Recipe: Pull-Apart Bread

*sniffs*
Do you smell that?

Ooooo, baking bread! I can’t think of anything that makes a house feel more like a home than the smell of baking bread. My mom is a bread baker and I am always reminded of coming home from school on cold days and smelling her sourdough bread baking. Nomnomnom…nothing better!

This is a favorite recipe of mine originally from a very old community cookbook. I’ve edited and changed it until it’s just the way we like it. If you’ve never made homemade bread before, this is an easy recipe to start with.

Pull-Apart Bread
sometimes called Monkey Bread

1 pkg dry yeast
1 c lukewarm water
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) melted and cooled butter + another 1/2 cup
3 1/2 – 4 cups flour (AP works just fine)

In a large mixing bowl*, dissolve yeast and lukewarm water. In a small bowl, beat the egg, add salt, sugar and 1/2 cup of melted and cooled butter, beating well. Add to yeast mixture. Mix well.

Slowly mix in flour, about 1 cup at a time, mixing well as you go. Mix until the dough is elastic and pulls away from the edges of the bowl.

*If you have a stand mixer, add ingredients into the mixer bowl, using the standard attachment through the first two cups of flour. Change to the dough hook and mix until dough pulls away from the bowl.

Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Time will vary based on the room temperature. Approximately 2 hours.

Once the dough has doubled, place remaining 1/2 cup of butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds at a time until just melted. Stir to help any unmelted bits finish melting.

Prepare two loaf pans by spraying lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Place dough on a large piece of parchment paper. Roll out to about 1/4″ thickness. Use a pizza cutter or a dough knife and cut into 1 1/2″ to 2″ pieces. Dip each piece in melted butter and place in loaf pan, evenly distributing pieces between the two pans.

Cover with a towel and let rise until double again, approximately 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake loaves for about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and then turn out on a plate or cooling rack.