Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread--one of my oldest recipes (c1970). I searched in cookbooks for almost a year, until I finally came across the recipe in a small cookbook at the San Antonio public library. Silent movie star and feature actress ZaSu Pitts contributed the bread recipe, and called it Monkey Bread--"because you have to monkey around with it." 

I made a Xerox copy of the recipe (long before home computers could cut and paste from a website) and began the journey to master my first homemade bread. It took years to get the feel of the dough, to know when it had risen enough, to perfect the light golden brown crust. I understood what ZaSu meant after a few attempts. Monkey Bread has since become a holiday tradition and making it always puts me in the holiday spirit.

Those big, sad eyes got her lots of parts in early silent movies.
1894-1963

The first time I had Monkey Bread was at a scholarship luncheon held at a local country club by the Fort Worth Women's Business Association. All I remember of that day was receiving a tiny scholarship award to pursue a business major in college, and being served a warm, pull apart, melt-in-your-mouth piece of bread. 

I would later learn that the soft texture of the bread was the result of a mashed potato being added. I was definitely more excited about the bread than the scholarship! If only I had followed my instincts that day and changed career direction; but in 1970 cooking school wasn't recognized as anything more than a hobby. Women traveled to France to earn a grand diplome in cuisine and baking from Le Cordon Bleu, and it was the kick-start to many now famous female chefs and cookbook authors who entered the male-dominated field (Dione Lucas, Julia Child, Nathalie Dupree to name a few). 

I don't think the Culinary Institute of America or French Culinary Institute even existed! My female friends were off to college to pursue finance, education, or accounting degrees--not a single one of them hoped to spend their career back in the kitchen. My minuscule college budget did not include money for traveling and living in France for 12 months and I never even considered it an option. To better understand the evolution of culinary degrees, read this excellent 1998 article by Amanda Hesser of the New York Times.

 

As for the Monkey Bread recipe I so desperately sought, be sure and read through the directions first and don't be overwhelmed. Silent movie star ZaSu Pitts knew how to write a recipe and gave excellent detailed instructions. She was also quite a candy maker, and her cookbook CandyHits was published posthumously in 1963. 

Her cookbook was published after her death in 1963.

I recently found a copy on Amazon. Love the pink cover with a photo of her mischievously peeking out a peep hole, and the candy caned striped hard cover is sweet. ZaSu collected candy and chocolate molds (like me), and had a round kitchen! Sounds like she was lots of fun and made a mean fudge and fondant. I can't wait to receive the book and read more about Hollywood during the silent movie era, with tales of Mary Pickford, Bing Crosby, Humphrey Bogart and young Elizabeth Taylor--and try my hand at a few of her candy recipes.

Homemade Marshmallows and Caramels--I like this lady!

Can't wait to get my copy to read more about her candy and her life in Hollywood.

 Thanks ZaSu (combination of her two aunts' names (sayzoo) for my favorite bread recipe. Sadly, I have no idea what cookbook the recipe came out of--I only have a copy of the two pages of instructions. Perhaps a trip to the San Antonio library is in order to investigate the source once again. Read more about this incredible actress, cook, and funny lady who has a star on  Hollywood Boulevard.

Apparently everyone had trouble pronouncing her name.

Even her caricatures emphasized those big eyes!

Monkey bread dough can also be used for cinnamon-sugar bread using the same technique, just roll in cinnamon sugar after dipping in the melted butter. You could also dip the dough in garlic butter. or add chopped herbs. The possibilities are endless. I'm a purist when it comes to this bread though. We all like it the original way-drenched in butter and warm from the oven.

Monkey Bread

makes two 9" ring loaves

(I often make one large Bundt pan and a smaller loaf pan)

Printable Recipe 

2 cups water

2 medium-sized boiling potatoes, peeled and quarter

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon plus 1/2 cup sugar

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup lukewarm milk (110°F to 115°F)

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (such as Crisco)

1 tablespoon butter, softened, plus

1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled*

*I melt a whole pound of butter to dip the dough.

Bring water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan. Drop in the potatoes and boil briskly, uncovered, until a piece of potato can be easily mashed against the side of the pan with the back of a fork. Drain potatoes in a sieve set over a bowl and pat them dry with paper towels. Measure and reserve 1/4 cup of the potato water. Puree the potatoes through a food mill set over a bowl, or mash them well with the back of a fork. You should have about 1 cup of puree.

When the reserved potato water has cooled to lukewarm (110°F to 115°F), pour it into a shallow bowl. Add yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar and let mixture rest for 2-3 minutes, then stir well. Set the bowl in a warm, draft-free place (such as an unlighted oven) for 5 minutes, or until the yeast bubbles and the mixture almost doubles in volume.

Combine 5 1/2 cups of flour, the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and the salt in a deep mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the potato puree, the yeast mixture, and the eggs, milk, and vegetable shortening. With a large spoon, mix the ingredients together and stir until the dough is smooth and can be gathered into a soft ball. (I did this by hand for years, but I now let my KitchenAid stand mixer with the dough hook to do all the work.)

Place the ball on a lightly floured surface and knead pushing the dough down with the heels of your hands, pressing it forward and folding it back on itself. As you knead, sprinkle flour over the ball by the tablespoonful, adding up to 1 cup of flour if necessary to make a firm dough. Continue to knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic. (If using the stand mixer, do the same with the flour, but let dough hook work the dough until smooth, shiny, and elastic--several minutes.)

With a pastry brush, spread the tablespoon of softened butter evenly inside a deep mixing bowl. Place the ball in the bowl and turn it around to butter the entire surface of the dough. Drape the bowl loosely with a kitchen towel and put it in a draft-free place for about 1-1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume.

With a pastry brush, spread 2 tablespoons of the melted butter evenly over the bottom and sides of two 9-inch tube pans. (I sometimes use 1 Bundt and 1 loaf pan.) Punch the dough down with a blow of your first and place it on a lightly floured surface. With your hand, pat and shape the dough into a rectangle 14 inches long, 12 inches wide and about 1/2 inch thick. Using a ruler and a pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut the rectangle into diamonds about 2 inches long.

For years I actually used a ruler to measure--I now just eye it.

To assemble the monkey bread, immerse one diamond at a time in the remaining melted butter and arrange a layer of diamonds side by side in a ring on the bottom of each buttered tube pan. Repeat with two more layers of butter-coated diamonds, arranging each successive layer so that it fits over the spaces left in the previous ring.

Don't worry that the diamonds do not fill all the spaces; as they rise and bake they will expand.

Butter-drenched dough is ready for final rise.

Drape the pans loosely with towels and set them aside in a draft-free place for about 1 hours, or until the loaves double in volume.
 
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake the monkey bread in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the loaves are a golden brown. To test for doneness, turn the loaves out and rap the bottoms sharply with your knuckles. The loaves should sound hollow; if they do not, return them to their pans and bake for 5-10 minutes longer.

Ready to pull apart and slather with butter.

Turn the bread out on a wire rack and let cool slightly before serving. Monkey bread is never sliced. Instead each diner pulls a diamond-shaped piece from the loaf. 

Recognize her now? 

ZaSu played the frantic telephone operator in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
directed by Stanley Kramer in 1963.
It was her last movie.

 Enjoy!