Monkey bread muffins are single serving versions of monkey bread (sometimes called pull-apart bread). Flavor them with Nutella and banana as detailed in this recipe or try any flavoring you like!
In a medium-sized bowl, stir together yeast, water, and brown sugar and let stand for five minutes. It should get foamy, but don't worry too much if it doesn't. You aren't looking for giant foam, just a few bubbles on the surface.
Mix in flour, salt, buttermilk, and butter. Stir until the dough starts to come together.
Lightly flour a clean surface (so the dough won't stick to it) and dump the dough ball onto that surface. Knead it until the dough is smooth and elastic, about six minutes. The dough is really easy to work with - you shouldn't have too many problems with it sticking.
Coat a mixing bowl with oil, put your dough ball into it, cover, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size (about two hours).
Once the dough has risen, punch the dough down and split it in half.
Roll one portion of the dough into a 1/16" thick rectangle and cut into six even strips. (You'll see from my photos of this recipe that I don't get caught up with perfection.)
Spread Nutella on top of the first strip. Then, top with banana pieces.
Top with second strip and repeat step 7.
Continue layering strips and banana slices until you reach the top strip. Do not coat the top of the last strip in Nutella or bananas.
Cut the layered dough into 6 sections of equal length.
Turn each section onto its side and place into a well in a greased muffin tin. It will not come to the top of the tin. Don't worry; there's still lots of rising to be done.
Repeat steps 6-11 with the second half of the dough.
Set the muffin tin in a warm place and let the dough rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the bread just begins to brown.
Serve warm.
Notes
Another way to make these muffins is to use balls of dough instead of strips. Fill circles of dough with Nutella and banana and roll them into balls. Optionally, dip the balls in melted butter and cinnamon before piling them into muffin tins.Other filling/flavoring ideas include: