Gooey Caramel Monkey Bread

A month after I received my Bachelor's degree, I started working at Cape Canaveral.  Working at the Cape has afforded me opportunities that I never thought I would have.  It also means that I work with a lot of old men.  Being a 21-year-old female, it was a complete culture shock; I had no idea how to relate to my coworkers.   I was worried that this was quickly going to become an issue because I found that the majority of the time, we work together in small teams.

My team seemed to thoroughly enjoy food.  Every week, different team members were bringing something store-bought, so I decided to see how they would respond to homemade baked goods.  My team also happened to refer to themselves as the monkey crew.  Monkey bread was the obvious choice.

Monkey bread is a cinnamon tear-apart bundt cake covered with caramel.  It gets it name from the fact that you could eat it with your hands like a monkey.  Though, we refrain from this at work.  Monkey bread is definitely not a low calorie option, but it simply delicious.  I made a couple of mouths open when I revealed the monkey bread for the first time, and they simply loved eating it.  Needless to say, I was immediately welcomed into the group.  Once every couple of months, I still make the monkey bread in preparation for a busy day at work, and they still rave about it.  They think that I spend hours slaving away in the kitchen, but it is actually very easy to make.

Monkey bread has gotten more popular over the past couple years, and I have noticed that there is now a recipe on the back of a some biscuit dough cans.  However, I still make my own version because I add a couple extra ingredients (raisins and walnuts) that my co-workers love.

Ingredients

•  3 (12 oz) cans of biscuit dough (not the flaky ones)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350degF.

2.  Open biscuit containers.  This is my favorite part.  I love how they pop!

3.  Cut individual biscuits into quarters.  I find that the quarters are perfect bite-size pieces.

4.  Pour white sugar and cinnamon into a plastic bag.  Close bag and shake until combined.

5.  Place about 10-15 biscuit dough quarters into the plastic bag.  Close the bag and shake until well-coated with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Repeat until all quarters are coated.  This is my second favorite part because you can be a little goofy while you are shaking everything up.  I think this step would be really fun for kids.

6.  Layer toppings and cinnamon-sugar coated biscuits in a bundt pan.  Start with raisins and walnuts, add some biscuits, and then add more raisins and walnuts.  I usually switch between toppings and biscuits three times.

7.  Melt brown sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often.  Continue cooking for about 1 minute after butter is completely melted.  You don't want to cook the mixture until it completely turns into caramel because it is going to do more baking in the oven.

8.  Pour butter and brown sugar mixture on top of biscuits.

9.  Bake in 350degF oven for 50-55 minutes.  The monkey bread will fill your house with the smell of cinnamon.  It's simply amazing.

10.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

11. Flip the monkey bread over by placing your serving tray on top of the bundt pan and then rotating the whole assembly until the tray is on the bottom.  The monkey bread should slide down easily onto the serving tray, but you can give the top of the bundt pan a few taps to make sure.  Remove the bundt pan and watch the slowly caramel run down the sides of the monkey bread. 

The caramel oozing down the sides of the monkey bread is simply irresistible.  Chris and I simply can not control ourselves, so I usually make a miniature monkey bread on the side for us using a mini bundt pan.  It would be unfortunate if I had to serve monkey bread with a big hole in it to my coworkers.

This monkey bread has been a great hit with everybody that has tried it.  If you are looking for a dessert or a breakfast item that will please everybody in the family or at work, I highly recommend that you give monkey bread a try!