Garlic and Herb Bubble Bread

It's the simple pleasures right now.  Soon, I'll be planting flowers outside but we're not there yet, weather-wise.  Frost warning last night. Time for soup and some bread!  Or, just bread :)  

I found this recipe for Garlic and Herb Monkey Bread in my Bread Machine Magic cookbook and wanted something to add to our grilled salmon dinner last week.  My husband loved it so much I made it for him again when we had soup this week.  It is delicious! I prefer the term bubble bread to monkey bread just because it just sounds more appetizing :)  "Bubble" refers to the balls of dough that look like bubbles on top when they rise. 

My first attempt at making this bread, I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan.  The bread rose so high that it made a 'shelf ' across the top because of the pan I used.  Not the prettiest, but it still tasted great. The dough is cut into small pieces and each piece is dipped into garlic and herb-infused butter as it is placed into the baking pan.  After rising and baking, the bread pulls apart into small bite-sized pieces.

The second time I made it, I used a chiffon cake pan which worked much better and created more browning in the center.  Any pan with a flat bottom and higher sides should work.   I would not recommend a bundt pan as bundt pants are rounded on the bottom.   This bread gets tipped out of the pan after baked and then inverted again onto a serving plate so the 'bubble' part is on top.

You don't need to have a bread machine to make this bread and, if you're lucky, you have found yeast and flour after the hoarding began in late March and April. 

I hope you can give this bubble bread a try next time you're in a baking mood as it's worth the effort!
I'm including ingredient amounts below for small, medium and a large recipes.  I hope you enjoy it!

Just wanted to add a special thank you to both of my daughters for arranging a wonderful, social distancing Mother's Day visit on Sunday.  Along with flowers and some special gifts from them, I was also given some artwork made especially for me by my 3 grandsons.  They are placed in order by age, 4, 7 and 10.   The last one, my daughter painted as an extra Mother's Day card.

While I've been Covid baking, they've been Covid painting.  Keeping them busy is essential right now with no school since mid March.  They paint almost every day after they do their online schoolwork.  The 4 year old has no school work so he is just on vacation :) 

Hope you are all well and continue to stay safe.

Garlic and Herb Bubble Bread

Printable Recipe

Dough (Small Recipe for a (8-1/2 x 4-1/4 inch loaf pan)

3/8 cup warm water
3/8 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Dough (Medium Recipe for a tube pan or large loaf pan 9 x 5)

½ cup warm water
½ cup sour cream
1-1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Dough (Large Recipe for 2, 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 loaf pans)

5/8 cup warm water
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cups all purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Herb butter (ingredients for small, medium and large recipe)

1, 2, 3 small garlic cloves, minced (small, medium, large recipe)
3 tablespoons, 4 Ts, or 6 Ts melted butter (small, medium or large recipe)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
Note: Increase or decrease herbs 1/2 teaspoon for each size recipe. I like a lot of herbs. Garlic can be optional if you don't care for it. 

Thoroughly butter the pan you chose to use whether it be a loaf pan or tube pan.

If you have a bread machine, combine water and sour cream and warm gently. Melted butter. Pour liquids into pan of bread machine. Add sugar, salt, flour and lastly, yeast. Turn on dough setting, which takes about 1-1/2 hours to mix and rise. Note: If conditions are dry in your home, you may need to add a little more water, so watch the dough carefully as it's mixing. It should be soft and pliable but hold together in a ball.

If you do not have a bread machine, you can use a stand mixer with the dough hook to mix and knead until the dough is pliable, about 2 minutes. Place into a greased bowl and cover loosely with a tea towel and place in a warm place until doubled in size (about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the temperature in your home). Alternately, you can mix the dough by hand, kneading the dough until soft and pliable, about 8-10 minutes. Place into a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (Tip - turn your oven on to preheat for 1 minute and then turn off. This makes a good warm place for the dough to rise.)

When your dough is almost finishing rising, mix the herb butter ingredients together.

After the bread machine has finished the dough setting, or after your dough has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 1-2 minutes to release the air. Form into a ball.

Cut the ball in half, then each half into half again. Keep cutting the pieces in half the pieces are roughly the size of a walnut. Exact size is not crucial.

Dip each piece of dough into the herb butter mixture and arrange in layers spaced about ½ inch apart in the prepared pan. If you have extra butter mixture, drizzle over the top of the bread. Cover pan with a tea towel and place in a warm place until doubled again. This will take about 30-35 minutes. (Tip – turn on your oven to preheat for 1 minute and then turn off. This makes a good warm place for the dough to rise).

When the dough is almost finished rising, take it out of the oven but keep it covered. Preheat oven to 375F. Remove tea towel and place pan in the 375F oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your pan, or golden brown on top. Watch closely, as ovens differ. Add or subject time accordingly.

When bread is finished, remove from oven and invert onto a large plate or baking sheet. Then invert again onto a serving dish so that the ‘bubbles’ are on top. Brush bread with extra melted butter, if desired. Note: If I think the bread looks too pale on the bottom after removing from the pan, sometimes I carefully put it back in the oven without the pan and leave it in for another 5 minutes.