This apple cinnamon monkey bread will reset your expectations of this classic dessert/bread. In the past, I’ve had monkey bread that is dry and without much flavor. This recipe will help to put an end to that association. The secret to a moist and delicious monkey bread is butter, unsurprisingly. Like most amazing desserts, it’ fairly caloric. But this recipe takes a bit of time to prepare so chances are, it’s not getting made very often. So enjoy it in all of its glory.
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread Dough Notes
The dough for the apple cinnamon monkey bread is rather soft and can be difficult to work with. Combine the wet ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and mix until incorporated with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, very slowly pour the wet ingredients in. Scrape down the sides of the stand mixer to ensure all of the flour gets incorporated. I add the extra 16 grams of flour to get my dough to come together so don’t be afraid to do so yourself. This will make shaping easier and won’t dry the dough out.
Once the dough has been kneaded, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Place the ball in a greased bowl and oil the top of the dough as well. Cover with cling film and leave to proof until doubled in size. While the dough is proofing, grease your Bundt pan if you haven’t already, and prepare your cinnamon sugar, melted butter, and apple jammy bits. These jammy bits are a specialty item from King Arthur flour. If you don’t want to special order these, dried apple that has been finely chopped should work as well.
Monkey Bread Prep and Assembly
When the dough has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled surface. Using oil instead of flour will keep the dough from sticking. Not adding more flour will also keep the dough nice and moist when baked. Divide the dough in half. Next, divide each half in half to make four equal pieces. Divide halves into two twice more so there are 16 equal pieces.
Have your assembly line ready and your greased Bundt pan ready. Take one piece of dough and add a sprinkle of the apple jammy bits. Shape the dough into a ball incorporating the jammy bits. If you would like to have an apple pie filling monkey bread, keep all of the jammy bits in the center of the ball when shaping.
Once the ball is shaped, dip it in the melted butter. Let any excess butter drip off then place the ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and toss to coat. Place the ball in the greased Bundt pan. Repeat with the other 15 pieces of dough.
When placing subsequent balls in the Bundt pan, overlap the seams of the dough balls. Cover the Bundt pan with cling film and leave in a warm place to proof until nice and puffy. The dough should rise to an inch or two below the top of the pan.
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread Baking Notes
Place a rack in the lower middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is a deep brown and caramel is beginning to bubble around the edges of the pan. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn out onto a serving dish and let cool for another 10 minutes.
While the bread is cooling, prepare the glaze. Whisk the milk and powdered sugar, adding more milk until the desired consistency is reached. Drizzle the glaze on top of the monkey bread and serve immediately. There weren’t leftovers when I made this and it was just me and my wife so I don’t think you’ll have to worry about how to store leftovers either.
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Bench scraper
- 12-inch Bundt pan
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 28 grams Butter (softened, for greasing the pan) (2 tbsp)
- 28 grams Butter, melted (2 tbsp)
- 237 grams whole milk, warmed, 110 deg F (1 cup)
- 78 grams warm water, 110 deg F (⅓ cup)
- 7 grams Dry Yeast (2-¼ tsp)
- 380 grams all-purpose (AP) flour (3-¼ cups)
- 12 grams salt (2 tsp)
- 75 grams Apple Jammy bits (dried apple can be substituted)
Brown Sugar Coating
- 200 grams light brown sugar (1 cup)
- 4 grams Cinnamon (2 tsp)
- 112 grams Unsalted Butter, melted (1 stick/8tbsp)
Glaze
- 120 grams Powdered Sugar (1 cup)
- 30 grams Whole milk (2 tbsp)
Instructions
Dough Instructions
- Grease the bundt pan with the softened butter and set aside.
- Combine the milk, water, sugar, yeast, and melted butter in a measuring cup and set aside
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, mix the flour and salt using the dough hook. On low speed, slowly add the milk mixture and mix until dough comes together. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl several times during mixing. If dough is especially wet, add up to 16 grams (2 tbsp) of flour.
- Increase speed to medium and knead dough until shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball.
- Place dough into a bowl greased with vegetable oil and coat dough with oil as well. Cover bowl with cling film and place in a warm area to proof until doubled in size, around 1 hour.
Assembly Instructions
- While the dough is proofing, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and mix to combine. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a second bowl and set aside. Place the apple jammy bits or finely chopped dried apple in a third bowl and set aside.
- Turn the dough out gently onto a clean work surface and pat into a rectangle. Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into four parts. Divide those four in half to make eight, and again so you have 16 pieces of dough in total.
- Take one of the pieces of dough and sprinkle the jammy bits on top. Fold the dough over to keep the jammy bits inside then shape dough into a ball.
- Dip the ball into the bowl of melted butter and coat. Let any excess drip off. Next coat the ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place the coated dough ball in the greased Bundt pan. Repeat with the other 15 pieces of dough. Stagger the seam of the dough balls where they meet.
- Cover with cling film and leave to proof in a warm place until the dough balls are puffy and have risen to an inch or two below the top of the pan, roughly 1 hour.
Baking Instructions
- Place oven rack in lower middle and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove plastic and bake until top is a deep brown and caramel is beginning to bubble around the edges of the pan, 30-35 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.
- Let bread cool in the pan for five minutes then turn out onto a serving dish and let cool for another ten minutes.
- Prepare the glaze by combining the milk and powdered sugar and whisking until the right consistency is reached.
- Drizzle glaze on top of warm monkey bread. Serve warm
Yum!