Monkey Business.

Call me crazy but I have never made Monkey bread before. Today was the first day. It tasted good, but I think I should have let it cool a little more for the caramel to harden so the rolls stuck together a little more. It was pretty hot. We were too anxious to eat it! I got this recipe from my cousin who made it the other day.



Monkey Business
1 pkg. (1/4 oz) Active dry yeast
1/4 cup hot water
1 1/4 cup hot milk
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 cups flour

Caramel-
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Assembly-
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and 3 cups of flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough.
Turn onto a floured surface: knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

For caramel, in a small saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter and cream to a boil. Cook and stir 3 minutes. Pour half into a greased 10" fluted pan. Sprinkle half the pecans. Punch down dough and shape into 40-1 inch balls. In a shallow bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Place melted butter in another bowl. Dip balls in the butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Place 20 balls in the pan, top with remaining caramel and pecans. Top with remaining balls. Cover and let rise about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cover with tinfoil if top browns to quickly. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

**Save time by kneading the dough and refrigerating overnight. Another helpful hint TJ found in a magazine is to turn on the dishwasher to let run and get it warm in there, then TURN OFF, and let the dough rise in the humid air....with the bowl covered. And for sure make sure you don't have it turn back on! The heat is supposed to help it raise quicker. I didn't try that part....he told me after the fact, so that part you'll have to try on your own....I forgot to take a picture of the real thing...so I took a picture of the leftovers. :)

p.s. I did not use pecans.