Caramel Monkey Bread

Monkey bread, bubble bread, pull-apart bread.. call it what you like, this stuff is amazing! I love the basic dough recipe for this. Use this dough recipe for sweet rolls and you won’t be disappointed.

Dough:
1 pkg. yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1 1/4 c. warm milk
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
5 c. flour

Caramel sauce:
2/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. butter, sliced into smaller pieces
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
(if you REALLY want it gooey and carmely you can double the sauce)

1 c. chopped pecans (optional)
1 c. sugar
2-3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. butter, melted

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt and half of the flour (2 1/2 c.) Beat on medium speed for 3 min. Stir in remaining flour until it forms a firm dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 7-8 minutes). Place in greased bowl and turn over to get the whole dough ball greasy. Cover and let rise for about an hour or until dough doubles in size.

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and cream and bring to a boil. Stir for about 3 minutes until it’s nice and melted together. Pour half into a greased fluted pan. If you are wanting pecans, add half of them to the pan as well.
When dough is done, punch it down and form into 35-40 balls. In a pie pan or shallow bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Place melted butter in another bowl. Dip balls in butter, then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place 20 or so balls in the tube pan. Top with remaining caramel and pecans. Top with remaining balls. Cover and let rise about 40 minutes, until doubled in size again. Bake at 350-degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown (if they are browning too fast you can loosely cover it with tin foil). Cool for 10 minutes, then turn up-side down onto a serving plate.