Pumpkin Monkey Bread

With fall in the air I just couldn't wait any longer to make one of our favorite fall treats!  Pumpkin Monkey Bread.  This year I did make two in loaf pans but also I decided to try making a batch in a muffin tin.  They turned out great and were a hit this morning for breakfast.  I found the recipe over at Barbra Bakes however I did make a few changes. 

Ingredients

Dough

2 ¼  tsp yeast

½ cup water, warm

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons table salt

1 cup unsweetened canned pumpkin puree

1 large egg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Brown Sugar Coating

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

Icing

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 or 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, put together the warm water, yeast and 1 TBSP sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes until the yeast is frothy.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, salt, pumpkin and egg.  Add mixture to yeast mixture.
3. Add  flour and knead dough with the dough hook until dough clings to the hook and almost cleans the sides. About five minutes.
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball. Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm, draft free place until dough doubles in size, 60 to 90 minutes.
5. While dough is rising, mix brown sugar and spices together in bowl. Place melted butter in second bowl. Set aside for the sugar coating.
6. Remove dough from bowl, and pat into rough 8-inch square. Using bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces.
7. Roll each dough piece into a ball. Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl. Roll in brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in a muffin tin that has been lined with muffin cups (I use the silicone muffin liners), staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers.
8. Cover pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight. (If you want to bake it immediately, let rise for 30 - 45 minutes in a warm, draft-free place before baking.)
9. Approximately one hour before you want to bake your Monkey Bread, remove it from the refrigerator and let the dough come to room temperature and the dough will begin to rise. (It will have risen some in the refrigerator overnight.)
10. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel begins to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes.
11. For the icing: Add a small amount of milk or cream to icing sugar until a desired consistency is reached.
12. Drizzle icing over warm monkey bread, letting it run down the sides of the bread. Serve warm.

Notes

Substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves for 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

Overnight method: I made the overnight pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving morning. I made the dough about two weeks ahead of time. After the first rise, I shaped the dough in to balls and froze them spread out on a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap. Once they were frozen, I put them in a Freezer Ziploc. Then the afternoon before Thanksgiving I let them thaw in the bag on the counter, it took about an hour, then dipped them in butter and the sugar mixture and put them in the greased bundt pan. I put it in the fridge overnight and in the morning proceeded with the recipe as written.