Pumpkin Monkey Bread

It's a blustery fall day in Michigan. Zach and I BOTH got to sleep in. He's off at the farm fixing a lawn mower. I'm at home wearing sweatpants, an MSU football hoodie and a cozy pair of socks just waiting for the MSU vs. UM game to start.

We had a great night last night with our friend, Eric and got to meet and spend some time with his girlfriend, Micah. We had dinner here at our house then went out to Pappy's Bar in Remus. It's about as redneck as the name sounds. Micah was a good sport about it, well, at least she went along and didn't complain. Ha ha! We think they're a pretty good match.

Here's the quote of the week from one of my students. I have to give you some background information though, or else it's not as funny out of context. Thursday is our library day and library time always starts off with Mrs. V reading a book to the students. She read them a book about a moose hunt or something or other and on each page, the main characters see more and more of this moose. On the last page, the kids in the story are surrounded by a ton of moose. One little boy who currently has ZERO front teeth and a lisp shouted out, "What the heck ith going on with all thothze mootheth?!" I laughed. It's too hard not to. I'll do the impression for you sometime. It was hilarious.

Here's the monkey bread recipe I've been talking about: http://sugarcrafter.net/2011/09/23/pumpkin-monkey-bread/ . Shout out to Sugar Crafter's website because all I did was follow the directions. Just a warning, it takes several hours to make this because the bread has to rise twice. My pictures aren't as cool as hers but here's what my steps looked like.

Pumpkin Monkey Bread

For the dough:

3 1/4 cups flour, plus more for kneading

2/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (I probably put more than this...)

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I didn't have cloves or nutmeg)

For the coating:

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

3/4 stick butter, melted

For the glaze:

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tbsp maple syrup (I used the fake stuff because we are out of the real stuff and it was not as good)

1. In large bowl whisk together flour salt and spices.

dry ingredients, whisked together

In another large bowl, mix together milk, water, pumpkin, melted butter, sugar, and yeast.

wet ingredients, mixed well

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add in the wet ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir until the dough comes together.

mixing the two

4. Turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Spray a clean bowl with cooking spray and place the dough inside. Cover and let rise until doubled in size (about an hour).

kneaded dough, pre-rising

kneaded dough, post rising (probably should've let it rise longer)

5. While the dough is rising, now's a good time to clean up all the huge mess you just made before the next steps happen. Once the dough has risen, shape the ball into a large rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into roughly equal-sized pieces and roll each piece into a ball (I had about 3 dozen pieces, but you may have more or less).

cutting the dough into pieces

dough rolled into balls

6. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar, and melt the butter for the coating. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

coating, rolled in butter first then cinnamon sugar

7. Dip each ball of dough into the melted butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture, layering them in the bundt pan as you go.

cinnamon sugar dough balls, pre-rise

8. Once you've used all the dough, cover and let rise another hour.

cinnamon sugar dough balls, post-rise

9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a platter. Just before the bread is done, mix together the glaze.

10. Pour the glaze over the bread while it's still warm.

Then eat. As many as you want. While they're still warm. And share them with a friend or spouse. It's the best. And plus you waited over 2 hours to enjoy it.

Love,

Sarah