Pull-Apart Bread …. an interesting concept that has been called many names such as bubble bread or loaf, jumble bread, monkey bread etc. Initially it was formed pieces of yeast dough dipped in butter and baked in a loaf to be served with jam or preserves. In 1942, General Mills (Betty Crocker) promoted ‘Hungarian Coffee Cake’, which consisted of balls of yeast dough dipped in melted butter, then in sugar frequently mixed with cinnamon and/or chopped nuts. It was baked in a ring pan because the central tube helped prevent the center from being under baked and sinking due to all the butter. ‘Betty Crocker’ had a real way of turning unknown recipes into mainstream ideas.
By the 1990’s, General Mills promotions began entitling this sugar-coated treat as ‘Monkey Bread’. However, it may have been silent-screen movie star, ‘Zasu Pitts’, who provided this whimsical name. The term and recipe initially appeared in the Thursday, February 8th, 1945 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) in the column ‘Culinary Clinic’. Zasu was most often remembered for her extraordinary name, huge eyes and fluttering fingers. Besides acting, she had a passion for cooking and published a 93-page cookbook in 1963.
Most of the early recipes called for rolling out the dough and cutting it into diamond shapes instead of forming balls. The widespread popularization of money bread corresponded to the advent of the commercial refrigerated biscuit dough in the 1950’s. One of the later innovations is to insert a little cinnamon-sugar coated cube of cream cheese in the center of each dough ball or drizzle with a cream cheese glaze.
Today, I’m taking the idea in a savory direction, combining buttery homemade dough, garlic herb cream cheese filling and my ‘go-to’ favorite – everything bagel seasoning!
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LOAF
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- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 Tbsp (45 gm) unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/3 cups flour, plus more for rolling
- 1/2 - 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup everything bagel seasoning
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
Everything Bagel Topping
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- In a large bowl, combine lukewarm milk with sugar & yeast. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until frothy.
- Add butter, egg, flour & salt. With an electric mixer, beat on low for about 3 minutes. Dough will be soft. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Using lightly floured hands, knead for 1 minute then shape into a ball.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl & cover with plastic wrap. Place in a draft-free area to rise until doubled in size about 1 1/2 hours. As dough rises, prepare filling. Butter a 11 3/4 x 4-inch ribbed semi-circle bread pan. Sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning making sure to get the seasoning up the sides & on the ends of the pan. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, using a hand mixer, beat all of the filling ingredients together until combined. Set aside but don't refrigerate unless making well in advance.
- Flip dough on a lightly floured work surface & with a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is 1/4-inch thick. Spread cream cheese filling on top & sprinkle with sliced green onions. Using a 3 1/2-inch circle cookie cutter, cut into circles. Fold circles in half & line prepared pan, round side down fitting into the 'ribs' of the pan. Tuck the remaining pieces that are leftover into the crevice's between the folded circles.
- Cover with oiled plastic wrap & allow to rise once again in a draft-free area until puffy, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. when bread is nearly finished rising.
- Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven & place on wire cooling rack. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove from pan, slice or pull apart & serve.
- If you prefer, you can make your own everything bagel seasoning with 1 Tbsp each poppy & sesame seeds, 1 1/2 tsp each dried minced onion & garlic flakes & 1 tsp coarse salt.
- For this pull-apart loaf I used a European ribbed semi-circle bread/cake pan. The size is bigger than a 9 x5-inch loaf pan so it is quite easy to fit all the dough into it.
- Brion & I really enjoyed this bread made into a savory French toast for brunch.