Monkey Bread for the World Bread Day

Hurraaaah ! Today is the World Bread Day and every year, for the past 5 years, Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte has been so kind enough to invite all the bread lovers of the world to her virtual Potluck bread party !!! Thank you Zorra for this invitation. Its my pleasure to be your guest again for the second time  :) 
Iam on the way to the event with my Monkey Bread...
Well, the name sounds funny and catchy isnt it ? Thats what exactly caught my attention when i first saw it. The reason behind this so-called bread is unknown. Here, the dough is divided into small balls, rolled in cinnamon and brown sugar, coated with brown-sugar syrup, layered in a pan, baked and eaten by pulling the pieces apart....

Ingredients
For the dough :
All purpose flour - 4-5 cups
Dry yeast - 4 tsp
Lukewarm water - about 10 ml
Butter - 60 gms
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 250 ml
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg(beaten) - 1

For the coating :
Ground cinnamon - 2 tsp
Sugar or brown sugar - 1/2 cup

For the syrup :
Butter -125 gms (melted)
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup (optional)

A bundt pan or any springform.
A freezer bag or any zip-lock bag

Method

1) Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and set aside for about 10 minutes.
2) Grease a bundt pan generously with butter.
3) Melt the butter along with the milk and sugar on a medium heat.

4) In a large bowl, mix together flour, yeast solution, salt, egg and the milk-butter-sugar. Knead it into a smooth dough. Please adjust the consistency of the dough by adding a little flour or water. Cover the bowl and allow it to rise in a warm place for about an hour.
5) Knead the puffed up dough gently and divide it into small pieces.

6) Mix together sugar and cinnamon in a zip-lock cover.
7) Add in the divided dough balls in parts and shake the cover well so that the balls are coated evenly with cinnamon-sugar.
Cinnamon enhances the flavor and aroma of a bread and I find every opportunity to include in my breads. If you are a "no-cinnamon" person, no worries, just omit it and go ahead with only the sugar.

7) Place two layers of the balls in the greased pan. Sprinkle some raisins. Continue the same with the remaining balls .

8) Melt the brown sugar and butter in a separate pan and pour it over the layered balls.

The butter seeps down through the layers to the bottom of the pan...

9) Cover the pan with a fresh foil and allow the dough to rise for another 20 minutes.
10) Preheat the oven to 210°C and bake the bread for about 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake it again for about 25-30 minutes until the surface turns golden brown.
11) Place the bread in a wire rack and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
12) Flip the pan gently.
The butter and brown sugar gets caramelized and gets coated on the bread beautifully once turned upside down.

A rich treat as a Breakfast, Snack or a Dessert !

 You could actually pull the bread apart with your fingers. Its sticky but doesnt matter you would end up licking them all ! The kids especially would love to do so. Infact my 2 year old daughter helped me from the start. She had so much fun and enjoyed every bit of the baking till eating. If you ever plan to have a baking day with your kids, this Monkey Bread is definitely the best option !

Cant really resist to post one more pic of this irresistable bread.....

Notes :
1) It stays fresh in an air-tight container for 5 days and for about a month in a freezer.
2) Its generally served warm but tastes equally good at room temperature.
3) You could drizzle the top with the powdered sugar glaze, could use nuts along with the raisins for the crunchy effect, options are many for the sweet teeth :)
4) This bread is baked absolutely from the homemade dough. Many recipes of this bread ask for the refrigerated biscuits which are divided into small balls and continued with the Step 6. But I prefer to work and play with my own dough and do it from the scratch.