Salted Caramel Monkey Bread Food

SALTED CARAMEL MONKEY BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
• Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt pan with 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter; set aside. (NOTE: It's important to thoroughly grease all of the little cracks and crevices of the Bundt pan, especially at the bottom where all of the sticky caramel gathers as the cake bakes. The better you grease your pan, the easier it will be to extract the cake when you're ready to serve.).
• Remove biscuit dough from packaging and separate into individual biscuits. Tear each biscuit into 3 pieces and use your hands to roll them into balls.
• Working in batches of 3 or 4 at a time, drop dough balls in the bag of the cinnamon mixture; seal bag and shake until dough is coated. Arrange dough in greased Bundt pan and repeat process with remaining balls. (Alternatively, if the dough starts sticking to together in the bag, you can dip the dough balls int one at a time to ensure they're thoroughly coated with sugar and cinnamon.) Set aside while you make the sauce.
• In a medium saucepan, melt both sticks of butter over medium heat. Whisk in brown sugar, heavy cream, and 1 tsp of sea salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continuously whisk ingredients for about 3-4 minutes, until mixture is well-combined and the brown sugar is completely dissolved. (NOTE: Salted Caramel Sauce can be made in advance and chilled for up to 2-3 days. When you're ready to use it, just microwave sauce for 30 seconds to restore it's syrup-like consistency).
• Remove saucepan from heat and carefully pour 2 cups of the warm caramel sauce over the dough balls in the Bundt pan; save the remaining sauce for serving.
• Transfer Bundt pan to oven and bake the monkey bread for about 30 minutes, or until the bread is puffy and golden brown.
• Remove Bundt pan from oven and allow to rest for no more than 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate or cake stand (with a plate underneath it to catch any sticky drippings).
• Drizzle the remaining caramel sauce over the monkey bread. Sprinkle with sea salt to taste just before serving (optional).

CARAMEL MONKEY BREAD

Steps:

• Make the brioche: Coat a large bowl with cooking spray and set aside. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and mix on low speed to combine. Add the milk and eggs and mix until combined, then increase the speed to medium high and mix until the dough begins to pull away from the sides, about 5 minutes.
• Reduce the speed to medium; start adding the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating until incorporated before adding more, about 5 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and continue to mix until the dough is glossy and slightly tacky but not sticky, about 7 minutes. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
• Make the caramel: Combine the sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to boil, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling the pan but not stirring, until dark amber, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, heavy cream, vanilla and salt. Let cool to room temperature.
• Assemble the monkey bread: Coat a 15-cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Put the butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Slice the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each into a 9- to 10-inch-long log. Slice each log into roughly 10 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball, dusting the surface with more flour as needed. Pour about half of the caramel into the bundt pan.
• Working in batches, coat 20 dough balls in the butter, letting the excess drip off, then roll in the cinnamon sugar and arrange in a single layer in the pan. Drizzle the remaining caramel on top. Repeat with the remaining 20 dough balls, melted butter and cinnamon sugar, then arrange in the bundt pan. Set aside until the dough is slightly puffed, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Place the bundt pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the monkey bread is dark golden brown on top, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a platter.

GOOEY CARAMEL MONKEY BREAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease or spray 12-cup fluted tube cake pan.
• Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon in 1-gallon food-storage plastic bag. Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each in quarters.
• Shake biscuit pieces in bag to coat; place in pan. Sprinkle any extra sugar mixture over biscuits.
• In 1-quart saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar to boiling over medium-high heat; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour over biscuit pieces.
• Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until biscuits are deep golden brown and cooked through in center. Cool 5 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm.