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.