{Gluten and Dairy Free} Monkey Bread

Gluten Free on a Shoestring refabricated one of my all time favorite pastry treats. This is a little slice of heaven. I have made some changes in caps to make it dairy free. I also have swapped out the granulated sugar for brown sugar because, I promise you, it will blow your mind when you taste it! If you haven't checked out this blog or cookbook, I would recommend it!

photo from Gluten Free on a Shoestring

Prep time: 15 minutes       Cook time: 25 minutes       Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

1 recipe Thick-Crust Gluten Free Pizza Dough from GFOAS Bakes Bread (reprinted here on the blog), prepared through the first rise*

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons EARTH's BALANCE, melted

Glaze
3/4 cup (86 g) confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon RICE milk (any kind), plus more by the 1/4 teaspoonful if necessary

*Note: If you prefer, rather than allowing the dough its first rise for at least 12 hours in a sealed container in the refrigerator before working with it, you may make and use the pizza dough on the same day. It will not be as easy to handle, however, but you can work with it. To use the dough the same day it is made, after making the dough, set the covered dough to rise in a warm, draft-free environment to allow it to rise to double its size (about 1 hour). Once it has doubled, place it in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or until it is chilled. This will make it much easier to handle. Then, continue with the rest of the recipe instructions.

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a standard 9-inch x 5-inch (or smaller) loaf pan with unbleached parchment paper, making sure that some of the paper extends over the edges of the pan. Set the pan aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead the risen and chilled pizza dough lightly until smoother as directed in  These General Shaping Tips. Sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour, and pat or roll it out into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Using a 3/4-inch round cookie cutter (or the open underside of a pastry tip of similar size), cut out rounds of dough, flouring the cutter as necessary to prevent sticking. Do not pack the dough or roll the pieces into a ball. Place the granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt in a deep, small bowl, and mix to combine well. Place each of the pieces of dough in the melted butter, remove with the tines of a fork to allow excess butter to drip off and place in the bowl of cinnamon sugar. With a fork or spoon, toss to coat and remove to the prepared loaf pan. Create a single, even layer of prepared balls of dough on the bottom of the loaf pan, and build up until you reach the top of the loaf pan. You may have some pizza dough left over, depending upon the size of your loaf pan. Press down gently on the dough in the pan and cover loosely with a piece of oiled plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise slightly, just until it begins to swell (about 20 minutes).
• Remove the plastic wrap, and place the loaf pan on a baking sheet in case any of the cinnamon-sugar mixture leaks out of the loaf pan. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until lightly golden brown and the loaf springs back when pressed gently on top (about 25 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes in the pan.
• When the bread is nearly cool, make the glaze. In a small bowl, place the confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix well, until a thick paste forms. Add more milk by the 1/4-teaspoon, mixing to combine well, until the glaze falls off the spoon slowly, in a thick but pourable glaze. Add milk very slowly, as it is much easier to thin, than to thicken, the glaze. If you do thin the glaze too much, add more confectioners’ sugar a teaspoon at a time to thicken it. Lift the bread out of the loaf pan, peel back the parchment and drizzle the glaze generously over the top of the bread. Allow to set at room temperature.