Monkey Bread

Tags

baking, cinnamon, food, monkey bread, recipe

Happy Saturday morning!

When I was a little girl my Mom would buy a loaf of monkey bread or pull-apart bread as it’s sometimes known, from the bakery inside our local Vons grocery store in San Diego.

And, those were happy mornings.

Pulling pieces of the bread apart while I sipped some apple juice (although milk sounds so much better) while watching Saturday morning cartoons was just heaven.

Oh, the life of a young child.

Which brings me to this little recipe and making your own monkey bread (sans monkeys, of course).

I’ll let you in on a little recipe secret.  Cinnamon and sugar and all sorts of sticky goodness will come out of your oven if you make this today.  It’s true.

While your children enjoy this with a cold glass of milk (extra napkins at the ready), you’ll love it with your morning coffee.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Now let’s get going on mixing the cinnamon-sugar.  Combine 2/3 cup of sugar with 1 tbsp of cinnamon in a shallow dish or bowl.  You know it’s the start of something delicious when cinnamon and sugar are involved, right?

With a sharp knife, cut 4 cans of regular-size Pillsbury biscuits into quarters.  Easy so far, right?

Here’s one quarter of a flaky biscuit that I rolled into a ball (get the kids to do that part) and then dropped into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Roll it around until it’s completely coated and place it into a greased Bundt pan.

Try setting up a little assembly line with you cutting the biscuits into quarters, one family member rolls them into balls and another family member coating them in cinnamon-sugar.  You could also drop them into a zipper-top bag and shake it up a bit (sealed tightly).  That would work too!

Here’s a look at how our monkey bread is shaping up.  I must confess that even in it’s raw state, it looks pretty tasty.

You’re almost through.  In a small mixing bowl, stir together 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted), the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, with 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1 tsp pure vanilla extract.  Pour this mixture over your filled pan and place it in your oven.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Doesn’t this look good?  And, so easy for a Saturday morning.  Okay the hard part is waiting the 30 minutes or so until it’s ready.  Maybe you could read the paper or watch cartoons with your children.

After it comes out of the oven, invert your Bundt pan onto a round platter.  You may even need to give it a couple of taps or ease it out by inserting a small spatula between the bread and the pan.

It is going to be hot hot hot.  So, after letting it cool for a few minutes, you can pull apart the pieces with your hands or use your table manners and enjoy it with a fork.  How polite of you.

Pulling it apart with your fingers and then licking those fingers is the way to go, I think.  But I’ll let you make the choice.

Recipe by cookbook author, Katie Lee.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients 
4 12-ounce cans regular-size flaky biscuits (such as Pillsbury)
2/3 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup
1 tablespoon cinnamon, plus 1 tablespoon
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut biscuits into quarters and roll into balls. Combine the 2/3 cup of sugar and 1 T. cinnamon in a shallow dish. Roll the biscuit balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Place the cinnamon-sugar-coated balls in a greased Bundt pan, sprinkling some of the cinnamon-sugar over the balls occasionally while filling the bunt pan.

Melt the butter with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the melted butter mixture over the top of the biscuits balls in the Bundt pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top of the bread is golden and caramelized. Remove from the oven and let sit at least 5 minutes. Unmold the Monkey Bread onto a cake plate. Slice and serve.

Yield: 12 servings