Monkey bread, also known as "bubble bread" or "pull-apart bread," is the dirty little secret of many a home cook. Haute cuisine it is not - you might be embarrassed to serve this at a formal dinner party (assuming people still torture themselves by organizing and attending such events). However, it's delicious, kid-friendly, and insanely easy to make. Monkey bread was a staple in my grandmother's kitchen, although she'd be loath to admit it in "polite" company.
There are as many recipes for monkey bread as there are people who bake it, but the general concept remains consistent. You start with little balls of dough. Nowadays, the dough is often of the biscuit persuasion (scones for you non-Americans), but traditionally, monkey bread is made with a sweet, yeast-based bread. The balls of dough are dipped in melted butter, then coated with something tasty. Cinnamon sugar is by far and away the most popular choice of coating, but people make monkey bread with a variety of other confectionary delights, such as cocoa, currants, caramel glaze or nuts. There is also savory monkey bread, where the dough may be coated with parmesan cheese, garlic, or herbs. Some bakers choose to mix all of the ingredients into the dough itself, instead of simply coating the outside of the dough balls. Finally, the balls of dough are pressed together into a Bundt pan, or failing that, a regular circular cake pan, and baked until golden brown.
The origins of this dish are unknown. I've seen it variously credited to the Middle East, Germany, and the United States. The idea is so simple and so obvious that I'm sure it has been around in one form or another ever since human beings started baking bread. In recent years, monkey bread has become specifically associated with the United States. There are theories that the dish's popularity soared with American frontier-folk, who needed baked goods that were simple and easy to make in a dutch oven. This assertion, however, is groundless. The only hard fact regarding monkey bread's origin is that it mysteriously became ubiquitously available under the name "monkey bread" in American bakeries in the 1950s and 1960s, and enjoyed a brief resurgence in popularity during the 1980s, thanks to Nancy "Just Say No" Reagan, who served monkey bread in the White House during Christmas. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.
Similarly, the name "monkey bread" is something of an enigma. The most common explanation is that the name stems from the fact that the only feasible way to eat it is to pull it apart with your bare hands, simian-style. Others (including Mrs. Reagan) believe that the name refers to the amount of "monkeying around" required for preparation (try making monkey bread with the assistance of a small child and you'll see that this theory may have merit). A more esoteric theory is that the name comes from the fact that the bread physically resembles the monkey puzzle tree, although that's a stretch. Finally, there is a type of baobab tree native to Africa that bears fruit colloquially known as "monkey bread." However, this fruit bears no resemblance to the sweet rolls, and apparently tastes quite sour. My grandmother told me that this dessert was called "monkey bread" because it caused her grandchildren to cluster around her in the kitchen, clamoring like a pack of monkeys.
My own version of monkey bread would inspire any accomplished baker to retch, I'm sure. It's so blindingly simple that it doesn't even deserve to be called a recipe. It requires a package or two of uncooked refrigerator rolls, butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Grease a Bundt pan or regular cake pan with a bit of butter (using the Bundt pan will ensure that the middle of the monkey bread gets cooked thoroughly, but truthfully, a slightly undercooked center has never bothered me in this context). Melt some butter in a small bowl. In another small bowl, stir together a lot of sugar with a little cinnamon (depending on your taste). Take a roll, ball it up in your hand, and dip it in the butter. Roll the now greasy doughball in the cinnamon sugar until it's completely coated. Don't worry about shaking off the excess - that's what will turn into delightfully crispy and/or gooey bits later. Place the coated doughball in the pan. Repeat. Really, the only rule here is that the doughballs should be firmly squished together in the pan, overlapping each other. When you've run out of dough, if you have any extra melted butter or cinnamon sugar left over, just pour it over the top. Bake at middlin' heat until it looks done. In the end, you will have a lumpy bread-like mass with a crispy, sweet exterior shell surrounding a soft, fluffy interior that is laced with bits of sweet, sticky goo. Best enjoyed straight out of the oven, singed fingers and all.
For the hoity toity amongst you, who feel that a recipe should include things like explicit measurements, and exclude things like the use of refrigerated Pillsbury products, I present you with Nancy Reagan's recipe for monkey bread. I have not personally tried it, but Michael Boodro of the New York Times stated, "her version is monkey bread at its purest and most elegant: buttery and yeasty, as much brioche as bread." (Are you fucking kidding me?) Nancy suggests serving this monkey bread with jam, probably jam made from fruit harvested during the ascendant phase of Jupiter, that tastefully refrains from staining the expensive designer clothing worn by socialites attending the Bel Air Ladies' Bridge Club. Ahem. Without further ado...
Nancy Reagan's Monkey Bread
- 6 ounces butter, softened, plus extra for greasing pan
- 4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring pan and work area
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1 cup lukewarm milk (110 to 115 degrees)
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces melted butter
- Butter and flour a 1-quart or larger ring mold or tube pan and set aside. Whisk the yeast with the milk in a large bowl. Whisk in 2 of the eggs and then the sugar, salt and 4 cups of the flour, switching to a spoon when the dough gets stiff. Stir in the softened butter and knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together in a ball. Turn out onto the work area and knead until it forms an elastic ball, sprinkling with and working in up to 1 cup more flour to keep dough from getting sticky. Place dough in a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured work area. Roll dough into a log and cut into 28 equal-size pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, dip in melted butter and place in the prepared pan, staggering pieces in 2 layers. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the remaining egg and lightly brush over the top of the bread. Bake until top is nicely browned and dough is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. (Test by turning out the loaf onto a rack; the bottom and sides should be nicely browned.) Turn upright on another rack to cool slightly before serving.
It is amusing and even a little endearing to contemplate this particular former First Lady not only setting foot in a kitchen, but actually rolling up her sleeves and shaping dozens of teensy-weensy balls of dough in order to fashion what is essentially a prime example of blue collar comfort food. Before you get too carried away with that image, please be aware that Nancy Reagan never claimed to have made any monkey bread herself. The monkey bread at the White House was always baked by the house chef and his minions. The recipe did not come directly from Mrs. Reagan, but was provided by Sandy's Bakery of California, where Ronnie and Nancy used to buy a loaf of monkey bread "on their way to their ranch every Christmas season." Figures.
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