email this pageWhen the Reagans were in the White House, The New York Times ran a small story with the family’s Christmas menu. One of the dishes served was Monkey Bread.
Also called Bubble Bread, Monkey Bread is a lightly sweetened yeast dough, but instead of shaping the dough into a loaf, it’s formed into balls. The balls are rolled in melted butter and baked together in a tube pan. During baking, they expand and nestle against each other like a pack of monkeys, which may be why it’s called Monkey Bread. Mrs. Reagan had another thought: “When you make it, you have to monkey around with it,” she said.
Many of the Monkey Bread recipes we found call for store-bought refrigerator biscuits, coated in cinnamon sugar and baked side-by-side in a large pan. While we have a hard time picturing Mrs. Reagan in an apron making bread, we have an even harder time imagining the White House pastry chef slamming a tube of dough on the counter for the commander-in-chief’s holiday dinner.
Although it’s tempting to try to arrange the balls of dough neatly in the pan, once they’re coated in butter, they are slippery and practically slide into place by themselves. At first the pan will seem too big for the dough, but it rises nearly to the top. When the bread is baked, it fills the pan.
Monkey Bread should be served warm in one piece so everyone can pull off a roll. We have no idea how many people there were around the White House table but would like to think when there was one roll left, the President smiled, took it and said, “Executive privilege!”
Monkey Bread
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Although it’s tempting to try to arrange the balls of dough neatly in the pan, once they’re coated in butter, they are slippery and practically slide into place by themselves. At first the pan will seem too big for the dough, but it rises nearly to the top. When the bread is baked, it fills the pan.
Ingredients
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk, heated
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2. Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to oil top of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 50 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 375F.
4. Punch dough down; shape into 16 balls. Roll each in melted butter and arrange in a greased 9-inch tube pan. If there is extra butter, pour over top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 50 minutes or until dough nearly fills pan.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan onto wire rack; serve warm. Serves 8.
Recipe by Editor-at-Large Jean Kressy.
"Relish the American Table," Dec. 31, 2006; Relish the Holiday, "A Baking Heritage," December 2008.
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