Bake
Gooey Cheese-Stuffed Monkey Bread
- Prep time 3 hours
- Cook time 30 minutes
- makes 1 (9x9-inch)/(23x23 cm) loaf
Author Notes
Like so many baking projects, I like to think of the term “monkey bread” as a creative jumping off point. I spent a long time developing my ideal monkey bread dough - it’s easy to make and work with - the perfect base for your own monkey bread creation. You can get tons of ideas in the Monkey and Pull Apart Breads episode of Bake it Up a Notch, but this is an especially delicious place to start. Cheese lovers will obsess over this gooey, melty, cheese-stuffed version.
A savory twist on monkey bread, it starts with rounds of soft and fluffy garlic-spiked bread dough. The dough is divided into pieces, and then each individual piece is stuffed with a cube of cheese. It’s best to use a melty, low-moisture cheese like mozzarella or brick cheese - but it’s also delicious with other cheeses like sharp cheddar or gruyere. The rounds are lined up into rows in a square baking pan to help them bake, brown, and crisp up evenly.
They emerge from the oven like fluffy cheese-stuffed garlic knots, which is why I love to serve them with warm marinara sauce, for dipping—but other sauces like tapenade, pesto, or romesco would also be delicious! —Erin Jeanne McDowell
Ingredients
- For the dough:
-
1/3 cup
(75 grams) water (about 85°F/30°C)
-
2 1/4 teaspoons
(7 grams) instant dry yeast
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3/4 cup
(175 grams) whole milk
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3 3/4 cups
(450 grams) bread flour
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1/4 cup
(28 grams) dry milk powder
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2 tablespoons
(25 grams) granulated sugar
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3
garlic cloves, minced (about 15 grams)
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1 1/2 teaspoons
(6 grams) fine sea salt
-
1
(56 grams) large egg
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2 tablespoons
(28 grams) unsalted butter, melted
-
2 tablespoons
(30 grams) sour cream, plain yogurt, or crème fraîche
- For filling & finishing:
-
14 ounces
(395 grams) low-moisture mozzarella or brick cheese
-
12 tablespoons
(170 grams) unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon (14 grams) for greasing the pan
-
1 tablespoon
(9 grams) garlic powder
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1 teaspoon
(3 grams) dried oregano
-
3/4 teaspoon
(2 grams) freshly ground black pepper
-
1 cup
(120 grams) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
-
Marinara sauce, for serving (optional)
Directions
- Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and mix with a small spatula to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk to about 110°F/45°C over medium-low heat (you can also do this in a liquid measuring cup in the microwave, if you prefer).
- Add the flour, dry milk, sugar, garlic, and salt to the mixer bowl, then add the warm milk, egg, butter, and sour cream (or yogurt/crème fraîche), and mix on low speed for 4 minutes, or until a soft dough comes together around the dough hook.
- Scrape the bowl well, then mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes more, until the dough is very smooth. Transfer the dough to a medium bowl lightly greased with neutral oil or nonstick spray. Use both hands to gently turn the dough around so it’s coated on all sides, then gently tuck the dough under itself a few times to slightly round it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel, and let the dough rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until visibly puffy and almost double in size.
- While the dough rises, prepare the filling and finishing ingredients. Cut the cheese into large cubes (about 14 grams / ½ ounce each or about 1 inch long and ½ inch thick)—you should get 30 pieces. It’s ok if they aren’t all uniform—just make sure there aren’t any pieces that are too large)!
- Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper and stir well to combine. Remove from the heat (if needed, re-warm the mixture before using). Use the remaining 1 tablespoon (14 grams) butter to generously grease a 9x9 inch (23x23 cm) pan. Sprinkle about half (a heaping ½ cup/60 grams) of the parmesan cheese over the base and up the sides of the pan, generously coating the inside of the pan in cheese (it will have fairly full coverage—if you have any excess, save it and add to the top of the bread later).
- When the dough has risen, divide it into 30 even pieces (they should be about 29 grams each). Working with one piece of dough at a time, gently flatten the piece of dough and place a piece of cheese in the center on top. Wrap the dough around the cheese, fully encasing it, and pinching well to seal. Gently round the dough into a small ball.
- Dip the stuffed ball of dough in the seasoned, melted butter, then transfer it to the prepared pan, and repeat - shaping another round. As you continue to stuff and shape the dough, arrange the dough balls in an even layer in the base of the pan—they will be quite close to one another. Drizzle any remaining melted butter over the surface of the dough, and sprinkle the remaining parmesan evenly over the surface. Cover the dough with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until visibly puffy, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Towards the end of rise time, heat the oven to 350°F/175°C with an oven rack in the center. Transfer the bread to the oven and bake until the dough and parmesan are golden brown, and the center of the loaf reaches 200°F/95°C, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then slide onto a cooling rack. Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving warm (with marinara sauce, if desired).
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