Overnight monkey bread is a buttermilk dough rolled into thirty six balls, coated in rosemary butter and left in the fridge overnight. A brown sugar, raisin and rosemary topping goes into the bottom of the pans. Twelve servings, baked fresh in the morning.
There is no cinnamon anywhere in this recipe. A teaspoon and a half of ground rosemary runs through the topping and the coating instead. It reads herbal and savory, not the cinnamon sugar most people are picturing.
It fills two bundt pans, and nothing on the card tells you that before you start. The twelve servings reads like one pan, so check you own a second tin or borrow one the night before.
Overnight Monkey Bread
Course: BreakfastCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalA rich egg and buttermilk dough portioned into small balls, rolled in rosemary butter and rested cold overnight. Baked over a brown sugar and raisin caramel, with more poured on partway through.
Ingredients
- For the Dough:
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large whole egg, room temperature
2 ounces sugar (about 1/4 cup)
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted (about 6 tablespoons)
6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
20 ounces all-purpose flour (about 4 cups), plus more for dusting
1 package instant dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
Vegetable oil or cooking spray
- For the Topping:
8 ounces unsalted butter (about 16 tablespoons)
8 ounces light brown sugar (about 1 cup packed)
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
3 ounces raisins (about 3/4 cup)
- For the Coating:
2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, melted (about 5 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon ground rosemary
Directions
- Make the dough: Whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, melted butter and buttermilk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add about 2 cups of the flour with the yeast and salt and whisk until moistened. Swap to the dough hook, add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low 5 minutes, adding more flour if needed so the dough is soft but not sticky. Knead 5 minutes more until it clears the bowl, then by hand for 30 seconds.
- First rise: Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, oil the top, cover and leave until doubled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
- Make the topping: Combine the 8 ounces butter, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon rosemary and raisins in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Pour half into the bottom of 2 bundt pans and refrigerate the rest, covered.
- Shape and chill: Stir the melted butter and 1 teaspoon rosemary together in a shallow bowl. Portion the risen dough into 1-ounce pieces and roll into balls, about 36 of them. Roll each in the rosemary butter, divide evenly between the 2 pans, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 16 hours.
- Rise and bake: Put the pans into a turned off oven with a shallow pan two thirds full of boiling water on the rack below, and let them rise until slightly puffy, 20 to 30 minutes. Take both out and heat the oven to 350F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until slightly golden. Fifteen minutes in, reheat the reserved topping until pourable and pour it over. Cool 5 minutes, invert onto a platter and serve.
FAQs
Can I use cinnamon instead of the rosemary?
Yes, and most people will want to. Swap the one and a half teaspoons of ground rosemary for two teaspoons of ground cinnamon across the topping and the coating. Nothing else changes, and you end up with the monkey bread people expect.
Can I make it in one bundt pan instead of two?
You can, and the dough will sit deeper in the tin. Give it longer in the oven and check the middle with a thermometer rather than the clock. Splitting the topping still applies, half under the dough and half poured on later.
What is ground rosemary and can I use dried leaves?
Ground rosemary is the dried needles milled to a powder, and it sits next to the other dried herbs. Whole dried needles will not work here because they stay woody and catch in your teeth. Grind them yourself in a spice mill if you cannot find it ground.
How far ahead can I start it?
The dough goes into the fridge the night before and sits up to sixteen hours, which is the whole point of the recipe. Add two and a half hours before that for the first rise. Another dish you can build the night before is this cranberry french toast.
What else goes on the table?
Something you can cook while the bread bakes, because the oven is busy for an hour either way. A stovetop plate fills the gap. These gingerbread waffles cook on the iron while the monkey bread is in.
