Recipe - Monkey Bread - So Much Fun! :)

If you have young children or grandchildren, or even young nieces and nephews like I do, you might want to consider making Monkey Bread. This is so much fun to make. The little ones can help, and they'll love eating the results once the bread is baked. In addition, when you bake Monkey Bread, you not only make a sweet treat for the entire family, you make fond, happy memories as well. It's comforting to smell the house filling with the aroma of cinnamon and fun to watch the little ones licking the sticky bread from their fingers, smiling and laughing all the while.

There are many variations of Monkey Bread, and the raisins and nuts in the version we're presenting are optional. If you don't care for raisins and/or nuts, simply leave them out. We're also going to give you a blueberry version, for the berry lovers in your family.

We love this recipe because it isn't grainy like some that use far too much sugar. The flavors, at least in our opinion, are perfectly balanced and blended. The sauce is sticky - though that's exactly the way it should be. Monkey Bread wouldn't be Monkey Bread without a sticky sauce.

Some people love to frost Monkey Bread with cream cheese frosting (it melts right into the bread), but even without, this bread is truly amazing.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

4 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 C. packed brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1/2 C. white sugar
2 T. cinnamon
1/2 C. raisins (these are optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-10 inch tube pan.

2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized plastic bag.

3. Cut the biscuits into halves or quarters and place six to eight biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Shake well.

4. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the greased pan. Continue layering until all the biscuit pieces are coated and in the pan. If you are using raisins, place them among the biscuit pieces as you are layering.

5. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the layered biscuits.

6. Bake for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Pull apart and enjoy!

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 pound cream cheese
1/2 pound butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

1.Allow cream cheese and butter to warm to room temperature.

2. Beat butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl with a mixer.

3. Slowly add in the pound of powdered sugar.

4. After all the powdered sugar is added mix for 12 minutes (do not mix less than that).

5. When almost done, add in the extract and lemon juice.

Blueberry Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/3 C. white sugar, divided into two 2/3 C. measures1
tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough
1 1/4 C. frozen blueberries, dry pack
10 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 T. ground cinnamon
1 C. frozen blueberries, dry pack

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Thoroughly grease a 10 x 4 inch tube pan.
3. Mix 2/3 C. sugar and cinnamon. Cut biscuits in quarters, then roll each piece in sugar-cinnamon mixture.
4.. Arrange about 1/4 of the biscuit pieces and blueberries in an even layer in pan.
5.. Place blueberries between biscuit pieces, creating a mosaic effect. Repeat three times with remaining biscuits and blueberries, covering blueberries of one layer with biscuits in next layer.
6.. In saucepan combine the second 2/3 C. sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and the additional C. of blueberries. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Cook, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted.
7. Pour over biscuits in pan.
8. Bake for 35 minutes or until done. Lift or turn out onto a cake plate.