Sourdough Brown Butter Monkey Bread
This sourdough brown butter monkey bread is gooey and sweetly spiced. Each bite is like the center of a cinnamon roll! With tangy sourdough and rich brown butter syrup, this recipe is crowd favorite. Make a large, same day batch of sourdough monkey bread in a 9x13 pan. No bunt pan required!
Ingredients
Sourdough Monkey Bread Dough
- 95 grams browned salted butter 1 stick (½ cup), see note about brown butter
- 300 grams active sourdough starter recently fed and bubbly, about 1¼ cups
- 50 grams white sugar about ¼ cup
- 6 grams salt 1 teaspoon
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 320 grams warm whole milk 1¼ cups
- 6 grams vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
- 740 grams unbleached all-purpose flour about 6 cups
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 210 grams white sugar 1 cup
- 14 grams ground cinnamon 2 Tablespoons
- 113 grams salted butter, melted 1 stick (½ cup), do not brown this
Syrup
- 95 grams browned salted butter 1 stick (½ cup), see note about brown butter
- 160 grams real maple syrup ½ cup
- 6 grams vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
Vanilla Icing
- 190 grams powdered sugar 1½ cups
- 6 grams vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
- 20-30 grams milk 4-6 teaspoons
Instructions
Sourdough Monkey Bread Dough
- Brown 1 stick of butter and allow to cool slightly. Add brown butter (95g / ½ cup), sourdough starter, sugar, salt, and room temperature eggs to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix to combine.
- Warm milk to 98-100℉ (36-37.5℃). Add warm milk and vanilla extract to batter. Mix to combine.
- Add flour to bowl 1 large scoop or cup at a time while mixer is going. Continue to add flour a little at a time until a sticky dough forms.
- With the dough hook attachment, knead the dough in the mixer on medium speed for 10-12 minutes. This is a large batch monkey bread recipe and the dough will be very large. Watch your mixer to make sure it doesn't overheat or push the dough too high on the attachment.
- Knead the dough until it form a smooth, slightly tacky ball. If dough is still not coming together after kneading, add flour a small spoonful at time while mixing until the desired consistency is reached.
How to Brown Butter - Dice cold butter into cubes and add to a cold small sauce pan. Do not add to hot pan or it will burn. Turn on burner and melt butter over low-medium heat while continuously stirring. Do not leave the stove. Heat until butter is foamy and then continue to stir for about 5 minutes until foam starts to go down and you see golden flakes forming on the bottom. Pour the brown butter into a dish to cool. Do not leave in pan or it will burn.
Kneading Dough - If your mixer is getting too warm or the dough is pushing too high on the hook attachment, lower the mixer's speed or take a few small breaks. You can knead slower for a longer time and it will be just fine.
First Rise (Bulk Fermentation)
- Leave the ball of dough in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp, warm towel.
- Place in a warm spot to rise for at least 4 hours. I like to use my oven with the oven light on to create a warm environment. Depending on how warm your kitchen is, the 1st rise could take 4-6 hours. The warmer it is, the quicker the rise.
- Check halfway through to make sure the towel is still damp and rewet if needed with warm water. This keeps the dough from drying out in a warm spot. Allow to rise until the dough has puffed up and doubled in size.
Shaping the Dough Balls
- Scrape out the risen dough and shape into a large ball on a clean surface. Divide into 4 equal smaller dough balls.
- Roll a smaller dough ball into a long log and using a bench scraper or your hands, pinch off small pieces of dough. Roll to form into balls. They do not need to be perfectly round. Repeat until the dough has been formed into many small balls.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- Grease a deep 9x13 glass baking pan. Melt 1 stick of butter (do not brown this one) in a bowl. In another bowl, combine white sugar and ground cinnamon.
- Dip each dough ball in the melted butter and roll it quickly in the cinnamon sugar. Do not allow it to sit in the cinnamon sugar bowl or the mixture will glob. Move quickly and lightly coat each dough ball and add to the greased pan.
- Space dough balls slightly apart on each layer. They will puff up and fill out the pan during the 2nd rise.
Second Rise (In Pan)
- Once all of the dough balls have been coated and added to the pan, cover the pan with plastic wrap. Place the pan in a warm spot and allow to rise for 1-2 hours until the dough balls are puffy.
Brown Butter Syrup
- Once the dough has risen for a 2nd time, preheat the oven to 350℉ (176℃) and make the syrup.
- Brown another stick of butter and mix it with the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour syrup over the pan of dough slowly, really trying to coat each piece.
Bake
- Add pan to the top rack in the center of preheated oven. Place a large shallow baking pan lined with parchment paper on the rack below to catch any drips if the sugar/syrup bubbles over during baking.
- Bake for 30-34 minutes until very puffy and golden brown.
Vanilla Icing
- Allow monkey bread to cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes until the syrup stops bubbling. Then using hot pads, carefully flip the monkey bread into a large baking dish or rimmed baking sheet. It should be at least 9.5x13.5 or 10x15 to allow enough room.
- Let the syrup run down and coat the entire monkey bread. While it's continuing to cool, make the icing.
- Mix together powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and a couple teaspoons of milk. Continue adding teaspoons of milk until you've reached your desired consistency. Drizzle over warm monkey bread and serve.
Notes
- Active Sourdough Starter - To make this same day sourdough monkey bread, your sourdough starter must be active and bubbly the morning you want to bake. Feed it generously the night before you bake and allow it to rise overnight. You will need a lot of starter for this recipe so feed your starter enough to make 300 grams. If your starter is small to begin with, you may need to feed it once in the morning the day before and again the night before you bake.
- Brown Butter - A stick of butter will yield about 93-95 grams of brown butter once it has been heated. Brown the entire stick of butter (113g) and a little moisture will evaporate, yielding the 95 grams needed for this recipe.
- No Brown Butter Option - If you don't want to brown the butter, you can skip that step! You can simply melt the butter and use it in the recipe the same way.
- Warm Ingredients - Warming the milk and room temperature eggs will allow for the dough to be warmer and rise quicker.
- Kneading the Dough - This recipe makes a TON of monkey bread so the dough will be very large. Take care with your mixer to be able to handle kneading the dough. Go at a lower speed for longer if needed. Or turn out onto a clean, floured surface to knead by hand if necessary.
- Glass 9x13 Baking Pan - You need a deep 9x13 baking pan for this recipe to hold the monkey bread and bubbling butter and syrups. Using too shallow of a pan will result in leakage during baking as the monkey bread rises.
- Take Care While Baking - Place a shallow baking pan lined with parchment paper (for easier cleanup) on the rack under the pan of monkey bread during baking to catch any drips. This is important and will save you frustration and possibly having to clean your oven later!
- Flipping the Monkey Bread - Don't let the monkey bread cool for longer than 10-15 minutes in the baking pan. You want the syrup to still be runny and coat the entire monkey bread when you flip it over. Use a larger pan to hold the flipped monkey bread such as a 10x15 baking sheet with rimmed edges.