INGREDIENTS:
Dough:1 package instant yeast
1¼ cup 2% organic milk, warmed (sub almond milk)
⅓ cup organic unsalted butter, melted (sub ghee or vegan butter)
¼ cup organic granulated sugar (sub coconut sugar)
2 large organic eggs
1 tsp kosher salt
5 cups organic all-purpose flour (sub almond flour)
Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
¾ cup organic unsalted butter (sub ghee or vegan butter)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1¼ cup organic granulated sugar (sub coconut sugar)
⅔ cup dark brown sugar, packed (sub brown coconut sugar)
1 tsp madagascar vanilla extract
Vanilla Sugar Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar (sub date sugar)
3 Tbsp organic half & half (sub almond milk)
½ tsp madagascar vanilla extract
NOTE:
I recommend making the dough the night before and allowing it to rise in the fridge. This makes the process easier to tackle and it simplifies assembly. You will need about 30 minutes to prep the individual balls (I make 50 balls from this batch of dough).
PROCESS:
Dough
Using your stand mixer add yeast to the bottom of the bowl, add warm milk, melted butter, sugar, eggs, salt and 3 cups of flour. Beat on high speed. You can use a dough hook if you have one. Scrape the dough down as it beats. Once combined add 2 more cups of flour. Beat on high for 3 minutes until a ball forms.
Remove from mixer and place on floured surface. Knead the dough until it’s smooth and almost elastic-like. It should bounce back when you punch it down, about 3.5 minutes. Be sure not to over-knead as this will make the dough chewy.
Form the dough into a smooth ball and place it in a large greased bowl. Turn the dough once to coat all sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 8 hours. At this point you can leave the yeast to rise and do the rest of the steps in the morning.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
Melt ½ cup of butter in a small bowl and set aside. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside. You will use the rest of the butter, brown sugar and vanilla later.
Spray a 10-12 cup bundt pan with organic nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Remove dough from fridge. Punch the cold dough down very gently to allow the air bubbles to release. Pull pieces apart and roll into balls that are approximately 1.25’ in diameter and place on a piece of parchment paper. Remember you need approximately 45-50 balls total so make sure to watch the size.
Preheat oven to 350°. Dip each ball one by one in the melted butter then in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Be overly generous with the coating. Line the inside of the pan as you go and try to line them in a pattern that will make an even bottom. Remember you are turning this over to serve. Haphazard is better don’t make it too straight or lined up. Once you have all in the pan allow to rise again for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Melt the remaining ¼ cup of butter and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla until combined. Pour the butter mixture over the dough balls in the Bundt pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. If the top is getting too brown at the end place a sheet of tinfoil on top for remainder of cooking time. Cool for 5-10 minutes then invert it onto a serving plate.
Vanilla Sugar Glaze
Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together and pour over the bread making lines back and forth, driving it down the sides and inside. To serve either cut the bread into generous slices or let everyone pick the balls off animal-style.