This Apple Chai Monkey bread is made with Stemilt Granny Smith apples and can be eaten for breakfast or dessert!
Meg van der Kruik
Check out this new twist on a classic, Apple Chai Monkey Bread!! I absolutely love cooking with my kids and their curiosity in the kitchen is refreshing. They aren't afraid to mix and match flavors or play around with spices. There is no certain rule book or technique that has to be followed, they just experiment and it's wonderful! This Apple Chai Monkey bread comes from a recent cooking session with my 16-year old daughter and I think it might just be the most delicious thing we have ever made together.
Eliza and I have been cooking together and making memories in the kitchen for years. Recently though she has really started exploring the world of baking because she has decided that after high school she wants to follow in my parent's footsteps and go work in their bakery! She has been rotating between baking cakes, cupcakes, brownies, and monkey bread for a few months now and trust me, none of us are complaining.
Eliza and I tested this apple chai monkey bread together a few times to come up with the perfect version of it. Whether you slice it into wedges so you can see the beautiful ripples of chai cinnamon sugar running through or you pick it apart with your fingers the old fashioned way, we think you are going to love it! Here are a few tips we learned in making this multiple times that you might find useful.
- First and foremost, it is important to use the right apple. We love baking with Stemilt's Granny Smith Apples. They are firm with a strong tartness resembling that of a lemon and they help to keep the end product from being overly sweet.
- Be sure to lightly oil your hands when you start to work with the dough after the first rise. It will help keep the sticky dough from sticking to your hands, which will save you a lot of frustration in the end.
- Eliza realized the third time we made this that if she sprinkled the chai cinnamon sugar topping into the lightly greased pan slightly coating it, every nook and cranny of the monkey bread would be completely covered in that ooey-gooey topping.
Check out the recipe below and let us know what you think in the comments!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- Tea leaves from 2 bags of chai teas
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or a good quality gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1 Stemilt Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely shredded
Recipe: Apple Chai Monkey Bread
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Loading...Directions:
To make the topping:
- Blend the sugar, chai tea, and cinnamon in a small bowl, or shake them together in a small lidded container. Set aside.
To make the dough:
- Stir together the water, vegetable oil, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl.
- Add 1 cup of the flour and the shredded Stemilt Granny Smith apple, stirring to blend.
- Add the second cup of flour, stirring to make a cohesive dough. It may seem like there is not enough liquid, but there is, resist the urge to add more. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
- At this point, you will have a very sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead the dough by folding the edges into the middle a few times, adding a sprinkle of flour when it starts to stick to your hands or the counter.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and let the dough rise for 45 to 60 minutes until it's doubled in size.
- Lightly oil your hands then gently deflate the dough, and place it on a clean, lightly greased work surface; a silicone mat works well here. Divide it into pieces about 1 1/2" in diameter; you'll make 16 pieces.
- Lightly grease a bundt pan, 8" round cake pan, or 9" tube pan then sprinkle the inside of the pan with 2-3 tablespoons of the cinnamon chai sugar mixture. Dip each piece of dough in water, then roll it in the cinnamon chai sugar mixture to coat.
- Place the pieces in a single layer in the prepared pan. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon chai sugar over the top.
- Cover the pan, and let the bread rise for 45 to 60 minutes until it's visibly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°
- Uncover the pan, and bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's golden brown and feels set.
- Remove the bread from the oven, and immediately turn the pan over onto a cooling rack. Lift the pan off the bread, and scrape any leftover topping in the pan onto the bread.
- Pull the bread apart to serve or slice into wedges like a cake. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
- Store any leftovers, well wrapped, at room temperature for a couple of days.
RECIPE NOTE: To shred the apples, either use a food processor fitted with the shredding disk or a box grater to shred by hand.
Meg van der Kruik
Meg van der Kruik is the creative spirit behind This Mess Is Ours, and on a mission to creating recipes that her whole family will love. Split between three meat-eaters and one vegetarian (plus dairy and gluten sensitivities), Meg has developed every day recipes that even the pickiest eaters will love and that’s just what she shares on The Stem blog. Meg’s favorite Stemilt fruit is yellow peaches!