Showing posts with label Cinnamon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cinnamon. Show all posts

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Monkey Bread

Gluten Free Monkey Bread

I really don't know where the name "Monkey Bread" came from, but it seems to be what everyone calls this delicious mass of sticky bun balls all stuck together. I actually use the same dough recipe for this as I do for my cinnamon buns.

I have started a tradition of monkey bread for Christmas breakfast. It's great because we can make it the night before and take it out of the fridge to rise first thing when we get up. Just remember to give it a little extra time to rise. If you have little kids, they can get help make the balls of dough and dip them in the butter and sugar. It's also great for dessert or brunch any time of the year!


This recipe is enough for 2-3 people and is made in a loaf pan. You could easily double the recipe and cook it in a tube or bundt pan with a hole in the centre (or 2 loaf pans)

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Warm Milk

1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend (see Flour Blends page)
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Guar Gum (or 1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Tbsp Oil
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Base Sauce:
3 Tbsp Melted Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/3 cup chopped Pecans, Almonds or Hazelnuts (optional)

Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup Melted Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon


Directions

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm milk. Set aside to proof for 5-10 minutes.
Using a stand mixer or by hand, mix dry ingredients (first 5 ingredients) in large bowl.
Mix remaining 4 wet ingredients separately.
While mixing, add wet ingredients and yeast mixture to dry ingredients. Let mix for 2-3 minutes (or mix well by hand)
Monkey Bread Dough
Prepare your loaf pan by buttering the sides

Base Sauce:  mix together 3 Tbsp butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a bowl, microwave until bubbling (about 20 seconds) and pour into loaf pan. Sprinkle nuts all over the bottom.

Base Sauce and Chopped Hazelnuts
Dipping Sauce: place 1/4 cup melted butter in a small bowl. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a separate small bowl.

Form small balls (1 1/4-1 1/2 inches in diameter) from the dough. (this is the part the kids can do!)
Coat the balls in the melted butter, then roll in the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture and place in loaf pan, leaving a tiny bit of space for rising.
Continue until all the dough is used up.

Dip Balls in Butter then Sugar/Cinnamon Mixture
Place in Prepared Loaf Pan
Let rise until roughly doubled in size.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 mins or until top starts to turn brown.
Let cool for 5-10 minutes before turning out on a plate (this will help the balls stick together better)

Monkey Bread Before Rising
After Rising
After Baking
Let cool 5-10 mins and turn out (we didn't wait long enough and it kind of fell apart... not a huge issue for me!)
Enjoy!



Saturday, 25 August 2012

Cinnamon Buns

Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns
I had all but given up on cinnamon buns. After so many disastrous batches, I was starting to think I would never again have the luxury of biting into a warm, soft, sticky cinnamon bun again. Last week when my cousin Lucy asked if I had a good GF cinnamon bun recipe, I had to tell her: sadly, no. But, it gave me the motivation to give it another try... and I'm glad I did! These turned out great and the dough was actually fairly easy to work with for being gluten free.

mmm...
I looked up a couple different gluten free cinnamon bun recipes online and basically made a new recipe using similar ingredients. It helps to make smaller rather than larger buns. They are easier to work with that way, and you can eat more than one without feeling too guilty :) This recipe has a lot of steps to follow, but they really aren't that hard. The rolling out just takes a little patience. Oh, and so does the baking part... when you can smell them but can't eat them yet because they're laced with bubbling lava sugar!


I will definitely be making these again and I hope you all enjoy them as much as we did (yes, even the gluten eating husband was a fan). Thanks for the reminder Lucy! These are for you <3

bakes at: 350
makes 8 small cinnamon buns - recipe can be easily doubled
Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Warm Milk

1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend (see Flour Blends page)
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Guar Gum (or 1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Tbsp Oil
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vinegar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Filling:
2 Tbsp Butter or Margarine (at room temp)
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Cinnamon

Base Sauce:
3 Tbsp Melted Butter or Margarine
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
(mix together, microwave until bubbling (about 20 seconds) and pour into greased square baking dish)

Directions

In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm milk. Set aside to proof for 5-10 minutes.
Using a stand mixer or by hand, mix dry ingredients (first 5 ingredients) in large bowl.
Mix remaining 4 wet ingredients separately.
Turn mixer back on, add wet ingredients and yeast mixture to dry ingredients. Let mix for 3 minutes (or mix well by hand)

Dough
Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap out on the counter. Lightly oil the top side. Prepare another piece of plastic wrap (same size) by oiling one side (this side will be face down on top of the dough)
While your hands are still a bit oily, pick up the dough and form it into a rectangle shape.
Lay dough on the oiled plastic wrap and cover with the second piece of plastic.
With a rolling pin, roll out the dough, repositioning the plastic as needed, until it's a rectangle about 8"x12" in size.
Remove top plastic wrap.
(If you double this recipe you will want to roll out the dough in two batches)

make a small rectangle with your hands and place between oiled plastic wrap

roll out with rolling pin until the dough is roughly 8"x12"

Prepare filling by combining the 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 T soft margarine and 1 T cinnamon.
Spread it over the surface of the dough, leaving a little bit of space on one long side with no filling so that you can seal it after you roll it up.
Start rolling up the dough at the long side that has the filling spread to the edge. Pull the plastic wrap in the direction you want to roll the dough to help it along.
Pinch the edge to seal in the filling and keep the buns from unrolling.

spread filling over dough, leaving space on one long edge for sealing

roll dough into a log, pulling up the plastic to help it along

lightly pinch the edge to seal it and keep it from unrolling

With a knife, make shallow dents on the cinnamon log to separate it into 8 pieces. This makes it easier to cut equal size buns.
Take a piece of dental floss or thread and position it under the cinnamon log. Cris-cross the string to cut the 8 individual cinnamon buns. (If you try to cut it with a knife it will just squish it)

make marks where you want to cut then use floss to cut without crushing the dough

Prepare a square baking dish by oiling and pouring in the base sauce (see ingredient list for directions)
Place cinnamon buns in the dish, close together but not touching.
Let rise in warm, draft free place for 30 mins (they should grow much larger)
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are light brown.
Let cool 5 minutes in the dish then invert on a plate.

pour the base sauce in oiled dish and place cinnamon buns with space to rise
let rise for 30 mins
bake 20-25 mins or until they start to brown. Let cool 5 minutes.
after cooling 5 mins, turn the dish over on a plate. they may or may not stick to each other... mine didn't
Let cool another 5-10 mins so you don't burn yourself.
Serve warm!
Left overs can be kept at room temperature and microwaved up to 2 days. They can also be frozen and reheated in the microwave (but be careful, they will be hot!)