Monkey bread is a wonderful recipe to pull out when children start to develop an interest in cooking because it's as fun to make as it is to eat. The preparation is super simple and hands on. With just a little parental direction, kids can roll the dough into tiny balls, shake them in a sugary coating and then toss them into the bundt cake pan.
This recipe can also be prepared the night before and left covered in the refrigerator. Pop it into a preheated oven in the morning and 45 minutes later, breakfast is served. This makes it a particularly perfect Christmas Day treat. It's also well-received at early business meetings, pot luck dinners and any other occasion where people gather over food.
The Ultimate Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 12 ounce packages of refrigerated biscuit dough
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 large package butterscotch pudding
- 1 cup butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 or 10-inch bundt cake pan.
- Mix the white sugar, cinnamon and dry butterscotch pudding together in a plastic sandwich bag.
- Cut biscuits into quarters and roll each quarter into a ball.
- Shake the dough balls in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until they are well-covered.
- Arrange half of the coated dough balls in the bundt pan.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and then add the brown sugar, vanilla and milk.
- Allow the mixture to come to a rolling boil for exactly one minute before removing it from the heat.
- Pour 1/2 of this caramel mixture over the rolls in the pan and then add the rest of the rolls on top of them.
- Finish by pouring the remainder of the caramel mixture on top.
- Bake for 35 - 45 minutes and then remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Turn out onto a serving plate and let people pull the bread apart to serve themselves.
- If nuts are used, sprinkle them in with the dough balls.
This bread is even more decadent when served with a side of cream cheese frosting for dipping. And it's a wonderful addition to any dessert table that features cakes, pies and cookies.
If a bundt pan isn't available, monkey bread can be thrown together and cooked in a loaf or cake pan as long as the cooking time is adjusted accordingly. It will still be delicious. Do not ever cook monkey bread in a tube pan with a removable bottom. The caramel mixture gets very hot while cooking and could easily leak out and burn the cook.
Janice Fahy - Janice Fahy is a freelance writer who is comfortable researching and writing on just about any topic under the sun.
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