top may burn while baking.
The simple solution is to drape a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the pan during
the last ten minutes of baking. The foil will reflect the heat.

5. Use a thermometer. Just because the top of the loaf is brown doesn’t mean the
center of the loaf is cooked. The best way to tell is with a thermometer. When the center
of the loaf reaches 185 to 190 degrees, the bread is done. (You can buy an insta-read
thermometer for around $10 on our site.)

6. Eat it fresh. Still warm is the way to go. Like all bread products, day old is not as
good. You can try reheating it in an oven at 250 degrees but some glazes may become
too runny so watch your monkey bread carefully.
Suggested Monkey Breads
Cinnamon Monkey Bread

This is the classic monkey bread, the monkey bread that is made more than any other.
It is made with a slightly sweet bread and coated with a cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Our cinnamon monkey bread mix is made with potato flour for extra moistness. The
coating contains brown sugar for a more caramel flavor and lots of very good imported
Cassia Korintje cinnamon.

Caramel Nut Monkey Bread

Caramel nut monkey bread was inspired by

Philly stick buns. Again it is made with a
slightly with a slightly sweet bread dough
but this time, it is coated with a caramel
syrup and made with lots of nuts.

Our caramel nut monkey bread mix is made

with potato flour for extra moistness. The
coating is made with brown sugar for a very
caramel flavor with lots of premium walnut
pieces.

Cherry Almond Monkey Bread

Cherry Almond Monkey Bread is made with

a Swedish Vanilla Almond Bread with added
cherry extract and the juice from a jar of
maraschino cherries to give it color and
sweetness. The bread is an attractive pink
color. The sticky glaze has lots of chopped
almonds.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

4 cups bread flour

1 seven gram instant yeast packet
1 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup combination juice, water and egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cups dry milk
2 tablespoons potato flour
1/2 teaspoon dough conditioner
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon cherry flavor
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
red food coloring (optional)

1/3 cups finely chopped slivered almonds

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions

1. Place two cups of flour in the mixing bowl of your stand-type mixer. Add the yeast.

2. Drain the maraschino cherries saving the juice from the cherries. Place the juice in a
two-cup measuring cup. Add the egg. Add enough water to bring the mixture to the 1 1/2
cup mark. With a fork, whisk the mixture until combined and then heat the mixture in the
microwave to 110 degrees.

3. Add the warm water-egg-juice mixture to the flour in the bowl and beat with a dough
hook for about one minute to hydrate the yeast.

4. Add the rest of the flour, the sugar, salt, dry milk, potato flour, dough conditioner, and
nutmeg. Add the 1/4 cup melted butter and almond, cherry, and vanilla extracts. With the
dough hook and at medium speed, mix for four minutes or until the dough is well
developed. Add the optional food coloring to get the shade desired. Remove to a large
greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled—one hour to 11/2 hours.

5. For the glaze, finely chop 1/3 cup slivered almonds. (A nut chopper or mezzaluna
works well for this.) Add the granulated and brown sugars and mix. Use scissors to snip
the cherries into pieces.

6. Melt the 1/2 cup butter and set aside. Coarsely chop the 1/2 cup slivered almonds.
Place about 1/2 the coarsely chopped nuts and 1/2 the cherries in the bottom of a bundt
pan.

7. Lightly flour a work area on a clean counter. Press the dough into a disk. With a sharp
knife, cut the dough into walnut-sized chunks. Dip the chunks in the melted butter and
then in the nut and sugar mixture. Place the coated chunks in a bundt pan. After a layer
of chunks are in the pan, sprinkle about 1/4 of the cherries and coarsely chopped nuts
over the dough in the pan. Continue coating chunks. After another layer, sprinkle the
reminder of cherries and coarse nuts over the dough. Coat and place the rest of the
chunks. If you have any left over butter or sugar mixture, pour it over the dough. Cover
the pan and let the bread rise until doubled.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes or until it tests done with an
internal temperature of 190 degrees. (Cover with aluminum foil the last ten minutes to
avoid over-browning.) After five minutes, invert the bread on a large plate or serving
platter. Serve warm.

Baker’s Notes:

1. We used Baker’s High Heat Dry Milk. Milk contains an enzyme that impedes the
grown of yeast. High heat processing destroys that enzyme. You can use nonfat dry milk
or liquid milk but the bread will not rise as quickly or be as light.
2. The potato flour is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture rather than drying out. It helps
keep the bread moist. We added more potato flour than necessary for moistness
because we like the flavor that it imparts.

Orange Pecan Monkey Bread

Orange Pecan Monkey Bread introduces another

technique for making money bread: the addition of jam
to the glaze for more flavor and sweetness. In this
case, orange marmalade is used but peach jam could
be used for a peach pecan monkey bread or raspberry
jam for a raspberry nut monkey bread.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

4 cups bread flour

1 seven gram instant yeast packet
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup combination water and egg

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoons salt
1/4 cups dry milk
2 tablespoons potato flour
1/2 teaspoon dough conditioner
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

1. Place two cups of flour in the mixing bowl of your stand-type mixer. Add the yeast.

2. Put the egg in a two cup measuring cup. Add enough water to bring the mixture to the
1 1/2 cup mark. With a fork, whisk the mixture until combined and then heat the mixture
in the microwave to 110 degrees.

3. Add the warm water and egg mixture to the flour in the bowl and beat with a dough
hook for about one minute to hydrate the yeast.

4. Add the rest of the flour, the sugar, salt, dry milk, potato flour, dough conditioner, and
the first teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the 1/4 cup melted butter. With the dough hook and
at medium speed, mix for four minutes or until the dough is well developed. Remove to a
large greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled—one hour to 11/2 hours.

5. For the glaze, to the 1/2 cup melted butter, add the marmalade, and brown sugar, the
second teaspoon of cinnamon and vanilla. Stir until combined into a slurry.

6. Sprinkle a few of the nuts in a bundt pan.

7. Lightly flour a work area on a clean counter. Press the dough into a disk. With a sharp
knife, cut the dough into walnut-sized chunks. Dip the chunks in the sugary slurry and
place the coated chunks in a bundt pan. After a layer of chunks are in the pan, sprinkle
some of the chopped nuts over the dough in the pan. Continue coating chunks. After
another layer, sprinkle the reminder of the nuts over the dough. Coat and place the rest
of the chunks. If you have any left over slurry, spread it over the dough. Cover the pan
and let the bread rise until doubled.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes or until it tests done with an
internal temperature of 190 degrees. (Cover with aluminum foil the last ten minutes to
avoid over-browning.) After five minutes, invert the bread on a large plate or serving
platter. Serve warm.

Baker’s Notes:

1. We used Baker’s High Heat Dry Milk. Milk contains an enzyme that impedes the
grown of yeast. High heat processing destroys that enzyme. You can use nonfat dry milk
or liquid milk but the bread will not rise as quickly or be as light.
2. The potato flour is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture rather than drying out. It helps
keep the bread moist. We added more potato flour than necessary for moistness
because we like the flavor that it imparts.