Roy Creates Savoury Pull Apart Monkey Puzzle Bread

This week, Roy was having a delicious soup for dinner and he had plenty of time on his hands to make something scrumptious to enjoy with it. Roy really enjoys making bread, and so he decided it was the perfect opportunity to try out a recipe for savoury monkey bread which he found in a 1950s book. Although today, most people think of it as a sweet thing, almost a cake, the original was a plain bread, and then it seems savoury or sweet twists were added pretty soon after. The monkey bread was absolutely delicious, and was great the next day too, so Roy thought he would share the recipe. So this week, Roy Creates Savoury Pull Apart Monkey Puzzle Bread

The dough:

• 60 grams unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 and 1/4 cups flour, plus extra for rolling
• Fillings – Roy used grated cheese, a finely chopped shallot and some finely chopped fresh parsley. You could use almost anything though!
• Butter coating:
  • 125 grams of butter, melted
  • You can add savoury flavourings – chopped or dried herbs, cayenne pepper, pepper and salt (later recipes suggest garlic powder and paprika)

Method:

• Mix together the salt and flour in a large bowl
• Combine the melted butter, water, milk and sugar in another bowl. You need the mix to be about body temperature, so heat it, or let it cool as needed.

• Whisk in the yeast to the wet ingredients

• Add the yeast mix to the flour and stir until it begins to come together as a dough

• Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it is smooth (adding more flour if necessary)
• Oil a bowl and put the dough into it, then allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size (about 90 minutes)
• Roll the dough out on a floured surface and cover half the surface with your fillings

• Fold the dough over and press down to hold the fillings in place

• Cut into squares (about 2 or 3 centimetres square, but uneven size is fine) and then roll the squares into balls

• Dip the balls into the melted butter to cover
• Grease and flour a ring or bundt tin and pile the balls in – you can scatter extra cheese between them if you like

• Cover loosely with cling wrap and allow to the bread to rise again for an hour
• Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees, or until the dough is cooked and delicious.
• Let cool slightly before tipping out of the tin.
• Enjoy!