Ingredients
Warm whole milk Instant Dry Yeast Honey Eggs (3) Salted Butter All-purpose flour Kosher Salt
Filling
Butter Light Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Butterscotch Sauce
Dark Brown Sugar Whiskey Heavy Cream Vanilla Extract
What you will need in the kitchen to get started:
Mixing bowl large bowl plastic wrap parchment paper baking sheet 2 inch wide drink glass small saucepan
Would love to see some snow here, but since I can’t control the weather, I’m making snowflakes! It’s weird, by this time of year we always have snow on the ground, and not just a thin layer, but lots of it. I can’t remember a year when we haven’t had piles of snow all over the place by now, so the fact that we have so little snow is weird…and kind of sad. Snow in December is my absolute favorite. Snow in March…April…May? No thanks, but snow in December, yes please. Obviously, there’s not much I can do about the lack of white stuff here in the west, but what I can do…is make deliciously gooey and sweet monkey bread that looks like a giant snowflake. Yup, that I can do.
For real though, how cute is this snowflake monkey bread? I’ve seen these snowflake breads all over my Pinterest page for years now and always thought they were the cutest. It wasn’t until this year that I had the idea to recreate my mom’s butterscotch monkey bread recipe into this festive snowflake. But I’m so glad the idea came to mind, because not only is this bread cute, it’s also incredibly delicious. Warm, doughy, gooey, extra sweet, and loaded with cinnamon and butterscotch. It’s basically the ultimate Christmas morning breakfast. Couldn’t love it more.
Now, I know what you guys are thinking, this looks so hard to make. Trust me though, this is not hard to make. I know it looks fancy, but in all honesty, it’s kind of easier than making monkey bread. I mean, it’s not as easy as my mom’s monkey bread, because her recipe doesn’t use homemade dough, or homemade butterscotch sauce and filling, but the process of actually making the snowflake is pretty easy…and fun! And once you finish? You’ll feel a little proud that you created such a pretty looking bread… Or at least I did anyway. Hey, I am not a professional pastry baker. I can bake, but making things look extra pretty? Not necessarily my thing. Point is, even if you think you can’t make this, you can!
I tried to snap a bunch of photos of the twisting process so that you can use those as a guide when making your own bread. I am such a visual person, so at least for me, photos always help. It’s really just a matter of layering the dough and then twisting. Pretty simple. And even if your snowflake doesn’t end up looking very “snowflake…ish”, don’t worry. All that matters is how the bread tastes, and it’s going to taste great in whatever shape or form. Think of this snowflake monkey bread like your favorite gooey sticky bun, but instead of in bun form, they’re in cute, pull-apart snowflake form.
If like me you plan to make this for Christmas morning, you can form the snowflake on Christmas Eve, pop it in the fridge and let it sit overnight. In the morning, remove the snowflake from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature while the oven preheats, then just bake and eat! Since I wanted my bread to be extra, extra gooey, like my mom’s monkey bread that we traditionally eat on Christmas morning, I ended up making an extra butterscotch sauce to lightly drizzle over the snowflake. In full disclosure, the butterscotch sauce is totally not needed. The bread is sweet enough on its own, but it’s the holiday’s and let’s be real, while the bread is good enough on its own, it’s better with that additional butterscotch sauce. And a dusting of confectioners sugar…you know, for the snow effect. Obviously.
The best piece…the one with with extra butterscotch sauce…because it’s Christmas! PS. have you guys entered my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer giveaway over on Instagram yet?
