Makes: 8 servings
Time: About 3½ hours
Monkey bread (aka sticky bread or bubble loaf) is undeniably fun to eat. It consists of lots of tiny balls of dough rolled in sugar, piled into a bundt pan, drowned in butter and brown sugar, and baked until sticky and golden. You turn the whole thing out onto a platter and have at it, pulling off pieces of the dough as you go. If you like, drizzle with Vanilla Glaze or any other glaze before serving.
1. Grease a bundt pan with a little butter. Once the dough has completed its first rise, turn it out onto the counter and cut or tear it into small pieces roughly 1 inch in diameter. Put the granulated sugar in a large shallow bowl or baking dish. Roll the dough pieces into round balls and toss them to coat in the sugar. Put them in the prepared pan, stacking them on top of one another, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until the dough roughly doubles in size, 1 to 1½ hours.
2. Heat the oven to 350°F. When the dough balls have risen, put the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts and combines with the butter, 3 or 4 minutes. Pour this mixture evenly over the dough.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dough is deeply browned on top. Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then invert it onto a platter and serve warm or cool completely.
SPICED MONKEY BREAD Add any combination you like of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, or ginger to the granulated sugar in Step 1.
NUTTY MONKEY BREAD Chop 1 cup pecans or walnuts and scatter them into the pan as you’re adding the dough balls. For an especially decadent version, you could do the same with some chopped chocolate.