Pecan and cinnamon monkey bread

Method

1. Gently warm the milk and butter in a small pan until the butter has just melted – don’t let it bubble (the milk musn’t be warmer than finger-hot). Put the flour, sugar, yeast and a pinch of salt in a stand mixer and stir well. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the milk mixture and egg. Mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 15 minutes until smooth.

2. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to rise at room temperature for 11⁄2-2 hours until the dough has nearly doubled in size.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Put the pecans in a small pan and gently heat until just beginning to toast, then remove from the pan

and set aside. Add the 60g butter and muscovado sugar to the pan and gently heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Add the spices and stir until well combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool but not set.

4. Arrange half the toasted pecans in the prepared loaf tin, then drizzle over 2 tbsp of the cooled spiced butter mix.

5. Divide the dough into quarters, halve each of these, then cut each eighth into 3 roughly equal-size pieces so you have 24 pieces in total. Roll each into a ball, then roll in the remaining spiced butter

and loosely cover the base of the tin, making sure not to squash any. Spoon over some more nuts (don’t worry about any gaps as these will be filled when the dough is proving). Repeat rolling, coating and layering the balls until the tin is full. Scatter over any remaining nuts and pour over any remaining spiced butter.

6. Cover loosely and leave in a warm place to prove for 30-45 minutes. The dough is ready to bake when it’s puffed and a gentle