Pinched Monkey Bread

This recipe is adapted from the Fannie Farmer Baking Book, a must-have in every sweet kitchen. The Pinch version uses a lot less sugar.

Makes one 10-inch tube

INGREDIENTS

For the dough:

4 1/2 t yeast (2 pkg)

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 t salt

4 oz unsalted butter, melted

3 eggs

about 5 1/2 cups flour

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1 t cinnamon

4 oz unsalted butter, melted

1 cup toasted chopped pecans (optional)

METHOD

Combine yeast, milk, water and sugar in a mixing bowl and let dissolve for about five minutes. Add salt, butter and eggs and whisk well. Add 2 1/2 cups flour and mix well. Add another 2 1/2 cups flour and beat on mixer with hook attachment for about 2-3 minutes.

Turn out onto a floured counted and knead for a couple of minutes. Then return to the mixing bowl and let rest for 10 minutes.

Using dough hook again, mix dough for about 5 minutes (alternately, turn back onto the counter and knead for a long, long time - like 8-10 minutes), adding more flour as necessary. Then place in a clean, greased bowl, cover and allow to rise until double in size.

Punch down and let rest another 10 minutes.

Combine the sugars and cinnamon in a medium bowl and transfer the warm, melted butter to a sheet pan - just pour it onto the pan. Grease a 10-inch tube pan quite well.

Tear off golf-ball sized pieces of dough and roll them into balls. You should form about 30 balls. Once you form them, transfer them to the sheet pan and roll them around in the warm, melted butter. Once all the dough is formed, roll the balls one at a time in the sugar and transfer to the greased tube pan. Once you have the bottom of the pan covered, sprinkle about a third of pecans on top. Keep layering the pan with sugared dough and pecans until you've used everything up. Sprinkle the top with some or all the remaining sugar and cover loosely with foil or plastic wrap. At this point you can refrigerate the dough overnite. Or, set it aside to rise to the top of the pan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for about an hour*. Let cool for about ten minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate. I like to invert it again, so that the top is the side that was on top as it baked.

* It will bake much faster in a dark tube pan, about 45 minutes.