Monkey Bread Loaf

Sometimes I come across a recipe that it seems everyone else has been familiar with since birth, but is completely alien to me. I've seen all kinds of renditions of monkey bread on the net, but never in bakeries or grocery stores- I guess it's one of those cultural phenomenons that only exists in the homemade state. And that makes perfect sense- it's very easy, and also tastes the best fresh out of the oven. 

It can be made in the cheatey way probably invented by '50s housewives in the dawn of a glorious age of premade baking mixes and doughs, with canned biscuit dough and plain old sugar. Just take bits of dough, roll them in sugar, adhere them together and bake. Add whatever spices or enrichments you like, but it all comes back to that simple formula. Of course, yeast doughs are also a possibility, such as this recipe here (you could use store-bought bread dough... but why you'd want to do that is completely lost on me) and the dough itself can be further varied to be a sort of brioche or egg bread, simple white bread, t cetera. 

The top sugar is crispy, yet conceals a gooey underbelly, like a lava flow! Only safer and better tasting.

I really like this buttermilk-based, very simple dough that I've jazzed up just a tad with orange extract and vanilla. It's tangy and mildly sweet, tender, and requires no eggs. The orange goes really well with the vanilla- lemon is also good, or even tangerine zest would be excellent.

The sugar itself is the basic brown sugar plus a bit of cinnamon and cardamom for what I'd hoped would be some Nordic flair. I lived in Finland as a toddler, and while I remember nothing of it, my mother always tells me of how all the pastries were flavoured with cardamom. I like to think this spice has imprinted itself on me that way- I now use it in biscuits, on oatmeal, in puddings, even on plain old bananas. You can imagine how much I like Indian sweets, which use a lot of cardamom. But you can always try another spice- maybe replace the cinnamon and cardamom duo with 1 1/2 Tsp. of apple pie, pumpkin pie, or even gingerbread spice. You don't really need any spices, but they definitely add something to the sugary buttery aura of the bread.

Speaking of butter- you don't need to use it, so long as you get the sugar to stick to the dough bits in some way or another, but it adds a lot of flavour and welcome richness. Not too much, not too little. Just right for breakfast, with tea, or to pick off with a fork while reading on a rainy day. 

Definitely a party favour favourite. The Carnage has already begun, as the missing chunks indicate.

Monkey Bread Loaf
Adapted from Baking Bites

2 1/2 Tsp. Active dry yeast
1 1/2 C. Buttermilk, at room temperature
1/2 Tsp. Orange extract, or the zest of one orange
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1/4 C. Sugar
3 to 3 1/2 C. Bread flour

Topping Mixture:
1/2 C. Butter, melted
1 C. Light brown sugar, or a mixture of white and dark brown sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Cardamom

Grease a 9" loaf pan with butter and set aside.

Mix the yeast, buttermilk, extracts and sugar. Add just enough flour to form a sticky, cohesive dough and knead until elastic- it will remain sticky. Let rise covered for about an hour, or until doubled.

Divide into small pieces, about 16. Form balls. Mix the light brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Dip the balls of dough firstly into the butter, then into the sugar mixture. Place the balls into the pan and once all the dough is used up, pour any remaining butter and sugar on top. Let rise 45 minutes covered.

Bake at 190℃ for about 35 minutes, or until the inside of the bread registers 190℉ with a thermometer. Let cool before unmolding- or eat straight from the pan while warm.