Monkey bread with cheese and garlic

Homemade bread is always delicious, and monkey bread is incredibly tasty! Crispy, golden brown crust, fluffy crumb and lingering cheese inside are a real delicacy. The rich creamy cheese flavor and subtle aftertaste of garlic will make you come back to the kitchen again and again ... I assure you, such a large loaf will hardly stay on the table for even one day!

We baked a sweet version of monkey bread with cinnamon and brown sugar - it was a dessert version. Today's homemade baking recipe is perfect for starters, appetizers, or salads. And just like that, with a cup of tea and coffee or a glass of milk, a fragrant bun, which is so convenient to break off by hand, will be very useful.

Ingredients

• Yeast dough:
• Wheat flour of the highest grade (500 grams)
• Milk (300 milliliters)
• Butter (50 grams)
• Fast acting yeast (5 grams)
• Sugar (1 teaspoon)
• Salt (1 teaspoon)
• Sprinkling:
• Marble Cheese (100 grams)
• Butter(50 grams)
• Garlic (1 tooth)

Directions

1. The recipe for monkey bread includes the following ingredients: wheat flour (premium), milk g (you can take any fat content), any hard or semi-hard cheese (I offer Marble in the ingredients as an option), sugar, butter, fresh garlic, salt and fast-acting yeast (read more about yeast below).
2. Cooking yeast dough. Sift wheat flour of the highest grade into a suitable sized dish. Of course, you can immediately pour it directly onto the work surface (table), but it is more convenient in a bowl. A few words about yeast: it is not necessary to take fast-acting yeast - just dry (also 5 grams - this is 1 heaped teaspoon) or fresh / wet / pressed (used exactly 3 times more, that is, 15 grams) will do. Such yeast is not immediately mixed with wheat flour, but activated in a warm sweetened liquid for 10-15 minutes. For this recipe, you can very slightly warm half a glass of milk with a teaspoon of granulated sugar and dissolve the yeast in it. I used fast-acting ones, so I added them immediately to the flour, which I had sifted twice beforehand. We put 1 teaspoon of sugar and salt there, mix everything - so the bulk products are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
3. We make a hole in the center and pour warm (not hot, but pleasantly warm) milk into it. Mix everything with your hand or a spoon so that the flour is moistened.
4. You should get flour lumps, after which you can add 50 grams of melted, slightly warm butter. We begin to knead the dough with our hands or with the help of a kneader (bread machine) - as it is more convenient for anyone.
5. You need to knead this yeast dough for monkey bread for a rather long time - at least 10 minutes, and even better longer. The result is a smooth, completely uniform dough. It should not be too soft or even sticky. Such yeast dough keeps its shape perfectly, it is firm and elastic. During the kneading process, you may need a little more or a little less flour than I indicated in the ingredients - it depends on its moisture content. We roll the dough into a ball and leave it in a bowl (I always wash the dishes in which the dough wanders - I just don't like dirty ones). We send the dough to heat for 1 hour, after which we do a light kneading, re-rounding and again in heat for another 1 hour. Where is the best place for dough to roam and what does a warm place mean? There are several options. First of all, in the oven with the light on (it turns out about 28-30 degrees - the ideal temperature for fermenting yeast dough). Then we tighten the bowl with the dough with cling film or cover with a towel made of natural fabric (linen is best suited) so that the surface does not wind up and does not become covered with a crust. You can also let the dough ferment in the microwave, in which we first bring a glass of water to a boil. The dough will rise with the door closed, and the glass will stand in the same place. Then the bowl does not need to be closed with anything, since the water will evaporate, thereby maintaining the necessary humidity. Just make sure that no one accidentally turns on the microwave, otherwise the dough will disappear and there will be no monkey bread.
6. After about an hour, the dough will work well and will double in volume (this is at least).
7. We gently knead it, releasing excess gas, round it and again from a warm place for another hour.
8. The second time, the dough for the future monkey bread will grow even more - exactly 3, or maybe 4 times. By the way, I want to tell you a little about the fermentation time of the yeast dough and the proofing of the blanks. I hope you understand that this is a relative concept. What does it mean? Well, for example, the recipe says that the dough should be allowed to rest for 1 hour. You understand that 1 hour is the time it took for the author of this recipe. +/- 10-15 minutes is a perfectly acceptable deviation, the entire fermentation time of the yeast dough depends on many factors. The freshness (and, as a consequence, the activity) of the yeast, the quality of the flour, the temperature in the room, the amount of dough - all this affects the time of fermentation and proofing. Therefore, never strictly follow these recommendations - you must feel the dough, understand what it needs, and then you will cook it purely intuitively.
9. The stage of forming future buns: we divide the dough into small pieces (try to make them the same size) no larger than an apricot. Each piece of dough must be rounded and rolled into a ball (you can see how to do this in this recipe - steps 11-14). We cover them with cling film or a towel so that they do not wind up.
10. Meanwhile, grate 100 grams of cheese on a fine grater.
11. Put 50 grams of butter and a large chive of fresh garlic in a separate bowl, which must be passed through a press or chopped on a fine grater.
12. We drown butter with garlic - on the stove or in the microwave (this is faster and more convenient). The oil should not be hot, but pleasantly warm.
13. Dip each ball of dough in butter and garlic.
14. We will prepare a suitable round baking dish in advance - I have a diameter of 26 centimeters. It's best to use a split mold with a hole in the center, but I don't have one, so I put a molding ring in the middle (you can use a clean can of peas or corn, for example). We lay the baking dish with parchment paper (you do not need to grease with oil) and transfer the fragrant blanks to it in a checkerboard pattern in one row. The hole in the center is for the monkey bread to bake well.
15. Sprinkle the dough balls with chopped cheese.
16. Put the rest of the balls in fragrant oil on top.
17. Sprinkle with grated cheese again. Let the workpiece rest for 30-35 minutes in a warm place (cover the form with a towel or tighten with cling film).
18. During this time, the dough will be defrosted and the workpieces will be rounded - it's time to bake them. There is no need to lubricate the surface with anything, since there is a lot of butter and cheese.
19. Cooking monkey bread with cheese and garlic in a preheated oven on a medium level for 30-35 minutes at 180 degrees. Remember what I wrote about time? In this case, the cooking time can also vary - it all depends on the characteristics of each specific oven. The main indicator of the readiness of the baking is its appearance - as soon as the dough has doubled in volume, it is browned and you like it, everything is ready. It is important not to overdry the baked goods and then the finished dough will be juicy, tender and soft. We take out the monkey bread from the oven and let it cool for 5-10 minutes in the form.
20. After that, we remove the walls and remove the tin from the center. Transfer to a dish and serve.
21. Flavored monkey bread is most delicious when it is hot, although it is not recommended to eat it. The crispy brown crust, fluffy crumb and lingering cheese inside are a real treat. The rich creamy cheese flavor and subtle aftertaste of garlic will make you come back to the kitchen again and again ... I assure you, such a large loaf is unlikely to stay on the table for even one day!