Orange Monkey Bread

This recipe can be made with a bread machine or by hand. If using a bread machine, put the first six ingredients in bread pan and set for white or sweet bread, dough stage, and press start. When the dough is done follow the rest of this recipe.

1 c. milk
2¼ tsp. yeast
3 T. sugar
3 T. soft butter
¾ tsp. salt
1 T. grated orange peel
3 c. bread flour

4½ melted butter
3 T. orange juice
1½ c. sugar
1½ tsp cinnamon

Heat milk to a warm temperature (not hot), and mix milk, yeast, and sugar together. Once yeast mixture is bubbly, put it into a mixer. Add butter, salt, and orange peel. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing between cups. (This dough should be very soft, so check the dough as you add the final cup of flour to make sure it isn’t getting too tough.) Continue to mix the dough for about one minute, or until all the ingredients have combined and can be easily formed into a ball. Put dough in a large greased bowl, cover it, and let it sit in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Just before dough is ready, mix together melted butter and orange juice. In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon and sugar. Put about half of the cinnamon-sugar mix in another bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl, punch down. Roll dough into a thick log and cut it into 30 to 36 pieces. You can roll them into balls or leave them the way they are. Dip each ball in butter orange mixture, then in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Layer balls in a greased 2-2½ quart dish. Butter will drip in the sugar and make it hard to work with, so half way through dipping the balls, switch to the other bowl of cinnamon-sugar. Drizzle any remaining butter and cinnamon-sugar over the dough in the pan. Cover it loosely, and put it in a warm place to rise for about 30-40 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Uncover loaf and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread is lightly brown and a skewer inserted in the bred comes out clean. Remove and invert bread on a serving plate. Let the bread cool a little, then serve.