Monkey bread is an original flour product that will surely appeal to absolutely all of your household. This pastry has its name for a reason. To reveal the secret of such bread, we suggest to plunge into the history of its occurrence.
General information
How monkey bread is made was first described back in 1950. A detailed recipe for this product was presented in the women's magazine, which was published in the United States of America.
Why monkey bread has such an unusual name can be judged by how it looks. Having independently prepared this flour product, I immediately remember an African fruit called "baobab". As you know, its flesh consists of separate pieces of the fruit, and monkeys love it very much. Hence the original name of the bread.
By the way, you can cook such baked goods at home in different ways. However, the most popular recipes are those that use hard cheese, garlic, and sugar with cocoa powder. Using these ingredients, you can make fragrant or sweet monkey bread that will not leave indifferent any of your household.
Consider the two named recipes in more detail.
Monkey bread with garlic and hard cheese
We decided to bake such a product using a slow cooker. This device will contribute to a good baking of bread, preventing excessive browning and burning.
So, to cook monkey bread with cheese and garlic on our own, we need:
- high-grade wheat flour - from 450 g (add at discretion);
- boiled water (it is better to use it in the form of heat) - about 250 ml;
- granulated sugar - 2/3 of a large spoon;
- small table salt - a dessert spoon;
- dry active yeast - a small spoon;
- natural butter (for filling) - 8 large spoons;
- small sea salt (add to the filling) - 1/3 of a small spoon;
- fresh pressed garlic - several large cloves (for filling);
- any hard cheese - about 160 g (for filling).
Knead the yeast dough
In order to bake monkey bread in a slow cooker, you should prepare the yeast base in advance. To do this, it is necessary to dissolve the fine granulated sugar in warm water, and then add dry active yeast to them and leave them alone for ¼ hours. After the specified time, the resulting mass is required to pour in fine salt and add high-grade flour.
After mixing the yeast base, it is recommended to leave it under a thick towel for 90 minutes. In this case, the dough should be wrinkled regularly with a palm soaked in vegetable oil.
Cooking toppings
In order for garlic monkey bread to turn out tasty and aromatic, during its formation it is necessary to use the filling in the form of cheese. To do this, a solid dairy product must be grated in advance.
Also, the flour product must be dipped abundantly in an oily dressing. To cook it, melt the cooking oil in a metal bowl, and then add the crushed garlic cloves and small sea salt to it. After that, all the ingredients must be mixed.
We make tasty and original bread
Monkey bread, the recipe of which requires the use of cheese and garlic, is formed quite easily. For this, the yeast dough must be divided into many small pieces and rolled into neat balls. Next, each product must be dipped in an oily mass with garlic and salt. After that, fragrant pieces of the yeast base should be laid out in the multicooker bowl. Moreover, each filled layer must be abundantly sprinkled with grated cheese.
Having completed the formation of the flour product, it is required to cover it with a non-thick layer of a solid dairy product. If desired, it can be additionally sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Baking process
Monkey bread in a slow cooker is not baked for very long. After it is beautifully formed, it must be closed and set the cooking program (or baking). In this case, the timer should be set to 60 or 70 minutes. This time is quite enough for the bread to be completely baked, become soft, lush and very tasty.
Final stage
After the multicooker completes the baking program, the bread should be carefully removed from the container and placed on the board. Having cooled the product a little, it can be safely presented to the table with some first or second course.
By the way, serve monkey bread, the recipe with a photo of which is presented above, should be uncut. It does not need to be cut with a knife at all, since all the pieces of dough previously laid out in the form are broken off by hand so well.
Monkey Bread: Sweet Pastry Recipe
If you want to make not ordinary bread, which can be consumed with a second or first course, but sweet and tasty pastries for tea, then this product must be prepared in a slightly different way. To do this, you should additionally use cocoa powder, cinnamon and a little more sugar. But first things first.
So, for sweet monkey bread we need:
- high-grade light flour - from 3 glasses (add at discretion);
- fat milk, a little warm - a full glass;
- average rural egg - 1 pc.;
- small sea salt - an incomplete small spoon;
- dry active yeast - about 1 small spoon without a hill;
- fine granulated sugar - 200 g (a large spoon for the dough, the rest for powder);
- vanillin - a small spoon (for powder);
- natural butter (pre-melt) - about 100 g (+ 2 large spoons in the dough);
- cocoa powder - 3 large spoons (for powder);
- ground cinnamon - a small spoon (for powder).
Cooking dough
How to cook monkey bread? The recipe with a photo of this dish, involving the use of garlic and cheese, was presented above. But if you need to get a sweet product, we recommend using the cooking method described below.
So, for kneading the yeast base, it is necessary to dissolve the fine granulated sugar in warm milk, and then pour in the active yeast to them and wait about hour until they work. After that, you need to add a beaten egg, sea salt, a few tablespoons of melted butter and high-grade flour to the ingredients. After mixing the products, the dough should be covered with a thick cloth and left near the heating radiator or in the sun for 1.6 hours. At the same time, every half hour, the base must be wrinkled with your hands so that it becomes very magnificent and soft.
We prepare powder and filling
To obtain a sweet flour product, you should separately prepare a powder. To do this, mix fine granulated sugar with cinnamon, vanilla and cocoa powder, and then put them in a deep bowl. As for the pouring, then preparing it is simple. To do this, you only need to melt the creamy natural butter over low heat.
The process of forming sweet pastries
Monkey bread is always formed the same way. But depending on what kind of baking you want to get in the end, this product is dipped in certain ingredients. To prepare a sweet dish, yeast dough must be divided into multiple balls, and then alternately lower them into melted cooking oil. After this product should be thoroughly roll in a dry mixture of cocoa powder and sugar. In conclusion, all pieces of the base must be placed in a deep form, intended for baking in a spiritual scarf. If you still have dry powder, then it can be distributed on the surface of the formed bread.
Baking process
Filling the form with sweet brown balls, it needs to be placed in a preheated oven. It is desirable to bake the product for 65 minutes at a temperature of 205 degrees. At the same time, monkey bread should increase in volume, become very soft, lush, and most importantly - tasty.
How to serve homemade cakes to guests?
You can cook such a product not only in a slow cooker or oven, but also with the help of other kitchen devices. For example, monkey bread in a bread machine is also very tasty and soft. However, in this case, such a device can only be useful for mixing a homogeneous yeast dough and raising it. But it should be formed manually.
After the flour product has been subjected to heat treatment, it must be removed from the mold and put on the board. Having cooled a little sweet bread, it should immediately be presented to the table. As a rule, such pastries are used as delicious homemade buns along with hot tea or strong coffee.