A smaller monkey bread type cake that brings together all your favorite Chunky Monkey flavors (unless, like me, you insist on replacing the walnuts, but that’s cool too). I made this one at someone else’s house, and it was no problem to put most of the dry goods just in some ziplocks and throw them together there. How convenient!

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 envelopes RapidRise yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup very warm water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or chocolate chips)

Assembly and topping:

• 2 bananas, cut into 1/2″ slices
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Lightly grease a 9″ pie plate, then set aside. Do not preheat the oven.

To make the dough, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and butter, and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Stir in the walnuts (or chocolate chips) until evenly mixed. You can knead a few times if desired, but it’s not necessary.

Place the banana slices in the greased pie dish, creating one even layer over the bottom.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping in a small dish, stirring together. Taking tablespoon-sized pieces of the dough, roll each into a ball, then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Place the coated dough balls on top of the banana slices, and repeat until all the dough has been used up.

Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the dough balls. I sort of spaced it at this step and instead threw out the rest of the cinnamon sugar, so mine weren’t as sweet as they could have been, but they were still real tasty. Drizzle the butter over the dough, then sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top.

Yours could be much more sugary looking at this point!

Place the pie plate in the cold oven. Set the oven to 350 degrees, and bake 25-30 minutes (mine needed the full 30), until the top is browned and the center seems firm.

Let cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then serve still warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Nothing quite like melty chocolate in the morning to make getting out of bed bearable.

Chunky Monkey Coffee Cake

From The Next Door Baker.

Dough:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 envelopes RapidRise yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup very warm water
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Assembly and topping:

• 2 bananas, cut into 1/2″ slices
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Lightly grease a 9″ pie plate, then set aside. Do not preheat the oven.

To make the dough, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add the water and butter, and mix well with a wooden spoon. Stir in the walnuts until evenly mixed. You can knead a few times if desired, but it’s not necessary.

Place the banana slices in the greased pie dish, creating one even layer over the bottom. Combine the cinnamon and sugar for the topping in a small dish, stirring together. Taking tablespoon-sized pieces of the dough, roll each into a ball, then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Place the coated dough balls on top of the banana slices, and repeat until all the dough has been used up. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the dough balls. Drizzle the butter over the dough, then sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top.

Place the pie plate in the cold oven. Set the oven to 350 degrees, and bake 25-30 minutes, until the top is browned and the center seems firm. Let cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then serve still warm. Refrigerate leftovers.