Banana Monkey Bread

I love monkey bread!! I haven't made it for quite awhile and I wanted to try out a new recipe, something a bit different from the usual monkey bread. I was searching all over the net but most of the recipes use the canned dough, which they don't sell in the UK, or dough that has yeast and needs time to rise. I knew I wanted to make the dough from scratch and if I found a no yeast dough recipe that would be a bonus as we had friends coming over and wanted this to be baked in time. I found the perfect recipe and couldn't wait to try it out. I really enjoyed making this recipe. It came together so easily and making the banana filled dough parcels and dipping them in the sugar was fun. Once popped in the oven, I started smelling the cinnamon aroma coming from the kitchen. I have an addiction to cinnamon... love it! This monkey bread turned out great. The bread was moist and with the banana filling baked in the center of each little ball it really took this classic recipe to the next level. We all loved it and our friends even took some home with them. Try this recipe out! Now I need to come up with a savory version!

Recipe inspired by a Yahoo! Voices contributor

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 cup plain flour
1 cup stoneground wholemeal flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup milk

Banana Filling:
1 large ripe banana
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp sugar

Coating:
1/2 brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Steps:
Preheat oven to 175C/350F and grease a bundt pan. COATING: In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. BANANA FILLING: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and mash until combined. DOUGH: In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add in the softened butter and mix until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add in the milk and mix on a higher speed until the dough just comes together. Knead in your stand mixer or on a lightly floured surface and knead for about a minute and the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Shape the dough into an 8inch by 8inch square about 1/2inch thick. Cut into 16 equal squares. Take one square and flatten it slightly with your fingers. Place 1tsp of the banana filling in the middle and seal by grabbing each corner together. Dip the dough ball into the sugar coating and place into the bundt pan. Repeat until the first layer has 8 dough balls and sprinkle with half of the sugar coating. Repeat with the remaining 8 dough squares to create a second layer and sprinkle with the remaining sugar coating. Bake for 35 minutes and remove from oven. Pour melted butter over the top while the bread is still in the bundt pan. Let the bread cool for 5 minutes in the bundt pan. Place a plate of top of the pan and turn over.

I have also submitted this to April's AlphaBakes hosted by
The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes.