Monkey Bread

We made a very yummy treat for our M is for Monkey day. Oh yum! It is very much like cinnamon buns, but instead of being a spiral roll, it is a pull apart bread. For the dough:

In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/3 cup warm water.

In a large mixer, combine 2 cups of milk - quite hot, 1/4 cup margarine, 1/4 cup sugar. Mix together. Add 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons salt, and mix again. Gradually mix in 6 cups flour.

Put the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a dish towel. Set in a warm place and let it rise about 1 hour.

It will be doubled in size by then.

In a saucepan, mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil.

Pour into a greased bundt pan. This will make a yummy caramel top to the monkey bread.

To assemble the bread, have 1/2 cup of melted butter or margarine ready. With lightly floured hands, take a pinch of dough and roll it into a ball, about the same size as a golf ball. Dip the dough in the melted butter.

Then roll the dough in a mixture of 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 3/4 cup white sugar, and 2-3 tablespoons cinnamon.

Put the balls into the pan, on top of the brown sugar syrup. Repeat until the dough is all prepared.

Put the pan in a warm spot and cover with the towel again. Let rise about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.

Let the monkey bread cool in the pan at least 1/2 hour, and then invert onto a serving platter. If you want to make a light glaze, you could drizzle some on top, but it is very yummy without. (If you did want to, I mix 1 cup icing sugar with milk, one tablespoonful at at time, until it is the drizzly consistency you like best)

This is such a delicious dessert! And so fun to put it in the middle of the table and watch the family pull it apart one sugary piece at a time.