When I first started blogging, I recall there was a wave of health food bloggers posting recipes for ‘Healthier’ Monkey bread. I had absolutely no idea what ‘Monkey bread’ was or why it had such a funny name!
Wikipedia soon filled me in…
Monkey bread, also called monkey puzzle bread, sticky bread, African coffee cake, golden crown, pinch-me cake, bubbleloaf and monkey brains is a sweet, sticky, gooey pastry served in the United States for breakfast. The bread is made with pieces of sweet yeast dough which are baked in a cake pan after first being covered in melted butter, cinnamon and sugar. It is traditionally served hot so that the baked segments can be easily torn away with the fingers and eaten by hand.
Sounds yummy doesn’t it? However, traditional Monkey Bread isn’t particularly healthy. It contains A LOT of fat and sugar. In contrast, the ‘healthified’ versions often use bread or pizza dough as their base, and are glazed with healthier alternatives to butter and refined cane sugar.
One Sunday, I decided to have a go at making some Apple and Cinnamon-Spiced Healthy Monkey Bread as a ‘special breakfast’. It was a huge hit with Lil’ L and M and, I must admit, I’m rather partial to it too.
The ‘authentic’ way to serve Monkey Bread is to invert it onto a plate…
However, we prefer to eat it straight from the pan. Hands get less messy, and you can use the balls to mop up any syrup left in the pan.
If you’re lucky enough to have a breadmaker, then this recipe requires very little effort at all. You simply throw all the dough ingredients in the machine and press a button. I’ve had my breadmaker for a couple of years now and it’s been fantastic! I reckon it’s easily paid for itself in terms of the amount of times we’ve chosen to stay in rather than going to Pizza Express!
Today, I made some Monkey Bread as an after-school treat for Lil’ L and his friend, and I made it by hand to see how it compared to the bread-maker version. To be honest, making dough by hand doesn’t require THAT much effort. It takes less than 15 minutes, which isn’t too bad at all. Plus kneading dough is great exercise for the arms.
Below I’ve given instructions for making the Monkey Bread by hand and in a breadmaker. If you’re planning to eat it for breakfast, you can easily prepare the dough the night before and chill it in the fridge. In the morning, simply remove the dough from the fridge about 20 minutes before you need to use it.
Recipe Card
Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread
Ingredients
Dough
- 165 g / 1¼ cups fine wholemeal (whole wheat pastry) flour or chapatti flour
- 140 g / 1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
- ½ tsp fast action yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 TBSP coconut sugar or golden caster (unrefined cane) sugar
- 170 ml / ¾ cup lukewarm water
- 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
Apple Cinnamon Syrup
- 2 small sweet organic apples (about 220g) or 190g / ¾ cup apple sauce
- 30 g / 2 TBSP virgin coconut oil
- 40 g / 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 TBSP coconut sugar or golden caster (unrefined cane) sugar
- 1 tsp ground sweet cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 TBSP coconut sugar or golden caster (unrefined cane) sugar
- 1 tsp ground sweet cinnamon
Instructions
- Prepare the dough:– In a breadmaker: Tip all the ingredients in the pan and select ‘pizza dough’. The programme should take around 45 minutes. When it signals that it’s ready, leave the dough in the machine for a further 15 minutes or so.– Or by hand: Place the flours, yeast, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the warm water and oil using a spoon, then bring it together with your hands to form a sticky dough. Knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea cloth and leave in a warm place for an hour to prove.
- Once the dough is ready, prepare the apple cinnamon syrup. Core the apples and chop into pieces. Place them in a bowl and blitz into a puree using a hand blender. Place the apple puree, coconut oil, syrup, sugar and cinnamon in a pan and gently heat until the oil has melted. Stir through, then remove from the heat.
- To make the cinnamon sugar, simply combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) / 400F. Grease a 23cm / 9″ baking pan with oil.
- Prepare the dough balls: Pull off a small amount of dough and roll into a ball about 2.5 cm / 1″ in diameter. Place the ball in the prepared pan. Repeat until all the dough has been used. Space out the balls in the pan (they will expand as they cook). Spoon the apple cinnamon syrup between the balls and round the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the dough balls are crusty on top. Leave the pan to cool slightly, then place it in the centre of the table and invite everyone to tuck in.
- Should there be any leftovers, store in the refrigerator for up to three days and gently warm through in the oven before serving.
Good Hemp Seed Giveaway Results!
Before I go, I’d like to announce the winners of the Good Hemp Seed Giveaway. The eligible entries were placed in chronological order and 3 winners were randomly selected using Random.org.
I’m delighted to announce that the winners are…
1. Emma
2. Samantha
3. Penniless Veggie
Please email your postal addresses and I’ll arrange for the gifts to be sent to you asap.
Have a great weekend everyone!
With love,
—————–
These look great! I’m hoping to make them at the weekend for breakfast – how much can I do the night before? Am hoping I can do almost everything & just put them in the fridge instead of the oven!
Hi Bessie! This apple cinnamon ‘monkey bread’ does indeed make a great weekend breakfast. I always make the dough the day before, wrap it in cling film and store it in the fridge overnight. The next morning, while the oven is heating up, I put the apple cinnamon syrup ingredients on the hob to warm through then roll the dough into balls. By the time the oven has heated up, you’ll have your pan of dough balls ready.
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! xx
Cinnamon Hemp received today with thanks!
Very pleased to hear that it’s arrived safely with you 🙂
Have a great weekend xx
Ok I know this is my second comment BUT I made these this morning and my kids devoured them.
I just got to have a little bit of the leftover syrup on the plate.
No worries though it was so easy to make that I am sure they will make another appearance at my house.
I am so happy to hear that your kiddies liked it! 😀 I’m sure the quantities should serve 4, but I put 3-4 as I know the three of us devour a whole plate too 😉
Oh you are right this is very much like my blueberry buttermilk biscuits. I love the sound of the apple syrup. I will have to make this dough tonight and surprise the kids tomorrow (they won’t know what to think).
I hope you are having a wonderful Monday Sharon. I had a fantastic weekend that included the most awesome surprise in the mailbox…THANK YOU! I haven’t made them yet but by the end of the week I will have made my first batch of raw chocolates. I am so very excited 🙂
I am so pleased to hear that the package arrived safely with you 😀 I hope you find the chocolate making process as relaxing as I do . As well as using the molds, I love making simple barks, like this one: http://bitofthegoodstuff.com/2012/05/raw-chocolate-pecan-bark/
You must let me know how you get on xx
Delicious. Monkey bread straight from the oven after a cold bike ride. I’m restored.
That sounds wonderful! I can’t wait to get out on my bike. It’s been ages!!!
Does the coconut oil you use taste like coconut? Mine does, but I hear of people using it for regular cooking (e.g., pan frying eggs) and wonder if other people don’t mind the coconut flavor or if I should try a different variety of coconut oil.
Yes, my coconut oil does taste of coconut but, when I use it for cooking or baking, I can’t detect its flavour. While I have used it in savoury dishes, I tend to save it for special desserts and treats as it’s pretty expensive. For savoury cooking, I tend to use extra virgin olive oil or canola oil.
My hubby would totally love this! His favourite flavour combo is apple cinnamon! I’ll have to try it for him 🙂
Yay for being a winner! Thank you! This looks great, “healthified” does not mean not tasty clearly! I love the idea of being able to tear off a sticky bun..
P.S Emailing you now
Wow this looks amazing and as the girls are up (should be illegal on a saturday!) and I have all the ingredients I’m going to make this right now. Thanks for sharing!! N x
Dear Sharon, this looks delicious , thanks for share so many wealth & great recipes !
i will try to make it by hand !
Thank you Maria for your kind comments ♥
I hope you enjoy the ‘Monkey Bread’ as much as we do xx