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Pretzel Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread made with soft, buttery pretzels with the most addicting Honey Mustard Dip! This monkey bread is what delicious dreams are made of. Think perfect pretzel bites doused in extra butter baked together for layers of salted golden goodness and you have THIS monkey bread! This monkey bread recipe is perfect for game day, game nights, family nights OR any party! It can be prepared the night before and baked the next day for the perfect stress free appetizer.
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

Pretzel Moneky Bread

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened,
  • 10 cups water
  • 2/3 cup baking soda
  • 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • sea salt

Honey Mustard Dip

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
  • 1-2 teaspoons hot sauce

Instructions

  • HONEY MUSTARD DIP: Whisk all of the Dip ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside in the refrigerator.
  • PRETZEL DOUGH: Combine the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a standard mixer. Let sit 5 minutes. (If it doesn’t foam, start over)
  • Add salt, flour and butter and mix (using the dough hook attachment) on low speed for 5-7 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic.
  • Remove the dough from the bowl, spray bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise in a warm place for approximately 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
  • PRETZEL MONKEY BREAD: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line roughly 18” of your counter with parchment paper (to place boiled pretzels later). Brush tube/bundt* pan with 1 tablespoon softened butter. Place tube pan on a foil lined baking sheet (to catch any escaping butter while baking - tube pan only).
  • Bring 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large (8-quart) saucepan.
  • In the meantime, turn out dough onto a lightly floured cutting board; pat and stretch into a 12 x 6 inch rectangle. Cut dough into 1-inch pieces (I think a pizza cutter is easiest).
  • Boil the pretzel bites in the baking soda water in batches of about 20 pretzel bites for 30 seconds per batch**. Remove pretzels with a large slotted spoon and place on parchment paper, making sure they are not touching.
  • Layer half of the pretzels in the prepared pan. Brush with some egg wash then drizzle with 1 tablespoon butter. Lightly season with sea salt. Repeat with remaining pretzel bites.
  • ANGEL FOOD CAKE PAN: Bake 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees F or until pretzels are golden and cooked through. You may need to cover some spots with foil the last 10 minutes of baking if tops are getting too brown. BUNDT PAN*: Bake 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees F or until pretzels are golden and cooked through. You may need to cover some spots with foil the last 10 minutes of baking if tops are getting too brown.
  • Loosen edges of bread with knife then invert onto a plate then invert again onto serving plate. Serve with Honey Mustard Dip

Notes

*I definitely prefer a tube pan as it bakes more evenly.  The dark surface of the bundt bake pan causes the outside of the pretzels to become quite dark but will still work if you don't have a tube pan.
**30 seconds goes by very quickly! You might want to set a timer as leaving the pretzels in to long can result in a slightly bitter aftertaste.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN MONKEY BREAD IS DONE?

It can be tricky to know if the center of monkey bread is done because the center can be doughy even while the outside is golden and even turning brown.
To tell if the monkey bread is fully cooked, carefully move around a few pieces to get to the center to check for doneness. If the center balls are too  doughy, then continue to bake for 2-5 more minutes and check again.  You may need to cover the top of the monkey bread with foil until the inside is fully cooked.

STORAGE

This monkey bread recipe should NOT be refrigerated because the cold can harden the dough.  To store, cover monkey bread in plastic wrap and store for up to 5 days at room temperature.

How to reheat

You can reheat leftover monkey bread two ways:
  • Microwave:  The microwave is good for instant pleasure and individual servings of monkey bread but you will lose some of the integrity of the pretzels.  To microwave, place serving on a microwave safe plate and microwave for 15 second intervals until warmed through.
  • Oven.  Reheating leftover monkey bread in the oven will yield the best results.  Place monkey bread on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and bake at 250 degrees F for 5-10 minutes.

HOW TO MAKE AHEAD 

To make ahead:
  1. Prepare the entire recipe up to the point of baking, including pouring butter and salt over monkey bread.
  2. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake the next day.
  3. Before baking, let the unbaked monkey bread sit on the counter for 30-60 minutes to come to room temperature (so it will cook evenly).
  4. Proceed to bake per recipe instructions.

HOW TO FREEZE MONKEY BREAD

To freeze Monkey Bread:
  1. Wrap cooled Monkey Bread tightly in plastic wrap followed by foil.  If your have smaller leftover monkey bread sections, you can store them in airtight containers or freezer bags.  Alternatively, you can freeze in smaller sandwich bags for individual servings.
  2. Freeze for up to 3 months.
  3. When ready to eat, unwrap monkey bread and thaw on the counter so the condensation doesn't make it soggy.
  4. Once completely thawed, place on a baking sheet and heat at 250 degrees F for 5-10 minutes or until warmed through.  You may need to pull it out of the oven, carefully pull it apart to check for warmth and continue to bake if necessary.