Bourbon Pecan Monkey Bread

Sweet, sticky, nutty, perfectly bourbon-y, and so delicious! This Pull-Apart Monkey Bread is the perfect breakfast, brunch, or even dessert any time of year. SO. GOOD.

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 35

Cook Time: 40

Proofing Time: 4

Servings:

Calories: 560kcal

Ingredients

Sweet Dough

4¼ cups all purpose flour
⅓ cup granulated sugar
4¼ teaspoons instant yeast
¾ teaspoons kosher salt
⅔ teaspoon baking soda
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
1½ cups buttermilk

Sauce

¼ cup salted butter
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup dark corn syrup
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup bourbon
½ cup pecans finely chopped

Coating

½ cup melted butter
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Sweet Dough

Spray a medium bowl with cooking spray. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, sugar, yeast, salt, soda, butter, and buttermilk.
Mix on low speed 1 minute, until well combined.
Increase speed to medium.
Knead for 8 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
Turn into prepared bowl.
Let rise at warm room temperature (78℉) until doubled in bulk, about 2-2 1/2 hours. (If not using a proofing box with a water tray, cover dough with plastic wrap.)

Sauce

When dough is nearly done proofing, spray a bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon.
Heat over medium-low heat until sugar has dissolved completely.
Remove from heat.
Stir in bourbon and pecans.
Pour into bottom of prepared pan.

Coating

In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.

Putting It All Together

Divide dough into 1 ounce pieces.
Roll each piece into a ball.
Dip dough ball in butter.
Roll in sugar mixture.
Place in bundt pan on top of sauce.
Let rise at warm room temperature (78℉) for 30-45 minutes, until noticeably risen. (If not using a proofing box with a water tray, cover with plastic wrap.)
While dough is proofing, heat oven to 350℉.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. (190℉)
Remove from oven.
Carefully flip out onto serving tray.

Notes

Substitutions:

You can use rum instead of bourbon.
While pecans work best in this recipe, walnuts are a decent substitute.

Expert Tips:

Check your yeast and make sure it’s in-date.
A properly kneaded dough should be smooth and clean the bowl. If you have an instant read thermometer, it will read about 70 degrees F.
Do NOT boil the brown sugar sauce. Cook over low heat just until the sugar is dissolved.
Make sure the nuts are finely chopped.
Use a bread proofer for best results with the raising of the dough.
If you aren’t using a bread proofer for the dough, you will need to cover it with plastic wrap.
When baking, you may need to cover it with foil about 20 minutes into the bake time.

Nutrition