In a separate small bowl, combine the sugar, melted butter, milk, eggs and salt. Whisk to fully combine and set aside.

After the yeast has bloomed, add the sugar mixture to the yeast water. Stir slightly to roughly combine.

Add 4 cups of all purpose flour to the mixture. Mix on low until the flour has combined, the dough will still look very sticky.

Add remaining 1 cup of flour, and mix on low for 2-3 minutes until a ball of dough has formed and most of the dough has pulled away from the sides of the mixer bowl.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes.

Lightly brush a glass bowl with olive oil and place dough ball into bowl, turning once to fully oil the ball of dough. Tightly cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and let rise in a warm area for 2 hours.

While your dough is rising, it is the perfect time to make your apple filling. The apple filling needs to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

In a medium sized bowl combine the cubed apples**, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and squeeze in ½ a lemon. Stir and make sure that the apples are fully coated in the sugar and spices. Cover the top of the bowl and let marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes.

This glaze should also be made about 30 minutes ahead of time (or more) to let the flavours marinate.

In a small bowl combine brown sugar, spiced rum, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk mixture until the sugar feels combined, about 3 minutes. Cover and set aside for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F and brush 1 tablespoon of softened butter throughout a bundt pan, and set aside. Line a regular sized baking sheet with aluminum foil, set aside.

After the dough for the monkey bread has risen, remove the plastic wrap and punch it down a few times. This releases the gasses that are created when the yeast rises.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured large surface. Roll out the dough to about ½”-¼” thickness. Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter cut the dough into 32 squares. Start by cutting the dough in half lengthwise, and then each of the lengthwise halves in half again. Now you will have 4 long strips of dough. Now cut the strips in half widthwise, and then each width half in half again, and again.

Place a strainer over top of the bowl of rum glaze and strain the apple mixture into the glaze mixture. (SEE PICTURE)

Measure out ¼ cup of the apple mixture and set aside.

Evenly distribute the remaining apple mixture to all of the squares of dough (about 1 tablespoon of apple filling per square, you don’t want to overload the dough squares or they will be tough to seal. If you have leftover apples, that is ok!)

Gather 4 corners of dough square and pinch bottom to completely seal the monkey bread dough balls. Repeat until all of the dough balls are sealed.

Stack the dough balls into the buttered bundt pan. If you have any leftover apples sprinkle them throughout the layers, if not, that’s ok! It will still taste the same.

Whisk the rum glaze again, and measure out ½ cup. Set aside,

Evenly pour the remaining rum glaze overtop of the dough balls in the bundt pan.

Place bundt pan on aluminum lined baking sheet (to catch any drips) and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown.

Let cool in the bundt pan for 5 minutes and flip onto a large serving plate.

To prepare the sticky apple topping combine reserved apples and glaze in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes until mixture has thickened and is sticky. Stir in 1 tablespoon of butter.

Pour sticky apple topping over top of the monkey bread (only once it has been flipped out of the pan)

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream (if desired)