Monkey Bread From Scratch

In a small bowl, mix together the warm water, yeast, and pinch of sugar. Let it sit to the side while you do the next step.

In another bowl or in a mixer, mix the flour, salt, vanilla, egg, sugar, butter, and milk. Add in the yeast mixture. Mix this together well. Knead by hand for 3-4 minutes until smooth or mix in a mixer with dough hooks for about the same amount of time. The dough should be only slightly sticky. I call it post-it note sticky. :)

Let it sit in a covered bowl for 30 minutes after you knead it. It doesn't need to rise, just needs to rest a bit.

After 30 minutes, roll out the dough a bit. Cut it into strips and then cut those strips into small balls. You can use kitchen scissors or a knife or a pizza cutter to do this.

Melt butter and put brown sugar in a bowl. You can add cinnamon to the brown sugar if you like. Dip each piece of dough into the butter and then into the brown sugar.

Place each piece of buttered-brown sugared dough into a bundt pan. Let this rise, covered, for about an hour. Then bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until when you thump the top part it makes a nice sound like a watermelon.

Enjoy warm. :)