Start a bread dough sponge using flour, water, honey and yeast. Combine a flour mixture containing flour, milk powder and yeast, and then sprinkle that on top the sponge and allow it to ferment for 4 hours. Mix in some softened butter then rest for 20 minutes. Knead in some salt and then allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1.5 hrs. Turn out the dough and press it down, then let it rise again until doubled, about 1 hr.
Make a filling by boiling some raisins in rum and water, then drain the raisins and reserve the liquid. Melt some butter with brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls, dip them in the butter-sugar mixture and lay them in an angel food cake pan. Sprinkle on some raisins and pecans. Keep layering until all the dough is used up.
Drizzle on any remaining butter/sugar mixture on top. Cover the pan and let the dough rise for an hour.
Bake at 350*F for about an hour on the lowest shelf, on top a baking stone, until it is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.
Boil the raisin liquid until it is reduced to 2 tbsp. Remove the bread from the oven and drizzle with the raisin liquid. Invert the bread onto a rack and then re-invert it onto a plate for serving.
This was possibly the best cinnamon bread I have ever had. Not too sweet.
Recipe from “The Bread Bible” by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Aloha, Nate
Do I need to knead till gluten form, like making any other bread?
Faith,
yes, you knead until the gluten forms.
Thanks Nate. What do you suggest if I want to do this for breakfast? I can’t possibly wake up in the wee hours to do this. Can I bake them the day before, slightly underbaked, and continue to bake again for another 5-10 mins to warm it up the next morning? Do you think this might work?
Faith,
I wouldn’t try that.
You can try prepping the monkey bread the night before then put it in the fridge overnight. An hour or two before baking, take it out of the fridge to warm up and finish proofing. Then bake as usual.
Do let us know how it comes out for you!