Whoa! That week just flew by! Things were so busy the week was practically over before I realized I hadn’t shared this lightened up monkey bread with you.
Fear not! Just because I wasn’t blogging does not mean my family wasn’t eating lol 🙂 It was just the usual crazy stuff with the addition of a special birthday for my youngest. Georgia turned six, and we had some partying to do!
Birthdays are something special in our house.
This year I decided to make one of her favorite breakfast treats, one I usually reserve for Christmas morning — monkey bread! She and her brothers love it, for it is a gooey, cinnamon delight that demands lots of cold milk and finger licking. I love it because, though it is sweet and syrupy, it is much lower in fat than typical monkey bread, and still so easy to make. Since we eat whole grain cereals and fruit almost every other morning, this is a nice treat that doesn’t completely derail a healthy diet.
This Cooking Light version uses frozen bread dough instead of refrigerator biscuits, and only 1 tablespoon of margarine, instead of the typical 1/2 cup of margarine. Especially great is that it can be made the night before, and left in the oven to rise. The next morning, all you need to do is preheat the oven, and bake it for about 25 minutes and you – and your monkey bread – are golden!
Monkey Bread on the Lighter Side
Enjoy this lightened up monkey bread, with all the finger-looking goodness, but much fewer calories than the typical version. Cinnamon and sugar galore!
Ingredients
- 2 1 lb loaves frozen bread dough
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/4 cup low fat milk
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Vegetable cooking spray
Instructions
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Thaw bread dough in refrigerator for about 12 hours.
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Combine 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, milk, margarine, and 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove sugar syrup from heat; set aside to cool while you prep the dough.
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Cut each loaf of dough into 24 equal portions. (I slice each loaf in half width-wise, then each half into 12 pieces) Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow dish; stir well.
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Roll each piece of dough in sugar mixture, then layer pieces in a Bundt pan coated with cooking spray.
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Pour sugar syrup over dough; cover and let rise in a warm place (about 85 degrees) for one hour; or simply cover and leave in cool oven overnight. The bread dough will approximately double in bulk.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Immediately loosen edges with a knife. Place a serving platter upside-down over top of pan. Invert pan onto plate, and drizzle any remaining syrup over the bread. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
A small amount of planning ahead is required to 1) defrost the dough, and 2) to allow the assembled bread to rise overnight.
Chilled dough is much easier to cut and less sticky than dough that has reached room temperature.
This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light Five Star Recipes: The Best of 10 Years, © 1996
Enjoy!
Just made this for Charlotte’s birthday breakfast and it was a hit!
Awesome!! Still a family favorite here.
Jules – this is great! I’ve lowered the fat in ours by using the reduced fat wheat Grands – same great taste, less fat!