Low Calorie Monkey Bread

Sometimes Cooking Light magazine makes me wonder. I thought it was weird they wanted me to add in warm orange juice to a dough mixture. I've never seen those directions  in a recipe before. The recipe also said to add in some melted butter to the dough. I  left out the butter and used that with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Sometimes, with their recipes you can make them even lighter if you wanted too. I've noticed that with some of their baking recipes anyways.

Most monkey bread recipes use canned biscuits but this recipe called for making your own dough. I don't mind doing that actually. The only hard part was waiting for this recipe to get done. I've seen low fat versions of monkey bread that uses fake everything and in this one you get to use real butter and real sugar. SCORE! I'm not going to put some syrup that has chemicals in it, in my food at all. No thanks. If you don't mind waiting for dough to rise then by all means go and make this recipe. It was pretty tasty, and maybe next time I'll try adding in the orange to the dough mixture.

Servings: 16

Calories: 234 | Fat: 3.4g | Carbohydrate: 47.2g | Fiber: 1.9g | Protein: 4.5g

Points Plus: 6

Ingredients from Cooking Light

13 ½ ounces all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
4 ¾ ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1 package quick-rise yeast (about 2 ¼ teaspoons)
1 cup very warm fat-free milk (120° to 130°)
¼ cup very warm orange juice (120° to 130°)
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Cooking spray
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 ½ tablespoons fat-free milk, divided
2 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon ⅓-less-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached; mix until combined. With mixer on, slowly add 1 cup milk, juice, honey, and 2 tablespoons butter; mix dough at medium speed 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)

2. Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Combine 3 tablespoons milk and 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.

3. Punch dough down; divide into 8 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll into an 8-inch rope. Cut each dough rope into 8 equal pieces, shaping each piece into a 1-inch ball. Dip each ball in milk mixture, turning to coat, and roll in sugar mixture. Layer balls in a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining 7 dough ropes. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until almost doubled in size.

4. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until golden. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Place a plate upside down on top of bread; invert onto plate. Combine powdered sugar, remaining milk, and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Microwave at HIGH 20 seconds or until warm. Drizzle over bread.