Mmmmmmmmmm!

I love monkey bread!! My mom used to make it all the time growing up as a special treat especially on Saturday mornings while we would be watching Smurfs with my Dad.  Typically monkey bread is made with canned biscuit dough and it is so good, even though I hate the thought of what is in those store bought biscuits.  I honestly doubted my sister when she said she wanted to try making it with her biscuit dough recipe instead.  I just didn’t think the texture would come out right.. but to my surprise it turned out to be so amazingly decadent.  Each piece just melted in your mouth.. it was almost like eating chunks of really amazing cake donut coated in buttery cinnamon sugary goodness.  I think the dough recipe actually would make really great donuts if you fried it.. I’m gonna have to try that soon!  Anyway, I hope you try this and give me your thoughts on it!!  It’s a great kid pleaser, or guest will love you if they wake up to this treat in the morning.

Ingredients

For the dough:

4 cups flour

2 TBSP baking powder

2 tsp salt

2 TBSP sugar

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 egg

For the coating:

1 1/2 cups butter

2 cups sugar

3 TBSP cinnamon

For the Icing:

3 oz cream cheese

4 TBSP butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Directions

• Set oven to 350 degrees and coat a bundt pan with butter or spray with any nonstick spray you desire
• Start by combining flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar into your mixing bowl.  If you don’t have an electric mixer you can definitely mix by hand in a large bowl
• Cube your 2 sticks of butter and toss into the flour mixture. Mix until butter breaks down into the flour mixture and you have small pea like flour clumps
• Beat egg in with milk and poor slowly into flour mixture while mixer is on a low setting.  Continue to mix just until it all comes together

Cubing cold butter to put into flour mixture

Add butter to flour mixture

After mixing butter will look like crumbles

Mix in milk but only blend until it just comes together

• Dump dough out onto a heavily floured surface and knead a few times just to get the dough smooth
• Roll the dough out until about 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick
• Cut dough with a pizza cutter or a knife into 1 inch cubes

Dump dough onto heavily floured surface

knead just a few times to smooth out..

roll out to about 3/4 – 1 inch thick

cut into about 1 – 1 1/2 inch squares

• Now get your coating mixture ready by melting 1 1/2 sticks butter in a bowl and then mix cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl
• Dip dough pieces into butter and then toss in cinnamon mixture to coat all around, then plop in the bundt pan (this was when Mitsi told me to stop taking pictures and help:)
• Continue this process until you’ve done all dough pieces or until your pan is almost full (you could add pecans or raisins sprinkled in with your dough pieces as well to add another level of yumminess)
• Place in center rack of oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until top is nice and brown.

Melt butter in a bowl and in separate bowl mix cinnamon and sugar

Dip dough pieces into butter…

And then toss in cinnamon sugar

Plop pieces into bundt pan.

Pieces should fill almost to top depending on your bundt pan

• While the monkey bread is in the oven you can get your icing ready
• Mix softened cream cheese and butter in your mixer with wisking attachment until smooth and creamy ( you can use a handheld blender for this as well )
• Add in maple syrup and vanilla, mix until smooth again (if you don’t have maple syrup you can omit it)
• add powdered sugar and pinch of salt.  Beat on high until smooth, creamy and silky lookin

Use softened cream cheese and butter

Add maple syrup..

And powdered sugar..

Blend til smooth and creamy

• Once your monkey bread comes out of the oven let it sit in the pan for about 5-10 minutes and then turn out onto
  

  So good with your favorite cup of coffee!

  whatever platter you like

• Let cool until it is just slightly warm to the touch and then drizzle icing over.. as much or as little as you like.  I like to drizzle it and then have some left on the side for individuals to add more on their plate if they so desire

Then dig in! No cutting needed.. the pieces will just pull apart and fall onto your plate.  Or just pluck off a little cinnamon sugary nugget every time you walk through the kitchen:)