Monkey Bread

When I was little my  mother used Bridgeford Rolls from the supermarket freezer section to make small buttery rolls nicknamed ‘Monkey Bread’.  To this day those rolls are a staple at our Thanksgiving dinner every year.  They take all afternoon and are essentially just rolls cut in half, dipped in melted butter and left to rise throughout the afternoon, but they are delicious.  Simply put: there are never any leftovers.

The Bridgeford Rolls however no longer have that simple roll on their packaging and have since replaced their original “Monkey Bread'” recipe with a Monkey Bread that is of the more traditional kind, rolls dipped in butter, rolled in cinnamon and sugar and combined in one fashion or another with butterscotch pudding.  I have tried the Bridgeford Monkey Bread but was unimpressed when all the hard work led to a sweet roll that I thought was lacking in some fundamental way.

But then a couple of weeks ago I came across a recipe that called for refrigerated biscuit dough in place of frozen rolls.  I was instantly interested, and at my next grocery excursion picked up several types and brands of biscuit dough.  You see, we don’t generally do refrigerated biscuits around here and I was unsure which to go with when presented with so many options at the local market.  I went with both the store brand original and the Pillsbury Buttermilk for variety.  Then I came home and experimented six times over the next two weeks.  I learned that with this bread, that simple was synonymous with unsurpassable.  I also, no surprise here, gained three pounds.  But now I have perfected them.  No need to thank me.  Just try them for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

This recipe is scrumptious but it also comes together in as little as 30 minutes from start to finish, which makes it even better.  To save your forearms from scrubbing duty turn the bread out onto aluminum foil immediately after baking and rinse your pan.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

2 pkgs. refrigerated biscuit dough

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans.

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Spray 9 inch round cake pan.  Combine sugar and cinnamon in a gallon size Ziploc bag.
2. Open packages or biscuits and quarter them.
3. Taking about 8-10 of them at a time, drop them into the cinnamon mixture and shake vigorously to coat.  Drop them in greased pan.  Repeat until all of the biscuit dough is coated.
4. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
5. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the brown sugar.  Bring to a boil and pour over the rolls.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.  Turn onto aluminum foil and enjoy.

Nutty Pancakes

In January, probably when we were snowed in, I made a Nut and Grain Pancake reminiscent of the delicious ones the folks at IHOP make.  Since then I have made these pancakes no less than six times.  I prefer them to any box pancake I’ve ever had but I’ve also been testing out buttermilk pancakes and I keep coming back to these.  They don’t seem to keep as well in the fridge as your run of the mill buttermilk batter but my kids love them so much that we never have any leftovers.

I have altered them a tad since first making them to include three types of nuts and Canola Oil in lieu of vegetable oil.  I also have designated several two-cup Ziploc containers for storing the different ground up nuts and oatmeal so that these are an even quicker breakfast to throw together for the kids.  Don’t let the list of ingredients deter you, these really do go together quickly and make for a hearty and delicious breakfast. 

Nutty pancakes

ingredients

3/4 cup ground Oatmeal

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 cups fat free buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground almonds

2 tablespoons ground pecans

2 tablespoons ground walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat griddle to medium (roughly 350*) and spray with a cooking spray such as Pam or Baker’s Joy.  Spray between each batch of pancakes.
2. Grind outs in food processor thoroughly.
3. Combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in medium bowl.
4. With an electric mixer combine buttermilk, oil, vanilla, egg and sugar. Stir in dry ingredients followed by ground nuts.
5. Ladle 1/4 cup batter onto griddle and cook approximately 3 minutes on each side.

Note: You can use any combination of nuts but I wouldn’t add more than 6 tablespoons as it will dry out the batter too much making these pancakes dry and crumbly.

Morning Maple Muffins

I love alliteration, don’t you?  I also love these muffins.  They are not healthy for you.  Sorry.  I thought about adding a little applesauce and taking away some butter but with 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup at stake I want these muffins to be moist and miserably bad for you.  But it’s worth it, I promise you. 

These muffins were too good, unfortunately I left eight of them out on the counter and went to fold clothes and came back to find a trail of nuts leading underneath the kitchen table and a Springer Spaniel with guilty written across his face.  He ate eight of them, eight. 

That’s just selfish.

He could have at least left me one…more.

Morning Maple Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup butter melted

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup sour cream

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

topping

3 tbsp. ground cinnamon

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp white sugar

2 tbsp chopped nuts

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Line muffin pans or spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl combine buttermilk, butter, syrup, sour cream, egg and vanilla.  Stir into the dry ingredients until just combined.
3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full (using a cookie scoop perhaps). Mix topping ingredients together, cutting butter until a crumble forms.  Sprinkle over batter.  Bake at 400 for 18-20 min.  Cool for several minutes in pan and then move to wire racks to cool completely.  Eat before dog does.

The crumble on these incredibly moist muffins are worth all of the fat and calories in this muffin.  It’s Saturday, enjoy your weekend with a batch of these sinful muffins, you deserve it.