Isn’t it funny how you can feel a food trend starting to build? Okay, maybe I’m one of those hyper-aware people and notice it more than most, but I can tell you one thing: monkey bread is so hot right now. I’ve seen it pop up more than a handful of times in the past month or so on the 30+ food blogs I read daily, most notably with a full-on expose from the LA Times, and I couldn’t be more excited!

I love monkey bread. Adore it. For those who haven’t encountered it, monkey bread is a sweet yeast-y pull-apart breakfast bread made in a bundt pan, covered in ooey-gooey cinnamon-sugar butter, and baked. You pull it apart (like a monkey? the name origin is debated) in sticky, awesome pieces and enjoy with coffee in the morning. Or hot chocolate. Or both. I first experienced monkey bread when I stayed with my friend’s grandparents in Tulsa, OK for a couple weeks when I was 12 or so. Meagan & Casey’s grandma would get up at a (no doubt) ungodly hour and almost every other day have hot monkey bread waiting for us when we woke up. It was such a treat I looked forward to every morning, and then would happily nibble on every evening when we would play Mexican train dominoes.

So when I read yet another blog entry about the scrumptious breakfast bread, I got a hankering I couldn’t ignore. And it only made sense to get the recipe for the original I fell in love with, which thankfully Meagan’s grandma was more than happy to share. Even better, the recipe uses pre-packaged dough and is so easy, you literally could whip this together in the morning, especially since she has the trick of putting it in a cold oven and cooking it as it heats up.  Sugary and sticky and warm and spicy, this is the ultimate breakfast pastry and would conquer any cinnamon roll any day of the week!

Betty Shaddox’s Monkey Bread

Makes 1 very large bundt pan full (96 pieces).

Ingredients

• 3 cans refrigerated biscuits (I used Pilsbury Grands! Buttermilk, do NOT get the flaky layers kind – they don’t bake properly!)
• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 cup, packed, dark brown sugar
• 2 TBL cinnamon
• 3 TBL sugar

Directions

1.) Toss the cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl. Cut each biscuit into quarters and roll each piece in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

2.) Butter or spray a bundt pan with non-sticky spray. Pile the the dough bits in the bundt pan, but don’t press down (this allow the butter to get in the cracks and coat everything).

3.) Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl or on the stovetop and then stir in the brown sugar. Pour all over the dough bits, jiggling them slightly so it can drip down the sides and into the cracks.

4.) Do not pre-heat oven! Put the pan into cold over and turn to 350° F for 30-35 minutes.

5.) Let cool a few moments and then invert onto a large plate. Eat warm (or boiling hot if you can’t wait like me) with coffee or hot chocolate on a cold autumn morning!

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