The secret to the recipe is using a microwave to rise the dough. Imagine, homemade monkey bread just one hour! I don’t mean with packaged, or store-bought dough – I mean homemade. I know this is dangerous because you’ll want to make it all the time, but with my quick rise dough method, you can indeed have homemade monkey bread in less than an hour! I made this for a friend’s birthday. Her favorite thing in the world is sticky buns so I thought this would make the perfect birthday cake for her. I made it and she picked it up to serve to her family after her birthday dinner. Meanwhile, in my house when my six-year-old son finished his dinner he promptly asked for a piece of sticky bun cake for dessert. Crap! Cinnamon buns and sticky buns are also my son’s very favorite things in the world. What was I thinking? Why didn’t I make two? When I explained that I made it for my friend’s birthday and not in honor of her birthday and that I already gave it to her, he broke out in tears, went to his room and hid under the covers in heartbreak! Luckily, I was able to make another batch in less than an hour and made my son one happy boy! You may have seen my recipe for Quick Rise Cinnamon Rolls where I use a microwave to rise the dough. If so, you already know how I do it. If you haven’t. here’s how. NOTE: Before attempting this method, please see the baker’s tip at the bottom of this post for a microwave test. I wouldn’t want you to ruin dough you spent a lot of time on in a microwave that won’t rise dough. I made the dough as I always do, but instead of leaving the dough to rise in a warm place, I put it in a bowl, covered it in plastic wrap, and set it aside while I put a mug full of hot water in the microwave on high for 3 minutes (just to add some moisture to the oven). This is what the dough looked like before I started.
Then I put the microwave on the lowest possible setting (10% power) and put the bowl with the dough in it in for 3 minutes (this is a good time to start the sauce for the monkey bread). After the 3 minutes, I left the dough to rest without touching it in the microwave for another 3 minutes. This is what it looked like after that… I was pretty impressed. I then repeated the process, but this time I left the dough to rest for 5 minutes. and this is what it looked like after that… Pretty amazing right? Next, punch down the dough. I know after all the trouble of getting the dough to rise, this may seem absurd, but go ahead and punch it down. Pour a little of the sauce into the bottom of a bundt pan. Form dough into approximately 1 inch balls and layer to cover the bottom of the pan using ½ of the dough mixture. Pour over ½ of the remaining sauce. Continue to layer 1 inch balls of dough until it is gone. Pour remaining sauce over the mixture. Place on a baking sheet to catch any overflow of topping and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and wait 5 minutes to turn out onto a large plate and serve. Baker’s Tips:
I highly recommend checking your microwave owner’s manual to see if proofing is recommended. If you don’t have your manual handy, just do the following test before trying it on the dough you spent a lot of time on: Place two tablespoons of cold, stick margarine in a glass cup in the center of the microwave (don’t use corn oil spread or shortening sticks). Cook uncovered on 10% power (low) for 4 minutes. If the margarine doesn’t completely melt, your microwave can proof yeast dough. If it does melt then your microwave is just too powerful and will kill the yeast and make your dough rock hard.
UPDATE NOTES: This recipe was originally published in April of 2015, but was republished with information on how to test your microwave before making the recipe.
More Great Buns & Rolls
Sticky Buns Cinnamon Rolls Chocolate & Salted Caramel Sticky Buns Crumb Buns
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