Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze Recipe

How to make it

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• Get oven and pan ready:
• Adjust oven rack to medium-low position and heat oven to 200°F.
• When oven reaches 200, turn it off.
• Butter Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter.
• Set aside.
• Make dough: In large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast.
• To proceed with a stand mixer, mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook.
• Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture.
• After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes.
• (The dough should be sticky but if it is too wet to come together into anything cohesive, add an additional 2 tablespoons flour.)
• Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball.
• To proceed by hand, mix flour and salt in large bowl.
• Make well in flour, then add milk mixture to well.
• Using wooden spoon, stir until dough becomes shaggy and is difficult to stir.
• Turn out onto lightly floured work surface and begin to knead, incorporating shaggy scraps back into dough.
• Knead until dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes.
• Shape into taut ball and proceed as directed.
• Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray or a tablespoon of neutral oil.
• Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with more cooking spray or oil.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 50 to 60 minutes.
• Make brown sugar coating:
• Place melted butter in one bowl.
• Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a second one.
• Form the bread:
• Flip dough out onto floured surface and gently pat into an 8-inch square.
• Using a bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces.
• I found it helpful to immediately separate them from the rest of the “grid” or they quickly reformed a big doughy square in 64 parts.
• Roll each piece of dough into ball.
• Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl. (I found a fork to be helpful for this process.)
• Roll in brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in Bundt pan, staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers.
• Cover Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan, 50 to 70 minutes.
• Bake bread: Remove pan from oven and heat oven to 350°F.
• Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel might begin to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes.
• (The reason for the “might” is that CI says that it should, but mine did not bubble, leading me to bake mine for an extra 5 to 10 minutes, during which it still did not bubble but go the dark crust .
• Next time, I’d take it out sooner.)
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes (no longer, or you’ll have trouble getting it out) then turn out on platter and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Make glaze:
• Beat cream cheese with some powdered sugar until smooth and light.
• Just taste and adjust — you’re looking for something that tastes equally tangy and sweet, and texturally thin enough to drape over the bread but thick enough that it will not just roll off completely.
• Drizzle the glaze over warm monkey bread, letting it run over top and sides of bread.
• Serve warm.
• Variation: slightly brown the melted butter you roll the balls of dough into. amazingly delicious
• And then you can call it Brown Butter Cinnamon Brown Sugar Monkey Bread. !