Strawberry Monkey Bread - SRC

What's your favorite part of summer?

The longer, sunny days?
Time at the pool or lake or beach?
No school/vacations?
Outdoor concerts, farmers' markets, or grilling out?

All of those things are pretty great and all, but my absolute favorite part about summer in Arkansas is the fresh, juicy, sweet fruit that we pick at local farms (or buy at local markets, if you're so inclined).  We picked strawberries in late May, blueberries several times through June and early July, and now blackberries and peaches are in season.   I LOVE supporting local farmers!! 

There is just nothing as good as summer fruit, fresh from the vine/tree/bush - I just want to eat it all plain and not even bother cooking with it.  However, for this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment, I simply couldn't resist using some (store-bought) strawberries to make this luscious monkey bread.

If you're not familiar with monkey bread, it's basically a lightly sweet dough that's rolled into small balls, covered with cinnamon sugar, layered in a bundt pan,and doused with a large serving of a buttery, cinnamon syrup to bake.  This variation uses a homemade strawberry syrup instead of the cinnamon syrup, plus there are chunks of freshly diced strawberries sprinkled throughout the dough.  YUM!

I got the recipe from C Mom Cook, where Shelley doesn't let the busyness of being a stay-at-home mom of 2 stop her from making amazing recipes like Tiramisu, where she made each component from scratch. Including the marscapone, lady fingers, custard, everything. In fact, she has her youngsters helping her out. It's so awesome. I'm totally motivated to get my kids in the kitchen more, even though they usually slow me down and make three times the mess. :)
I also made her Skillet Arroz con Pollo, which was is a great and simple weeknight meal, but I didn't get a decent photo of it. We really liked it, though!
Oh, and these Apple Buns look perfect for fall - definitely have those on the list to make!
So needless to say, I loved perusing Shelley's blog and finding all sorts of amazing things to make.  She is one talented lady!

This delightful bread was a huge success with my family and we could have probably eaten the entire pan of it in one sitting if I hadn't made the kiddos stop. :)  Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave very nicely - but the bread is BEST served on the first day.  So make it when you have a crowd to help you eat it!

Strawberry Monkey Bread
from Rebekah's Family, Food, and Fun

Dough
1 cup milk
1/3 cup white sugar
5 Tbsp. butter (I used salted)
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
2 eggs
4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup diced strawberries

To prepare dough:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar, and butter. Heat until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat and pour into your mixing bowl to let it cool until just warm (about 110°F). Stir in the yeast and let stand until foamy.

Add in eggs, 4 cups of flour, and salt.  Mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Continue mixing with a dough hook or knead by hand on a floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add additional 1/4 cup flour if dough is too sticky. Grease a large bowl with oil or cooking spray.  Place the dough in the bowl and turn once to coat. Cover and let stand in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce. Combine 1 cup sugar, butter, and strawberries in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.

To build the monkey bread: 
Prepared dough
about 1/3 cup of cinnamon sugar (1/3 cup sugar + 1 tsp. cinnamon, well combined)
1 cup diced strawberries
Prepared syrup

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously spray a Bundt or tube pan with non-stick cooking spray with flour, or grease generously with butter and dust with flour. Gently deflate dough and take small portions and roll into balls.  Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar, then place in prepared pan.  Interspersed through the balls, toss some of the diced strawberries so that they are evenly layered throughout the pan. Once all of the dough and berries have been added to the pan, pour the prepared syrup evenly over the top.

Place the Bundt pan on a cookie sheet and place the bread in the oven.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine was done at 40 minutes.  Check on bread periodically to make sure that the top is not over-browning. If it starts to get dark, cover it loosely with foil as it bakes.

Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before inverting onto a large plate and serving.

Source: adapted slightly C Mom Cook

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