According to the Chinese zodiac, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.
Why shouldn't it also be the year of the monkey bread?
Recently I was reintroduced to cinnamon-sugary monkey bread, the nostalgic delight, at a trendy adult-friendly chain brewery. BJ's Restaurant Brewhouse makes a marvelous Monkey Bread Pizookie (pizza-cookie) for dessert: "This fresh-baked, pull-apart treat is topped with caramelized butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, baked to a golden brown finish and then topped with vanilla bean ice cream."
In my research of monkey bread, a finger-friendly treat made up of individual dough balls, I did not discover an inventor. I know that it appeared in community cookbooks in the 1950s and church cakewalks in the 1980s (the same decade first lady Nancy Reagan would submit her own conservative low-sugar and no-cinnamon recipe to charity cookbooks). I don't recall my mom baking it, but relatives of my playmates across the street made it, as well as some sweet memories in the process.
Experiencing it again made me want to experiment at home. Little did I know when I later perused Pinterest that there are so many varieties of monkey bread (pizza, s'mores, Oreo, fluffernutter, pretzel, etc.). And there are several names for it, among them pull-apart bread and bubble bread.
But the best name, by far, is monkey bread. Say it and try not to smile. It's the Curious George of carbohydrates. Adorable. Innocent. If just a bit mischievous. ("George promised to be good. But it is easy for little monkeys to forget.")
Such breads can be quick -- relying on refrigerated biscuits and frozen bread dough. Or they can be complex -- requiring rising and punching down and insufferable periods of waiting (like the from-scratch Monkey Bubble Bread recipe included; it takes about 3 hours, but it's worth every second).
They can be made in Bundt or loaf pans, muffin tins (like Breakfast Sausage Monkey Muffins) or skillets (like the Greek-inspired Spanikopita Pull-Aparts). They can be dessert or breakfast (like Bacon Cheddar Monkey Bread). They can be sweet (like Death by Chocolate Monkey Bread) or savory.
All are meant to be eaten warm (but not too warm -- yow!), with fingers, with friends and, most of all, frivolity.
Monkey Bubble Bread
For bread:
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
5 tablespoons butter, melted
For topping:
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
In a small saucepan, warm milk slightly (no more than 110 degrees), add yeast and whisk to dissolve.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar and salt until combined. Add egg and mix on low speed until combined.
Keeping mixer on low, slowly pour in milk until combined. Add butter and mix until dough comes together. Replace paddle with dough hook attachment and continue to mix on medium, about 8 to 10 minutes. Dough should mound together and easily come off bottom of bowl. (If it's too wet, add a little flour; if too dry, add a tiny bit of water.)
Coat bottom and sides of a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and roll it around to completely cover in oil. Cover bowl with dish towel, and keep in a warm area until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Push down and deflate dough. Remove dough from bowl and pat into a rough 8-inch circle. Use a serrated knife to cut dough or use your fingers to pinch dough into 1-inch pieces. Roll pieces into balls and place on sheet pan lined with parchment (there should be about 60). Cover balls lightly with plastic wrap to prevent drying.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and brown sugar. Put melted butter in another small bowl. Dip each ball in butter, then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Layer balls in Bundt pan. Wrap pan in plastic wrap and set in warm area until balls have doubled in size, about 1 hour. Remove plastic and bake for 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, Place a serving plate over pan and invert pan to remove. Serve warm.
Makes 12 servings
Recipe from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
Breakfast Sausage Monkey Muffins
12 ounces ground pork sausage
1 egg, beaten
8 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese, divided use
2 (7 1/2-ounce) packages refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 12 standard muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper liners.
Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until brown, breaking apart any large pieces. Move sausage from pan to a large bowl, blotting excess grease with paper towel; let cool 2 minutes. Add egg to sausage mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in half of the cheese.
Separate biscuits, cutting each into 4 pieces. Roll biscuit pieces in sausage mixture to coat. Place 6 or 7 pieces in each muffin cup. Divide any remaining mixture among muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove muffins to paper-towel-lined plate. Serve warm.
Makes 12 muffins.
Recipe adapted from Monkey Breads and More, Publications International, Ltd.
Spanikopita Pull-Aparts
4 tablespoons butter, melted, divided use
12 frozen white dinner rolls (such as Rhodes), thawed according to package directions
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
4 ounces grated Monterey Jack cheese, divided use
Brush a 10-inch ovenproof skillet with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Cut rolls in half to make 24 balls. Combine spinach, green onions, garlic, dill, salt and pepper in a large bowl, mixing well to break apart spinach. Add feta and half the Monterey Jack and remaining butter, mixing well.
Coat each ball of dough with spinach mixture; arrange in single layer in prepared skillet. Sprinkle any remaining spinach mixture between and over balls of dough. Cover with dish towel and let rise in a warm place about 40 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle remaining Monterey Jack over dough balls. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Makes 24 rolls.
Recipe adapted from Monkey Breads and More, Publications International, Ltd.
Bacon Cheddar Monkey Bread
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
12 ounces bacon, cooked and chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
2 (7 1/2-ounce) packages refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine cheese, bacon and green onions in a large bowl, mixing well.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together butter and egg. Separate biscuits, cutting each into 4 pieces. Dip biscuit pieces into butter mixture, then roll into cheese mixture to coat. Layer biscuit pieces into Bundt pan. Bake about 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Loosen edges of bread with knife.
Place a serving plate over pan and invert pan to remove. Serve warm.
Makes 12 servings.
Recipe adapted from Monkey Breads and More, Publications International, Ltd.
Death by Chocolate Monkey Bread
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, divided use
2 (8-count) cans Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Place granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder in a gallon size zipper bag. Separate biscuits, cutting each into 6 pieces. Add biscuit pieces to bag, seal and shake to coat.
Mix melted butter, brown sugar and remaining cocoa powder in a small bowl.
Layer half of the coated biscuit pieces in prepared pan. Top with half of the chocolate chips and half of the butter mixture. Repeat a second layer of biscuits with remaining chocolate chips and butter mixture.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Place a serving plate over pan and invert pan to remove. (Author's notes: "Do not let this cool completely in the pan or it becomes like a rock and it will be very hard to clean your pan! Pray that the whole thing comes out in one piece. If it doesn't, just stick the pieces back together, no one will know!")
Makes 12 servings.
Recipe adapted from Dorothy Kern's Crazy For Crust blog (crazyforcrust.com)
Food on 10/26/2016