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Whole Wheat Monkey Bread Challah

From scratch sweet pull apart monkey bread made with whole wheat challah dough and a generous topping of cinnamon sugar.

Remember the braided whole wheat challah loaf I shared few posts back. Since the recipe yields two loaves, I decided to play with shapes and ended up making this Monkey Bread Challah with the other half of the dough. The challah dough recipe is wonderful and add some cinnamon sugar and butter to the dough, the results are a buttery billowy pull apart sweet bread.

I adapted the recipe from the Hot Bread Kitchen cookbook. If you love baking breads, its a cookbook you will love to have on your book shelf.

This was the first time I was working with challah bread and I loved it. It is one of my new favorite breads to bake. The best part is the dough makes enough for two loaves. With one loaf you can go the traditional braided challah way and with the other you can experiment and make something sweet. That ways you get the best of both worlds- one savory loaf and one sweet loaf.

It doesn’t hurt that it is part whole wheat too 🙂

I have a few recipes lined up for the coming weeks. I know it is Tuesday and generally I post on Garam Masala Tuesdays but as you can see I haven’t been as regular with them as I used to be. I don’t cook much Indian these days since my parents have a great cook who makes amazing Indian food. But when I posted the insta stories on Seviyaan (vermicelli) burfi, I got a few requests to start GMT again. So once I have a few Indian recipes lined up, I will start posting on GMT again.

Let me know if there is a particular recipe you would like me to try and share.

For now enjoy this whole wheat monkey bread challah recipe.

Whole Wheat Monkey Bread Challah

Serves: 2 loaves

Ingredients

For the dough:
The Pâte Fermentée (to be made 8-24 hrs ahead)
½ cup plus 1 tsp lukewarm water
⅔ tsp active dry yeast
180 gms (1⅓ cups plus 1 tbsp) bread flour
1 tsp salt
For the challah:
¼ cup plus 1 tbsp water
220 gms (1¾ cup) whole wheat flour
85 gms (2/3 cup) bread flour, plus more for dusting
3 large egg yolks ( you could also use 2 large eggs instead)
⅓ cup canola oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 egg, for egg wash
1½ tsp active dry yeast
For the topping:
200 gms (1 cup) granulated sugar
200gms (1 cup) dark brown sugar sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup melted butter

Instructions

To make the Pâte Fermentée:

In a stand mixer attached with a dough hook, add the water and yeast. Add in the flour and salt. Mix together on low speed for 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours and a maximum of 24 hours.

For the challah

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the water, and both flours. Mix on low till combined and then let rest for 20 minutes for the flours to hydrate.
In a separate bowl, add the 3 yolks (or 2 beaten whole eggs), the oil, honey, salt and sugar. Add in the Pâte Fermentée along with the yeast. Mix on low for 2 minutes, and then turn speed up to medium high and knead for another 5-6 minutes. Apply the windowpane test to check if the gluten has developed (you should be able stretch out the dough to a thin film without breaking it)
Put the dough in a well greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rise in room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours.

For the monkey bread:

In a bowl mix both sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and keep aside.
Punch down your risen dough and divide it in half. Work with one half of the dough at a time.
Roll the dough into a long rope and cut 18 pieces out of it. Brush each ball with a little of the melted butter and roll it in the cinnamon brown sugar mixture.
Drop each ball into a greased 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.
Repeat with the other half of the dough and fill another loaf pan.
Cover the loaf pans loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour, in a warm environment.
Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F.
Bake the loaf till brownies and sugar is bubbling about 30 minutes.
Let cool in pan for 20 minutes and then remove from pan. You can serve it warm, or at room temperature.

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