Just a quickie (not so much)

When I don’t write, edit, or spend time with my family, I cook–to my husband’s and next door neighbor’s delight.

When inspiration strikes, I bake.

I was feeling mighty inspired last night, and so decided to make my take on savory monkey bread.

Found this awesome dough recipe on-line, and it was really easy to make. I thought I’d translate it for you and share.

You’ll need:

330 ml (1 can) of Sprite. You can use soda water instead, but will have to add 2 tea spoons of sugar in that case.

330 ml warm water. Don’t use water that’s too hot, or the yeast will be useless.

1 sachet (9 gr) dry yeast

1 ts. salt

1kg flour for all purposes

1/2-1 cup olive oil

Process:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and pour that and the Sprite into a large bowl. I mean large bowl, because this dough likes rising. Fold in the flour slowly and then add the salt, because if it comes into direct contact with the yeast it doesn’t let it rise. Finish with the oil and keep kneading until its smooth. Doesn’t take too long, so don’t worry.

The original recipe says to let it rest in a warm place for half an hour. I covered the bowl with saran wrap and stuck it in the fridge overnight. What I ended up with was enough dough to make two large and fluffy pizzas. The bread took up about 1/2-3/4 of that.

The next step is super easy. I used a 10″ round cake pan and brushed some olive oil on the bottom and sides. Then I started taking 1,5 inch balls of the dough, filling each with a bit of ketchup and some cheddar, and setting them up in concentric circles until they’d covered the bottom of the pan. With the first layer complete, I began layering the balls (how funny does that sound?) on top of that, but left a little room from the sides of the pan.

I let the whole thing sit for another hour, while I baked some cookies (yeah, I know, but I said I felt inspired), and the dough rose again.

AND IT KEPT RISING WHILE I BAKED IT.

My oven was already preheated at 180 C/356 F (because cookies!), so I stuck the pan in, and an hour later this came out:

Alas, good things aren’t meant to last. Just ten minutes later, we were left with this:

I suggest you try it. Takes some patience waiting for the dough to double in size but, other than that, it’s super easy and super yummy!

Also, here’s a table you may found useful.

Enjoy!

x.
Me

PS. I won’t be around much this weekend and until Tuesday, but I’ve set a little something to auto-post on Sunday at Silken Sheets & Seduction. Make sure to check it out? And let me know how the recipe turned out, if you do try it?