In the past, I made a monkey bread that had chocolate chips and caramel bits in each piece, with a thick icing on top. Lately I’d been pondering a monkey bread that has Milk Duds in each piece, and just changing the inside didn’t seem enough, so I also made a caramel sauce to go on top instead. The way it worked out, most of the chocolate of the Milk Duds melts away, leaving a softer-than-before blob of tasty caramel, plus the thick caramel coating, which sure works for me!

Ingredients:

Dough:

To make the dough, combine the milk, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let sit for five minutes. While you wait, lightly grease a bundt pan and set aside. Add the remaining dough ingredients and knead together until smooth. Cover and allow to rise for an hour.

Gently knock down the dough. Divide into four portions, then roll each quarter into a rope and divide into ten pieces. Roll each of the 40 pieces into a ball, then press Milk Dud into each and fold the dough around to completely cover the Milk Dud, rolling in your hands to seal. As you seal each piece, place it into the prepared bundt pan.

Stir together the melted butter and vanilla and pour over the dough pieces, then cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and crisp on the outside. Place a plate/platter over the bundt pan and invert, turning the monkey bread out onto the platter, and let cool at least 10 minutes before topping with the caramel sauce.

The caramel sauce can be made while the bread bakes, while the dough rises in the first place, or even days before, you’ll just need to warm it back up if you do it earlier, to make it more flow-y. To make it, first heat the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until completely melted.

Once the sugar is melted, add the butter, which will bubble significantly.

Once the butter is completely melted into the melted sugar, very slowly drizzle in the cream while stirring, being careful of the continuing bubbling.

Once all the cream is added, allow to boil 1 minute, then remove from the heat and stir in the salt.

Cool slightly before using. You will (probably) have leftover caramel sauce, depending on how wild you go – you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to a month, reheating in the microwave or on the stove as necessary.

If it can hold fingerprints, probably it needs to be reheated!

Pour the prepared caramel sauce over the baked monkey bread, let cool at least enough that it won’t burn your fingers, and enjoy.

Caramel Monkey Bread

Caramel Sauce from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

Dough:

• 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 cups all purpose flour

Filling and Topping:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 box Milk Duds

Caramel Sauce:

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon salt

To make the dough, combine the milk, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl and let sit for five minutes. While you wait, lightly grease a bundt pan and set aside. Add the remaining dough ingredients and knead together until smooth. Cover and allow to rise for an hour.

Gently knock down the dough. Divide into four portions, then roll each quarter into a rope and divide into ten pieces. Roll each of the 40 pieces into a ball, then press Milk Dud into each and fold the dough around to completely cover the Milk Dud, rolling in your hands to seal. As you seal each piece, place it into the prepared bundt pan.

Stir together the melted butter and vanilla and pour over the dough pieces, then cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and crisp on the outside. Place a plate/platter over the bundt pan and invert, turning the monkey bread out onto the platter, and let cool at least 10 minutes before topping with the caramel sauce.

The caramel sauce can be made while the bread bakes, while the dough rises in the first place, or even days before, you’ll just need to warm it back up if you do it earlier, to make it more flow-y. To make it, first heat the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until completely melted. Once the sugar is melted, add the butter, which will bubble significantly. Once the butter is completely melted into the melted sugar, very slowly drizzle in the cream while stirring, being careful of the continuing bubbling. Once all the cream is added, allow to boil 1 minute, then remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Cool slightly before using. You will (probably) have leftover caramel sauce, depending on how wild you go – you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to a month, reheating in the microwave or on the stove as necessary.