Garlic and Herb Monkey Bread

Soft garlic and herb monkey bread in classic ‘tear ’n’ share’ style – little balls of yeast dough made for pulling apart and sharing. The inspiration came from the cinnamon monkey bread recipe, one of your favourites. This time, the dough balls are coated in garlic butter with fresh parsley, and if you like, also in grated Parmesan or your favourite herbs. Delicious served warm straight from the oven, and just as good reheated. Perfect for lunch, brunch or supper, especially with a spicy tomato sauce on the side. Highly recommended!

Ingredients for the garlic and herb monkey bread:

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 10 g dried yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
• 250 ml milk
• 85 ml water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1¼ tsp salt
• 30 g butter, melted, plus an extra 15 g for greasing the tin

Mix the flour with the dried yeast (if using fresh yeast, first prepare a starter). Add the remaining ingredients and knead, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead thoroughly until the dough is soft and elastic. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (about 1½ hours).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knead briefly and roll out into a 23 cm square. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 strips lengthwise, then 8 strips crosswise to create a grid of 64 small squares. Shape each piece into a ball. (Alternatively, simply pinch off pieces about half the size of a ping-pong ball and roll into balls.)

Prepare a 2.5-litre bundt tin and grease it with the extra tablespoon of melted butter (15 g). Roll each dough ball first in the melted garlic and herb butter (recipe below), then in grated Parmesan (if using), and arrange them in the tin, layering as you go. Once all the balls are in the tin, cover with a linen tea towel or cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes, until doubled in size. The dough should reach the top of the tin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180°C. Remove from the oven and immediately turn out onto a plate. Allow to cool slightly or serve warm (leaving it in the tin while hot may cause it to stick).

Ingredients for garlic and herb butter:

• 120 g butter
• 30 g garlic, peeled and crushed
• 20 g fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 70 g Parmesan, finely grated (optional)

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the garlic and chopped parsley, then stir to combine. Leave to cool slightly, but the mixture should remain liquid.

Method for Bread Machine Users:

Place all the dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the dried yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (about 1½ hours). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead briefly and continue according to the main recipe above.

Enjoy!