Fruitcake Monkey Bread

5.0 from 1 reviews

Fruitcake Monkey Bread (+ video)

Cinnamon-sugar dusted bites of billowy yeast dough that's filled with tart dried cherries, candied ginger, craisins and pecans and elevated with a citrusy orange glaze. This is an easy and a fun baking project.

Yield: 1 monkey bread

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup whole milk
1 packet (2¼ tsp, ¼ oz.) Platinum Yeast
⅓ cup granulated sugar, divided
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp orange zest
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
½ cup dried tart cherries, cut in halves
½ cup craisins, infused w/ cherry juice
¼ cup candied ginger, coarsely chopped
½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped

For the coating:

1½ cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

For the orange glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp unsalted butter softened

Instructions

Heat milk until warm to touch, 110-115°F. Add to bowl of stand mixer with paddle attachment. Stir in yeast and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Let stand 5 minutes, mixture will start to look frothy.
Whisk eggs with vanilla, then add to mixer bowl. Add remaining sugar, butter, oil and orange zest. Mix on low speed until combined.
Add 2 cups flour and kosher salt, stir on low speed until incorporated. Scrape bowl and switch to dough hook attachment. Gradually add remaining 2 cups of flour and continue to mix 2 minutes on low/med speed.
Add dried cherries, craisins, ginger, and pecans; mix until just incorporated. Dough will be sticky.
Turn dough on to lightly floured surface and use a dough scraper to help knead until dough has smoothed out and becomes more elastic, about 2-3 minutes. Form dough into a ball and place in lightly greased large bowl, turning dough to oil top. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about one hour.
Make the coating: Add sugar, cinnamon, and kosher salt to a jar or covered container and shake to combine. Pour into shallow bowl. In a separate shallow bowl, melt butter in microwave.Spray a 9¾-inch or 10-12 cup Bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Forming the monkey bread: Punch down dough and turn out onto clean countertop. Pat out dough to approximately a 14-inch round. Using a bench knife, cut dough in to 1 ½ inch strips, then cut 60-70 one-inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough in to a ball, dip in melted butter, then roll generously in cinnamon sugar.
Layer balls in prepared Bundt pan. Cover and let rise 20 minutes. Adjust oven rack to lower third position, then preheat oven to 350°F while bread is rising.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert on serving platter.
Make the glaze: Stir together powdered sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and butter. Drizzle over warm monkey bread and serve.
In partnership with Ingles Table.