The Monkey On My Back

Monkey bread... Oh, monkey bread.

I first sampled the deliciousness that is Monkey Bread in college.  My pastor's wife often made Monkey Bread for breakfast during our Sunday School class.  Since we met in her kitchen, it was easy for her to pull it out of the oven right as everyone was walking in for class.  I still remember the warm, gooey, yummy flavors of cinnamon and sugar.

I never attempted Monkey Bread myself until after my Pinterest addiction began and I came across a recipe for S'mores Monkey Bread.  I should know by now to read reviews before I attempt something or make a purchase, and people had many negative things to say about this particular recipe.  However, I did not bother to do this until my third attempt.  Yes, I am too stubborn for my own good.  Deputy D told me to give up after the first time.

Although the picture looks yummy and the recipe seems simple enough, there are WAY too many cans of biscuits called for and the coating made with the marshmallow cream and butter turns into a very sticky, hard caramel (and doesn't actually taste like marshmallow at all).  Because of the numerous cans of biscuits, I could never actually get the bread cooked completely through.  The bits that did cook on the very edge were quite tasty (minus the topping), which is why I made a few more attempts after my first dismal results.

I found a recipe for garlicky monkey bread that worked out fairly well.  However, this one only used one can of biscuits.  The outside was a little crunchy and I found the flavor to be a bit strong.

I have found many variations of monkey bread on Pinterest.  The number of cans of biscuits ranges from one to four.  Some pour butter and toppings over the balls of dough, some roll the dough in the butter and toppings before putting it into the pan.  Some call for rolling the dough into balls and some just say to throw the quarters into the pan.  Some cooks prefer the flaky layers biscuits and some prefer the regular.  However, the basic concept stays the same.  Add small pieces of canned biscuit dough with butter and your choice of sweet or savory toppings and then bake until done.

Seems simple, right?

Since I haven't been thrilled with any of the recipes I found online, I tried a version of my own.  I used two cans of biscuits and cut them into quarters and then rolled them into balls.

I then rolled them in butter and sprinkled with a bit of garlic salt.

I layered the rolls in the pan and sprinkled on shredded mozzarella cheese in between the layers.

I baked per the instructions on the biscuits, and then added a few extra minutes to be safe.  The outside looked nice and golden brown when I took the pan out of the oven, but there was a small layer on the inside that was still raw.   I think from now on, I will stick with just one can of biscuits.  That seems to be the only way my pan and oven like to cook the bread.

Overall, the taste was pretty good.  The only really bad thing was the small ring of raw dough.

I think the good thing about Monkey Bread is that you can be creative.  You can combine the biscuits with whatever flavors you like.  Do you have a favorite Monkey Bread recipe?  I would love to hear about your experiences and favorite recipes!