March 13, 2020

Strawberry Monkey Bread

Name: Strawberry Monkey Bread
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 50 min
Ingredients: DOUGH; 1 cup whole milk; 1 1/2 ounce envelope active dry yeast; 1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees); 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; 2 eggs; 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted); 4 1/2-5 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; FOR DOUGH BALLS; 1 stick butter (melted); 1/2 cup sugar; 2-4 teaspoons cinnamon (depending on how much cinnamon flavor you like); 1 cup strawberries (cleaned and sliced); STRAWBERRY SAUCE; 1 cup strawberries (cleaned and sliced); 3/4 cup sugar

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Strawberry Monkey Bread is a fresh spring take on the classic! Fluffy balls of homemade dough, cinnamon sugar and sweet strawberries make this perfect for a Spring brunch!

You may think making monkey bread from scratch is something difficult and I am here to tell you…it’s not! Really…I promise. Pinky promise.

Originally published on April 1, 2013 and updated on March 13, 2020.

I can’t believe how I haven’t made this bread in a while. It is strawberry season here and I wanted all of you to see this fun berry recipe! If you can find the time to make your own dough, you will be thrilled with the results. You know when you make something and you see the photo a few weeks later and think, holy cow! I’ve got to make this again now! This…this my friends is one of those recipes. Strawberry Monkey Bread is a recipe that you will be dreaming about once you taste it.

You may be wondering what exactly is a monkey bread?

Monkey bread is is balls of yeasted dough dipped in butter and rolled around in cinnamon sugar creates such a wonderful gooey mess. A gooey mess that is even more wonderful from the sweet strawberries tucked in between each fluffy pillow of dough. The scent of this monkey bread baking is dreamy. Cinnamon-sugary dough and all that sweet strawberry bakes together and it is truly dreamy!

When you flip it out onto you serving dish, there is this incredible cinnamon-sugar-strawberry sauce just waiting for you to dive into!

I had many ideas for this berry theme! Where to start? A fun quick bread was of course on my mind. Then I was going a breakfast bread route like the blueberry bread I made last year. I then was remembering it’s been a while since I made a monkey bread and they are always very welcomed here.

I was thinking about my friend Shelley’s strawberry version she made with #TwelveLoaves last year and thought it would be perfect for our Berry theme this April. I used this gooey sticky cinnamon bun dough recipe which is a really reliable dough that I use for some many recipe. I think these would be delightful also with blueberries. Just make them…trust me, make them! You may not even have the patience to flip it out onto a serving plate and may dig right into the bundt pan. Just be sure to not burn your fingers.

How do you make a monkey bread?

The first think you have to do is gather all your ingredients. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious pull-apart bread!

whole milk
active dry yeast
granulated sugar
eggs
unsalted butter, melted
all-purpose flour
salt
butter
sugar
cinnamon
strawberries, cleaned and sliced

Once you have every thing together, the next step is to start the yeast based dough.

Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and let stand until cooled to room temperature. Meanwhile, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bowl.

Add 1 T of the sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Beat in the remaining 2 T sugar, eggs and butter. Beat in cooled milk. Gradually add the flour and salt, scraping down side of bowl, until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead the remaining flour into the dough, adding more flour if too sticky. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. The dough will be soft.

Grease a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

While dough is rising, melt the butter; set aside. In a large plastic baggie, add sugar and cinnamon. Give it a shake to combine it well. Spray a bundt pan with baking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Prep the strawberry sauce:

Add the strawberries with the sugar to a medium sauce pan. Cook the berries on medium heat. Stir occasionally and simmer until you have a nice texture (about 10 minutes). When ready, set aside.

Back to the dough:

Punch down dough when it is ready. Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and portion it out into 1/2” size balls. Dip each ball into the butter and add to the baggie with the cinnamon sugar (I added about 6 balls at a time).

overhead image of making dough balls and strawberries

Give it a good shake and start to layer it in the bundt pan. Add some strawberries in between the cinnamon sugar dough balls.

Keep layering the balls and strawberries and make sure it is an even top layer (you can move the balls around to make sure it looks even.)Tuck any leftover strawberries between the balls. Place the bundt pan on a parchment lined baking sheet (you may have some strawberry juices overflow) and bake for a about 40-50 minutes or until it is a nice golden color. Check after 30 minutes. If it seems to be getting too brown too fast, cover with a loose layer of tin foil. When done baking, flip over onto your serving plate and dig in! Serve with strawberry sauce.

Some other yeast based breads you should try:

Happy Baking! xo Lora

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