Monkey Bread

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees, People say we like to monkey around...

Every Christmas morning, my family makes monkey bread. It’s such a decadent (read: mucho calories!) treat that once a year is enough. This year we mixed things up by going up to my grandmother’s in North Georgia. We usually spend Thanksgiving there, but hadn’t spent a Christmas there in thirty-some years.   

It was cold and wonderful, and somehow in all the festivities, we failed to make monkey bread Christmas morning!

Since I’m the biggest fan of monkey bread, the biscuits were sent back with me. I woke up today to a windy 20 degree morning, and knew before I got out of bed that it was a monkey bread morning.

Since it’s just me, I cut the recipe down to one can of biscuits. It’s okay to eat one can in a day right?!

Monkey Bread

1 can jumbo, buttermilk biscuits (I’ve also made my own biscuit dough and used it in before to excellent results)

½ cup white sugar

2 tsp cinnamon (I like a lot of cinnamon)

6 Tablespoons of butter or margarine

¼ cup brown sugar

1.      Open up the biscuits and revel in that “POP!”
2.      Cut each biscuit into quarters.
3.      Mix the white sugar and cinnamon in a bag or jar.
4.      Add the biscuit quarters to the sugar mixture and shake, shake, shake your biscuits!
5.      Once the biscuits are covered, take out and put them in a loaf pan, ramekin, or small Bundt pan. I used one mini loaf pan and two ramekins. Tetris skills come in handy here. 
6.      In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the brown sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes one, mostly uniform, golden color.
7.      Pour the butter mixture over the biscuits.
8.      Put in a 340 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. I used my toaster oven and it took about 50 minutes. To check, stick a toothpick in the middle and check for doughiness.
9.      Allow to cool slightly. Run a knife around the sides and dump out on a plate, giving it some love taps if necessary.
10.    Use fingers to pull off crunchy tops and flakey middles. Dip finger in the gooey butter mix on the bottom and lick off.
    
    
    

Buttermilk Biscuits

Every Christmas morning, we start the day with a large traditional breakfast. The past couple of years I've been in charge of the biscuits while my grandmother makes the gravy and my mom the eggs.

Buttermilk Biscuits

adapted from Southern Living Cookbook

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 (1 stick) of butter, cold

3/4 cup of buttermilk

1) Mix the dry ingredients

2) Cut in the butter with a fork

3) Lightly stir in the buttermilk, just until mixed

4) Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 mintes or until golden

5) Brush the tops with melted butter

Enjoy!

twd ~ Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones & Maple Cornmeal Biscuits

I'm so excited for this weekend. Not only is it long weekend (yay federal holidays!) but I will get to bake up Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones and Maple Cornmeal Biscuits for one of my good friend's baby shower! This is the first baby shower I've ever helped host, and I'm both nervous, feeling like I'm forgetting something, and excited because I know it's going to be a fabulous time!

We decided on brunch for the menu. So in addition to the scones and biscuits, there will be grits, egg & artichoke pie, home-style potatoes, fruit, mimosas, and muffins.

Both the scones and the biscuits were super easy to mix up. I was pleasantly surprised. They are currently sitting in my freezer, awaiting the big day. Hopefully they'll bake up wonderfully light and delish!

Monkey Bread

Weekend before last I headed down to Auburn, AL, and ran the Auburn Classic Half Marathon. Virtually all course descriptions say something about rolling hills and "fast course." I was hoping it was going to hold true in this case because I had only run once in the preceeding two weeks. Well, I don't think going up 830+ feet and down 840+ qualifies as rolling. I would even say very hilly. But hey, I did a personal best so I can't complain too much.

Since Auburn is only a short hour from where I grew up, I headed over to my mom's house after the race. I knew just how great of an idea this was when I stepped into the house and smelled something....cinnamonny and delicious! She made me Monkey Bread!

It was just half a recipe of biscuit dough dipped in sugar and cinnamon, layered in a loaf pan and drizzled with a mixture of melted butter and sugar. YUM! I have to say it was just half, since it completely disappeared that day. No leftover monkey bread. It's just not as good the next day. ;)

twd ~ Sweet Cream Biscuits

I had no idea that biscuits didn't have to have butter or lard and could still taste so good!

I used half regular flour and half whole-wheat flour. I made the dough one night to freeze. My mom was coming for dinner the next night and I knew I wouldn't have time to make them after work. Dorie writes to make the biscuits and freeze them on a baking sheet before securing them in an airtight container. I popped them in the freezer on a baking sheet...and totally forgot about them! The next morning they surprised me, and they looked a little worse for the night - a little frosty. Given this little misadventure, I was a little worried how they would taste. But they were delicious! They came out being very crisp on the outside and doughy in the middle. I didn't roll and cut them, instead just roughly forming them into rounds. My mom and I both prefer rough biscuits. They aren't as pretty, but they have more crispy corners on top.

I would definitely make these again, although it won't replace a good buttermilk biscuit. It's a little too sweet for that. We had it with coconut curried carrot soup and salad and it was perfect. Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite for this week's pick!