Garlic Monkey Bread

Bread making does not have to be hard.  Even without a bread maker you too can make great bread at home.  If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer it is super fast and easy with the dough hook attachment.  But you really don't need one, you will just have to mix with your hands for a little longer.

I came up with a great no fuss recipe that came out better than any store bought garlic monkey bread.

Ingredients:

3/4 cups water
1/4 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of butter
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 garlic salt
1/2 minced garlic
1 tablespoon of pesto (store bought, saves time and is delicious and keeps well in the fridge)
1 package active dry yeast

Combine  water, milk, butter in sauce pan and warm up, (do not boil!). Combine all dry ingredients, spices and yeast in bowl  (reserve 1/2 cup of flour). Slowly add the warm liquid. Mix together then add the last 1/2 cup of flour until completely combined into a nice dough ball.  On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough about 10 times.  Take a large bowl and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, cover and let rise for about 1 hour.  The dough should double in size. Take dough out of bowl and punch down.  Next divide the dough up and roll into 1 inch balls. Gently place in a bunt cake pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.  Let the dough rise in the pan for another hour. Lastly bake for 30 minutes at 400°F. Turn out of pan and let the bread cool.

Pull apart add butter if you like and enjoy.

Not only is making bread easy but it makes the whole house smell good while its baking!

I hope you will try and make your own bread every so often. Even if it isn't this recipe, there are a lot of great and easy recipes just waiting to be tested. - Amber