Spicy Cheesy Monkey Bread
I don’t know about you, but I need some serious comfort foods during these long cold winter months. This spicy, cheesy pull-apart (“monkey”) bread truly hits the spot and is an all-around crowd pleaser! Perfect for a snowy weekend at home, or to bring over for game night! Get yourself some spicy Cabot Creamery pepper jack, some sharp cheddar, and you’ll be on your way to cheesy bread heaven.
For the dough:
500g all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
12g salt
7g (1 packet) yeast
190g warm water
20g (1 tbsp) honey
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs (beaten)
Filling:
1 bar of Cabot Creamery pepper jack, cubed into approx. 30 pieces
1/2 bag of shredded Cabot Creamery Vermont seriously sharp cheddar (or half of a grated 8oz block)
In a small bowl or measuring cup mix the yeast, honey & warm warm. Whisk thoroughly and let it sit until foamy (about 5-10 minutes). If you’re using instant yeast, skip the activation step with the warm water and just mix the yeast straight into the flour. You may still want to dissolve the honey in the warm milk, though.
Meanwhile, whisk together the salt and the flour, followed by adding the melted butter and beaten eggs.
When the yeast mixture is foamy, add it to all the other ingredients and give everything a good mix. You can either knead it using the dough hook & stand mixer, or knead by hand until you have a nice smooth ball.
Let it rise in a lightly oiled bowl (covered) for 1 hour or until doubled in size. While the dough rests, cube up your cheese.
5. When the dough has doubled in size, gently deflate it. Flour a work surface, and divide the dough into into 4 quarters, and then divide again into 8, and again into 16, and one more time into 32 (I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s really fun!).
6. Roll the first mini dough piece until you have a ball. Press a cube of cheese into it, and then seal the cheese inside, creating a cheese cube encased in dough (see photos below for more details). Repeat until all your pieces of dough have a cube of cheese inside them. Don’t stress if you end up with more or less than I did - it will work out either way!
Process for putting the cubes of cheese into the dough:
7. Once you’ve completed the cheese-ball process, pre-heat the oven to 400F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
8. Add a layer of the cheese dough balls to the bottom of the loaf tin, and then sprinkle with a layer of the shredded sharp cheddar. Repeat process until the loaf tin is full (layer of cheese ball dough, layer of shredded cheddar, etc.).
9. Let the loaf tin sit in a warm place while the oven finishes pre-heating.
10. Bake for 30 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 350F, and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
11. Let the bread cool in the tin for about 30 min, and then remove it. At this point if it feels cool enough, go ahead and dive in! Enjoy that spicy, cheesy goodness encased in super soft dough :)
Enjoy! This is best enjoyed right away, but you can also pull it apart and keep it in a sealed container at room temperature for 1-2 days. If you make this, I’d love to see! Tag @nokneadtoworry on Instagram. This post is sponsored by Cabot Creamery.
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