cottage cheese monkey bread (high protein, no protein powder)
Monkey bread with no bulk rise and no protein powder. The cottage cheese cinnamon roll dough sped up with warm ingredients, double yeast and a cold-start bake.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 282kcal
Ingredients
the dough
- ½ cup egg whites about 4
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- 2-½ tablespoon warm water hottest out of your tap is usually perfect
- 1-½ tablespoon white sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2-¼ cups bread flour 2 cups + 3 tbsp, plus more as needed
- 2-¼ teaspoon instant yeast 1 packet
- 1 teaspoon salt
the coating
- 5 tablespoon salted butter melted
- 10 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
simple glaze (optional)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Warm the oven. Turn the oven to its lowest setting for 2 minutes, then turn it OFF and leave the light on. Grease a bread pan.
- Pour your 2-½ tbsp warm water into your mixing bowl with the 1-½ tbsp white sugar and mix. Then sprinkle over the 2-¼ tsp instant yeast and let it bloom for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse the ½ cup egg whites, ½ cup cottage cheese, and 1 tsp salt until most of the curds are gone - do not over blend!!
- Once the yeast has puffed a bit (if it doesn't the yeast is dead and you will need new yeast), then add the2-¼ cups bread flour and ½ tsp baking powder to the bowl with it. Then add the blended mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until shaggy. Knead with the dough hook for 4 minutes or 8-10 minutes by hand. The warm dough will be tacky — add flour 1 tablespoon at a time only if it won't pull away from the bowl.If using my stand mixer, I like to scrape the tacky dough out of the bowl, knead on the counter while adding flour little by little for a few minutes to get an actual feel for the dough. Once I'm happy with the dough texture, I pop it back in the stand mixer for kneading for another few minutes.
- Once the dough is ready, cover the dough and let it rest 5 minutes in the warm oven (with just the light on). Meanwhile, put the melted 5 tbsp salted butter in one bowl and mix the 10 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon in another. I like to use a wide bowl because we will be rolling the dough balls.
- Roll the dough into a flat rectangle-shaped (doesn't need to be exact), then use a pizza cutter to cut it into long strips about 1" wide and then rotate and cut again to create 1" x 1" (roughly but larger is fine too) squares. Take each piece (combining the small corner pieces as needed) and fold in half, pinching the bottom to create what looks like a little balloon. See the photos for this!
- Dip each ball in the butter, roll it in the cinnamon sugar, and drop it into the pan. Pile loosely so the pieces have room to puff. Drizzle any leftover butter and cinnamon sugar over the top.
- Cover the pan and set it in the warm oven for 15 minutes, until visibly puffy — not doubled.
- Remove the cover, leave the pan in the oven, and set the oven to 350°F. Bake 35 to 40 minutes from when you turn it on, until the top is light blonde.
- Rest exactly 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Much longer and the caramel sets and sticks to the pan.
- Glaze, if you like. Whisk the ¾ cup powdered sugar with the 1-2 tbsp milk a little at a time until pourable, then drizzle over the warm bread. Pull apart and enjoy!
Video
Notes
No bulk rise. The warm ingredients, doubled yeast and cold-start bake replace it. Don't preheat the oven for the bake — the slow climb is what gives the dough its second rise.
The dough should stay tacky. Only add flour if it genuinely won't pull away from the bowl. Too much flour is what makes it dense.
Pile loosely. The gaps let the butter and cinnamon sugar run down through the whole thing, and the balls need room to puff.
Five minutes, then flip. The brown sugar and butter form a caramel that sets as it cools. Wait too long and it stays in the pan.
Warm oven, not hot. Lowest setting for 2 minutes then off. Too hot will knock back the yeast.
Nutrition is calculated without the optional glaze. The glaze adds roughly 46 calories and 11g of sugar per serving.
Storage: This is best enjoyed right away but can be kept sealed on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Freezing is my preferred long term storage.
Storage: This is best enjoyed right away but can be kept sealed on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Freezing is my preferred long term storage.
Nutrition
Serving: 5pieces | Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 20g